2015 BRZ, Maintenance Advice

[JGalp]

Hey guys, (FYI I live in Southern CALI, warm weather all the time)

I just bought a 2015 BRZ limited and i need some help. Ive been searching the forums for advice on break in, when to change what oil, with what kind of oil, etc..but the advice is all over the place.

I just went over 1000 miles and i followed break in procedure recommend by subaru with slight twists. i never drove her hard cold, never went over about 5500 RPM and i constantly varied speed while on freeway. So far she shifts like butter no problems at all, however i have developed the chirping at idle

Now for a few questions:

1. When should i change the oil and with what brand oil/filter? I've heard a lot of people say 500, 1000 3500, and 7500. the different ar guements about changing it out right away, other people saying that the break in oil has special additives that you wanna keep in until 3500 miles.. Any advice on this would be great.

2. What about the other fluids? MTF, Diff? when should i change them and with what brand? Ive heard a lot about MOTUL, but for the transmission i heard its super thick (mostly from guys that live in colder climates) however it heard its fine for guys living in warmer climates (like me) I've also heard about Pentosin MTF 2 or something which I'm also considering going with. What do you guys think? and when should i change it out?

3. Any other advice that a new owner should know about regarding maintenance would be greatly appreciate!! Anything at all please don't hesitate to chime in, things like should i get a fumoto oil drain valve.. is it beneficial? even if I'm not changing my own oil? (ill most likely be taking it to evasive motorsport or fusion teknique for all my services)

Thanks guys, Much appreciated!

John

[JohnJuan]

Follow the maintenance schedule in the manual. That's what it's there for. The initial oil change for this car is 7500 miles. The factory fill is not "break-in" oil; it's normal 0w-20 synthetic.

Purple seem to like Motul and Pentosin for the transmission.

[Poodles]

Originally Posted by JohnJuan

Follow the maintenance schedule in the manual. That's what it's there for. The initial oil change for this car is 7500 miles. The factory fill is not "break-in" oil; it's normal 0w-20 synthetic.

Purple seem to like Motul and Pentosin for the transmission.

New schedule for a 2015 is 6K miles and the first fill is indeed break in oil...

[mav1178]

Originally Posted by JGalp

Now for a few questions:

1) follow factory maintenance schedule. As for oil and filter... unless you absolutely care about every single detail, get OEM Subaru filter + a full-synthetic 0W-20 oil and you are good to go.

2) Seriously: stop reading too much. Drive the car more and make changes as it fits your needs. You may have zero issues, you may have a ton. You won't know until you put more miles on the car.

3) Search... as for Fumoto, it only helps if you are doing own oil changes. Otherwise you're just spending money for someone else to do a job faster.

-alex

[JGalp]

bump

[GotMunchies?]

Originally Posted by JGalp

Hey guys, (FYI I live in Southern CALI, warm weather all the time)

I just bought a 2015 BRZ limited and i need some help. Ive been searching the forums for advice on break in, when to change what oil, with what kind of oil, etc..but the advice is all over the place.

I just went over 1000 miles and i followed break in procedure recommend by subaru with slight twists. i never drove her hard cold, never went over about 5500 RPM and i constantly varied speed while on freeway. So far she shifts like butter no problems at all, however i have developed the chirping at idle

Now for a few questions:

1. When should i change the oil and with what brand oil/filter? I've heard a lot of people say 500, 1000 3500, and 7500. the different ar guements about changing it out right away, other people saying that the break in oil has special additives that you wanna keep in until 3500 miles.. Any advice on this would be great.

2. What about the other fluids? MTF, Diff? when should i change them and with what brand? Ive heard a lot about MOTUL, but for the transmission i heard its super thick (mostly from guys that live in colder climates) however it heard its fine for guys living in warmer climates (like me) I've also heard about Pentosin MTF 2 or something which I'm also considering going with. What do you guys think? and when should i change it out?

3. Any other advice that a new owner should know about regarding maintenance would be greatly appreciate!! Anything at all please don't hesitate to chime in, things like should i get a fumoto oil drain valve.. is it beneficial? even if I'm not changing my own oil? (ill most likely be taking it to evasive motorsport or fusion teknique for all my services)

Thanks guys, Much appreciated!

John

1. Follow factory service guide for oil change interval. (7,500 miles was changed to 6,000 miles for MY2015. You decide.) Choose any big name 0W-20 full synthetic oil and the Subaru OEM Filter. I'm putting 0W-20 Mobil 1 Advanced Fuel Economy because it was on sale, meets my use-case and a Subaru filter because its reasonably priced and perfectly functional. I'm going with a 5,000 mile change interval because... its a nice a round number. I run my diesel Golf at 10,000 mile intervals because that's what's recommended and it sees lots of highway miles. Exciting stuff, I know.

2. Change at factory service interval (30,000 miles for transmission and diff). Use OEM or name-brand synthetics that meet Subaru's required standards (in manual). Consider changing to a better quality oil (e.g. Pentosin or Motul Gear 300) if your transmission starts to get excessively notchy or grinds on shifts.

3. Usual stuff: regularly check your oil, coolant, and brake fluid levels and tire pressure. Don't be late on oil or filter changes. Pop your hood at least once month and have a look around, get familiar with the car. I got a Fumoto valve (going on this weekend) because I do my own maintenance. Completely optional. People who have them, love them.


EXCEPTION: Regularly driving the car in a performance environment (e.g. many autocrosses or regular track days). Decrease change interval and invest in oils for this express purpose. Your occasional spirited run up and down a canyon road or the occasional auto cross does not meet this use-case.

Final advice: Enjoy the car, follow the maintenance schedule (PLAN AHEAD, BE ON TIME), and don't work yourself into a tizzy every time you read something on the internet.

[cycleboy]

Generally I agree with the advice of follow the manual, but I changed my manual tranny oil and diff at some point (earlier than the manual) and the tranny definitely feels noticeably different (better!). I think it can't hurt to do this early, the only negative could be spending $ you don't *need* to spend, but it does make it shift nice. That and MTEC springs =

I went with Motul Gear 300 for both, it was not hard though you have to get the whole car off the ground, and level!!! Threads in the maintenance section about the specifics of doing so. I'm in SoCal and the only difference I notice in a negative way is for the first few minutes in the mornings, it can be hard to downshift into 2 & 1. 5-10 minutes in it is not a problem and even when it is cold it'll still go, just takes a bit of effort. I've never felt like I'm pushing anything that causes damage though. Just don't downshift for the first few minutes and no issue. It upshifts just fine.

For oil, I wanted to try the high end stuff to see if it gives me wood, so I went with Eneos Sustina. So far, I like it but tough to say without time and chemical analysis if I'd say it was worth it or not.

[JGalp]

^ thanks guys, and cycle boy, i think I'm gonna do the same thing, i talked to the guys at evasive yesterday and for me since I'd like to be more on the safe side, I'm gonna change my MTF and diff at 10k..prolly switch out my engine oil and filter at 3500. def going subaru oil filter, but i was debating on the using the eneos sustina oil..ive heard since its so thin people have actually noticed an increase in gas mileage? i don't know how true this is. but ill probably just stick with whatever subaru gives me for the first year or so before switching to the eneos.

What I've heard about the motul DTF is that its perfect for guys that track the car and what not but its on the thicker side? so a lot of people go pentosin cuz its thinner and generally doesn't have that problem. I mean i live in cali..so its always hot and i want the protection but id rather not have hard gear shifts, and i won't be tracking the car so would pentosin probably be my best bet?

[JGalp]

[QUOTE=cycleboy;1971391]Generally I agree with the advice of follow the manual, but I changed my manual tranny oil and diff at some point (earlier than the manual) and the tranny definitely feels noticeably different (better!). I think it can't hurt to do this early, the only negative could be spending $ you don't *need* to spend, but it does make it shift nice. That and MTEC springs =


I was interested in the MTEC springs..i heard a lot of people get the bushing, spring and some other things like short throw..but it ends up causing more problems than good..hows your experience with just the springs?

[chaoskaze]

2015 first oil change is 6000, I changed mine to eneos sustina at 3000. Big improvement on the feel department, try it. I didn't change the transmission oil. It was notchy till I change to sustina, now it's butter smooth. I guess it just takes longer time for transmisson to break in. My friend told me motul is really nice but the feel fell off quicker so he changes every 4k.

[JGalp]

Originally Posted by chaoskaze

2015 first oil change is 6000, I changed mine to eneos sustina at 3000. Big improvement on the feel department, try it. I didn't change the transmission oil. It was notchy till I change to sustina, now it's butter smooth. I guess it just takes longer time for transmisson to break in. My friend told me motul is really nice but the feel fell off quicker so he changes every 4k.

wait you're talking about transmission feel from oil change with eneos sustina?

[JGalp]

anyone on shops to take it to in socal for maintenance? good price and good customer service?!

[billyk]

Regarding the OP's oil change question, read this post.

You may find it helpful.
-bk

[AZP Installs]

Our suggestion for a normal to harsh driven car which includes lots of short trips or city/stop and go suburban traffic and/or autox or a few track days a year is as follows:

Oil- First oil change at 3,000 miles. You want the initial oil to be well absorbed into the engine metals and the original fill has extra additives in the it for this purpose.

After that every 5k miles give or take using a quality oil such as Motul, Amsoil, etc. in 0w20 Full Synthetic format (Motul 8100 series, Amsoil Signature) on the filter we suggest the OEM Subaru filter, unless you run something like the Amsoil European oil or plan to do extended OCI like 7-10K miles, then up your game to the Amsoil Extended Life Oil Filter.

Gear and Transmission- At the 3K mark while you are changing your oil, may as well switch over to the Motul Gear 300 75w90. It is both a GL4 (required for trans) and GL5 (required for rear diffy) so you can grab 4 Liters of that and it will then be good to 30K miles when the first major service would come about.

Hope this helps! Also if we can get you any of these fluids, let us know, we sell the Gear 300 for $85 Shipped (4 Liters) and can also provide the engine oil as well.

-Mike Paisan


Maintaining, Modifying and Educating TriState Enthusiasts since 2001.
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