Recent content by dusted off

STP = Awesome rock band

I have never had to add oil within the 6k miles I run the oil. It remains very close to the full mark on the dipstick. I don't remember ever reading about excessive consumption in other 2.0 skyactiv engines. I do 90% highway and interstate driving and consistent 75 mile round trips. My...

In southern Arizona and it's 112F today. Use 0w20 in my 2012 Mazda 3 Skyactiv, 6k OCI for the last 11 years and 74k mi. of ownership. 114k miles on the odometer now, no engine issues.

Isn't China going heavy into EVs? Could that be a reason for less reliance on crude oil altogether, despite the myriad of petroleum based products? I'm no expert and I'm not implying anything with these questions.

For the past 35 years I've been turning off the compressor and running the blower for the last minute or so of my trip and have had no problems with mildew and odor. In coastal GA it was more an issue, but here in AZ not so much. Even so, if the cabin feels humid I open the vent for more dry...

Just added my stash up. 21 qt - Kirkland 0w20 20 qt - Kirkland 5w30 15 qt - Mobil 1 Extended Performance High Mileage 0w20 10 qt - Mobil 1 Extended Performance 5w30 5 qt - Mobil 1 Extended Performance 0w20

Years ago I noticed the pleasant smell of Pennzoil Platinum I was using at the time. All the used oil analysis I've seen over the years don't seem to account for the smell of an oil, so I don't consider it an important reason on which to base my oil choices. As far as beers go, the nose most...

I drove my first car (used 1989 Mazda MX-6) back in the 1990s from 47,000 mi. to 185,000 mi., city driving, many short trips, 7500 mi. OCIs on whatever name brand conventional 5w30 oil I found on sale. I gave it to my brother and he put ten of thousands more miles on it. IIRC I was adding 3/4...