'13 WRX Mobil 1 ESP 5w30, 6,296 mi

[WRX12tt]

This is my third interval on M1 ESP 5w30, using the OEM Subaru blue filter. Mainly easy street driving, with a few autocross events. Car is still all stock engine-wise. Topped up twice (I like to keep the oil level at full), using about 0.5 qt Castrol Professional Edge OE 5w30 at one point and 0.5 qt RT6 at another point. The RT6 probably increased the viscosity a bit (the last two samples show viscosity retention of just M1 ESP). TAN seemed to increase faster, as compared to the last interval (TBN and TAN were about equal at ~6,600 mi). I get this question a lot, but I picked this oil to meet Subaru's 5w30 and API SM/SN requirements for warranty, while having something a bit more robust than RC 5w30s. Subaru recommends 7,500 mi intervals for this model year.

Code:

Oil----------------------  Factory Fill ------ Edge OE 5w30---Pennzoil Platinum 5w30---	Pennzoil Ultra 5w30--- Mobil 1 ESP 5w30--- Mobil 1 ESP 5w30--- Mobil 1 ESP 5w30--- Mobil 1 ESP 5w30--- Universal Averages
Miles In Use               3,002               4,048	      3,351			4,547		       4,889	       	   7,216	       6,590		   6,296
Miles on Unit              3,002               7,050	      10,401			14,948		       19,837		   22,164	       28,754              35,050
Date Changed               2/1/13              5/10/13	      8/05/13			11/11/13	       2/28/14		   4/21/14	       9/05/14		   1/23/15
Make up Oil Added--------- 0 Qts. ------------ 0 Qts. ------- 0 Qts. ------------------ 0.6 Qts. ------------- 0 Qts. ------------ 1.0 Qts. ---------- 0.85 Qts. --------- 1.0 Qts.

Aluminum------------------ 7 ----------------- 9 ------------ 6 ----------------------- 5 ---------------------4 ----------------- 4------------------ 4 ----------------- 4 ----------------- 4
Chromium                   1                   1              1                        	1		       1                   1  		       1                   1                   1
Iron                       34                  16             14                      	11		       10                  13                  10                  10     	       9
Copper                     27                  9              7                        	5		       3                   4                   4                   3     	       9
Lead---------------------- 0 ----------------- 0 ------------ 0 ----------------------- 0 -------------------- 0 ----------------- 1 ----------------- 1 ----------------- 0 ----------------- 3
Tin                        4                   3              2                        	0		       0                   0                   0                   0		       1
Molybdenum                 1079                435            118                      	70		       81                  82                  78                  67    	       73
Nickel                     0                   0              0                        	0		       1                   0                   0		   1  		       0
Manganese                  2                   1              1                        	0		       0                   0                   0		   0    	       2
Silver-------------------- 2 ----------------- 1 ------------ 0 ----------------------- 1 -------------------- 1 ----------------- 1 ----------------- 1 ----------------- 1 ----------------- 0
Titanium                   0                   1              0                        	2		       0                   0                   0		   0		       1
Potassium                  2                   2              2                        	1		       0                   1                   0		   5		       2
Boron                      198                 26             6                        	60		       126                 105                 93		   67  		       46
Silicon                    89                  19             10                      	5		       4                   5                   5		   4		       10
Sodium-------------------- 8 ----------------- 6 ------------ 1 ----------------------- 2 -------------------- 3 ----------------- 4 ----------------- 4 ----------------- 3 ----------------- 30
Calcium                    2105                1777           2388                     	2422		       1218                1235                1200                1153	               1902
Magnesium                  12                  6              12                       	15		       6                   8                   5                   94		       424
Phosphorous                892                 680            725                      	798		       695                 714                 715		   706		       832
Zinc---------------------- 1082 -------------- 802 ---------- 831 --------------------- 842 ------------------ 778 --------------- 855 --------------- 857 --------------- 835 --------------- 984
Barium                     2                   1              0                        	0		       0                   0                   0		   0                   0

SUS Viscosity @ 210F------ 52.4 -------------- 66.1 --------- 58.9 -------------------- 57.3 ----------------- 62.8 -------------- 63.5 -------------- 64.3 -------------- 64.7 -------------- 56-63					
cSt Viscosity @ 100C       7.99                11.91          9.91                     	9.44		       11.0                11.21               11.41		   11.52	       9.1-11.3
Flashpoint in F            405                 435	      405                      	425		       410                 435                 445		   410		       >365
Fuel                       <0.5                <0.5           <0.5                     	<0.5		       <0.5                <0.5                <0.5		   <0.5		       <2.0
Antifreeze %-------------- 0.0 --------------- 0.0 ---------- 0.0 --------------------- 0.0 ------------------ 0.0 --------------- 0.0 --------------- 0.0 --------------- 0.0 --------------- 0.0
Water %                    0.0                 0.0            0.0                      	0.0		       0.0                 0.0                 0.0		   0.0		       <0.1
Insolubles %               0.2                 0.3            0.1                      	0.3		       0.4                 0.2                 0.2		   0.1		       <0.6
TBN                        N/A                 2.8	      N/A			5.2                    3.0                 1.5		       2.2		   2.5		       >1.0
TAN----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2.2		   4.6		       2.3                 3.5

 

[davison0976]

I think wear numbers look awesome, especially including autocross events. After much research I want to try M1 ESP 5w30 in my G37 next OCI. Not only it meets API SN for warranty as you had mentioned, it is an ACEA C3 oil with VW 504/507 and Porsche C30 approvals. Even MB 229.51, which this oil also approved for, is not as stringent as the other two. The most intelligent argument I heard against using this oil was that it's designed for ultra low sulfur (<10ppm Sulfur) fuels, while in US, except for California, our gas is at <30ppm, while on-road diesel fuels are indeed <10ppm countrywide. Nevertheless, from what I understand, running <10K miles OCI in US is perfectly fine because in Europe they recommend 30K kilometers OCIs with this oil. Let me ask you. Do you feel/hear engine working harder during acceleration given this oil has HTHS viscosity >3.5cP? The reason I am asking is because I am currently running M1 0w40 with HTHS 3.8cP and the engine is not as peppy as with resource conserving oil. Plus my MPG dropped by almost 2.

 

[timeau]

Originally Posted By: davison0976

Do you feel/hear engine working harder during acceleration given this oil has HTHS viscosity >3.5cP? The reason I am asking is because I am currently running M1 0w40 with HTHS 3.8cP and the engine is not as peppy as with resource conserving oil. Plus my MPG dropped by almost 2.

That's significant mileage drop could not be caused by M1 0W40. Even if you use Europenian M1 10W60, I doubt that you see any difference. Did you change tires recently? Did you change gas brand? Did you check your tire pressure?

 

[WRX12tt]

Originally Posted By: davison0976

I think wear numbers look awesome, especially including autocross events. After much research I want to try M1 ESP 5w30 in my G37 next OCI. Not only it meets API SN for warranty as you had mentioned, it is an ACEA C3 oil with VW 504/507 and Porsche C30 approvals. Even MB 229.51, which this oil also approved for, is not as stringent as the other two. The most intelligent argument I heard against using this oil was that it's designed for ultra low sulfur (<10ppm Sulfur) fuels, while in US, except for California, our gas is at <30ppm, while on-road diesel fuels are indeed <10ppm countrywide. Nevertheless, from what I understand, running <10K miles OCI in US is perfectly fine because in Europe they recommend 30K kilometers OCIs with this oil. Let me ask you. Do you feel/hear engine working harder during acceleration given this oil has HTHS viscosity >3.5cP? The reason I am asking is because I am currently running M1 0w40 with HTHS 3.8cP and the engine is not as peppy as with resource conserving oil. Plus my MPG dropped by almost 2.

I have heard the VQs are hard on oil, like the Subaru EJ engines. From my limited understanding, I think the TBN on this oil depletes much faster due to US pump gas (feel free to correct me if I'm wrong). My UOAs on ESP show that the TBN depletes quickly - I change my oil at 6-6.5k mi because the TBN seems low, although I'm happy with everything else and could probably go longer otherwise. It seems as though the ESP has a low TBN to start with, however. Haven't looked at the datasheet for M1 ESP recently, but I'm assuming the HTHS is >3.5 due to the specs it meets. I ran a couple RC 5w30s before switching to this oil, and I noticed little to no difference at all in performance or fuel economy. I felt as though the car idled "smoother" on the ESP, but probably all in my head

 

[davison0976]

Originally Posted By: timeau

Originally Posted By: davison0976

Do you feel/hear engine working harder during acceleration given this oil has HTHS viscosity >3.5cP? The reason I am asking is because I am currently running M1 0w40 with HTHS 3.8cP and the engine is not as peppy as with resource conserving oil. Plus my MPG dropped by almost 2.

That's significant mileage drop could not be caused by M1 0W40. Even if you use Europenian M1 10W60, I doubt that you see any difference. Did you change tires recently? Did you change gas brand? Did you check your tire pressure?

I am glad you called me out on this, making me look more closely. It looks like MPG decline started to occur before M1 was in. Probably winter gas and colder temperatures making other fluids (diffs, transmission and tc) to impose additional drag. There have been no modifications. Same tires, inflated to be at spec psi when ambient temperature is 20F, which is what we've been getting around commute times. Most of the time I fill up at the same Exxon stations, at the same pump. Sometimes at Shell. Always 93 octane.

 

[davison0976]

Originally Posted By: WRX12tt

I think the TBN on this oil depletes much faster due to US pump gas (feel free to correct me if I'm wrong). My UOAs on ESP show that the TBN depletes quickly - I change my oil at 6-6.5k mi because the TBN seems low, although I'm happy with everything else and could probably go longer otherwise. It seems as though the ESP has a low TBN to start with, however.

From what I gather it's the lower Calcium content in these oils that contribute to relatively fast depletion in TBN, even though ACEA C3 oils suppose to start at TBN 10 or above.

Originally Posted By: WRX12tt

Haven't looked at the datasheet for M1 ESP recently, but I'm assuming the HTHS is >3.5 due to the specs it meets. I ran a couple RC 5w30s before switching to this oil, and I noticed little to no difference at all in performance or fuel economy. I felt as though the car idled "smoother" on the ESP, but probably all in my head

I don't know if you had a chance to play around with this Lubrizol tool. Based on the specs the M1 ESP is approved for this oil is indeed top notch. Oil Performance Comparison

 

[edhackett]

Originally Posted By: davison0976

From what I gather it's the lower Calcium content in these oils that contribute to relatively fast depletion in TBN, even though ACEA C3 oils suppose to start at TBN 10 or above.

Nope. TBN greater than or equal to 6. http://www.acea.be/uploads/publications/2012_ACEA_Oil_Sequences.pdf Ed

 

[davison0976]

Originally Posted By: edhackett

Originally Posted By: davison0976

From what I gather it's the lower Calcium content in these oils that contribute to relatively fast depletion in TBN, even though ACEA C3 oils suppose to start at TBN 10 or above.

Nope. TBN greater than or equal to 6. http://www.acea.be/uploads/publications/2012_ACEA_Oil_Sequences.pdf Ed

My bad. Must had been thinking ACEA A3/B4.

 

[davison0976]

Here is a very informative thread about using M1 ESP in NA. M1 ESP for Nothr America Discussion