Ano(the)r 0w20 - FA20 Engine Thread

Joined
Oct 7, 2019
Messages
7
Location
Rome, Italy
Hello there everybody, I found myself amazed reading a bunch of oil threads in this forum during the last weeks and I'm grateful as I've read lots of good advices and researches that really helped increasing my awareness in the matter.
I'm a European (from Rome,Italy) owner of a MY17-> Toyota GT86 (brz/frs) and I would really like to ask this community a bunch of questions regarding the best oil for this Subaru engine according to my driving needs.

But first let me do a quick recap/summary of what we know about this engine for now.

1- What the manual(s) say
Europe: 0w20 is the reccomended oil, you can put 5w30 if you cannot find 0w20 but you have to put back the 0w20 at the next change. API SN. A thicker oil can be used in case of high speeds / extreme load usage.
Japanese Manual: SUBARU MOTOR OIL ECO 0W-20, SUBARU MOTOR OIL SN 0W-20 SUBARU レ・プレイアームZERO 0W-30, SUBARU MOTOR OIL ECO 5W-30, SUBARU MOTOR OIL SN 5W-30 SUBARU Castrol SLX Professional SM 5W-40
The officine manual says that you're good if within an 80° C oil temp you reach a pressure of >= 0,5 bar (7,2 psi) idling or >=5,03 bar (7250 psi) at 6000 rpm and does not give any other scenario than this.

2- What failure history say
It seems that a number of bearing rod failures had happened in the 2012/2013 launch models, doesn't seem connected (just speculating) to the oil in use or to a design flaw, since there has not been any official recall by Subaru and Toyota enforcing users to change rod bearings or the oil used. The only recall for this engine seems to regard the valve springs until MY2015
There's also a number of engine failures encountered during track usage regardless of the oil weight, most likely to the great G-Forces generated by the usage of semislicks or grippier tyre than UHP or Street tyers and the boxer's design. In reality there's also a number of MY17+ that had rod bearing failure, the last one (in Italy) a couple of weeks ago during a track day on the out-lap, with Bardhal 5W40, at 20k km (approx 12,5k miles) although the owner said that he had driven the car in several trackdays before with 0w20 oil inside but always with an upgraded oil pan and oil cooler. So who knows why do the rod bearing fail in this car? In italy there's a total of less than 2000 GT86/BRZ sold and so far it looks like we had 20 failures for what we can know on the web, some of the in track, some of them had never been abused by their owners.

3- What the web says
Oil pressure panic: A bunch of people are concerned about the oil pressure drop at higher temps. The car does not have neither an oil radiator cooler nor a water/oil heat exchanger, the temps can go up really fast to 120/130 °C (248/266 F) if you go WOT for a few minutes. The original ECU is programmed to change behaviour if oil reaches a temperature of 125° C (ca. 255 F) and starts cutting hp.
UOA: most of them are on 5W30 oil (good ones), and some people claim to get good UOAs of 0w20 trackday samples regarding wear, but now showing results. In Europe we don't have a culture for UOA, I would like to try something like that for my car with the next oil change but the prices go from 100 to 250 € per sample wich I find rather expensive, how much do they cost in North America?
Car enthusiasts say that the 0w20 is a gift to Greta Thunberg and an oil created only to aid car manufacturers to reach CO2 emissions limit standards in europe, and it's not good for a sports car like ours.
Friends with Gt86 say that I'm a fool to use 0w20 grade, but here we do seem to have Dr. Haas happy with 5w20 on Ferrari, Lambo etc.

4-What I learned in this forum so far
HTHS it seems by a presentation of Boris Zhmud dated 2016 that low hths oils are good for fuel economy just at high speeds and low load scenarios, while they perform less than higher viscosity oils in low rpms (below 1500) and high load scenarios. He points that a safe HTHS value for good wear protection starts from 2,85+, that low hths and i think ILSAC G5+ oils tend to have an higher additive arsenal to reduce boundary lubrication. He states also that the fuel savings in a 30k km/year is really too small to compromise the potential loss in wear protection.
Engine Wear From some case studies seems like 95% of the wear in the cylinder bore comes within the first 20 minutes of usage, maybe due to an improper oil film distribuition or non-optimal oil temperature while the piston ring wear seems to be connected to the brake mean effective pressure (BMEP).
of course when the engine is at nominal functioning condition the wear goes up with enigne rpms but non in a proportional manner.
Cavitation may be another factor to take into account when selecting the right oil

5-My struggles in finding the right oil
This is the section where I call out for Your help.
The Gt86 is my daily/commuting/weekend and trackday car.
- I live in Rome, winter temps 0-15° C, summer temps 22-39 °C
- I live near the highway, so every time i start up i'm on the highway cruising at 2500 rpms with the both the engine and oil in non-optimal and cold condition for 20 km, then 3 km in the city traffic.
- I am in WOT condition everyday in the last 8km (on 52 driven in total) of the travel back to home (with both engine and oil in normal temperatures)
- I plan to track the car 2-3 times a year, mostly in autumn/spring in slow tracks that are 2nd and 3rd gear and 130 km/h max speed with tight curves and a very short straight, and I do some spirited driving 5 to 10 times a year, usually not pushing the 7200 rpm redline since the torque is finished at 6500/6800 with the 95 ron fuel.
- car must stay stock for the next 2,5 years so whitin the offiicial maintenance schedule I have to stick with either the 0w20 or 5w30 by Toyota (should be Motul).

For now I've driven 4600 miles with the stock 0w20 inside, then drained it and switched to a 5w30 Motul 8100 eco-lite (hths 3.3) since it was May and i did track the ca. I kept the oil for the whole summer then switched back to the mandatory 0w20 Toyota with the first service at 8900 miles (so 4300 miles later). I have to report that since the first kilometer with the 5w30 the car felt really slower in gaining momentum, and it felt like reborn when a lower viscosity oil was back in the engine. Man i really hate the 5w30 performance-wise and for the tipical usage that i do (80% commuting) I also was scared thinking that I might have been sacrificing the cold engine usage that I happen to experience everyday.

So here we go with the final question(s)
Taking into account my driving habit, the kind of climate, the car and the history of failures:
- Are those rod bearing failures random?
- Should I be more focused on protecting the car from the high load wear (WOT) or should i focus more on the cold start / normal usage?-
- Should I keep the habit of changing oil weight or it's best to stick to one weight only?
- Should I choose a compromise hths (lower than 3.3 but higher than 2.85 to ensure wear protection) like a 0w30 oil (2.9/3.0)?
- Should I stick to ILSAC G5 oils for the boundary friction protection?
- What should I do to try and get the longest life possible out of this car?
- What da ***k is the right oil for this car?
- When the warranty will have expired, would a water/oil exchanger more suitable than an oil cooler?
- Could the installation of Billet Power Blocks (to shift the torque curve to lower rpms sacrifing the total hp at the rev-limit) prevent some wear (since I rev less) or the major torque on the lower end would cause more load and wear at the rod bearings?

Thanks in advance for the answers!
 
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Your winter only gets to 0 celsius, thats fine for a synthetic 5w30. That is not extremely cold. Cold is not an issue here.
Since you race the car, even in amateur level runs, a 5w30 is a good idea in case you get excessive heat which will thin the oil a bit.
If it were me, in Italy, I'd get a full-PAO 5w30 with HTHS about 3.0, say 2.9 to 3.2 is about right since it adds a buffer above the basic non-racing 0w20 recomendation from Toyota-Subaru. Ravenol probably makes one of those available there.
 
@paoester
HDX? HTHS 3.4, nearly all right, but >10% Noack is sadly not a revelation... But I see also, many many other GF-5 on the market are much worse
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@Albs
Wow. Scary. Are you last night burgle in my home and tap my brain?
laugh.gif
Excellent post. Great.
Quote
Car enthusiasts say that the 0w20 is a gift to Greta Thunberg and an oil created only to aid car manufacturers to reach CO2 emissions limit standards in europe
Hmm... You say, your car is named GT86?
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I have now a small troop of TypeR (2017, 2018) owners. Identically the same thoughts. Word for word
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I think you search for oils like
https://www.ravenol.de/en/products/usage/d/Product/show/p/ravenol-sfe-sae-5w-20.html
or
https://www.ravenol.de/en/products/usage/d/Product/show/p/ravenol-dxg-sae-5w-30.html

Must not only be Ravenol, but Ravenol make in contrast to Shell/Mobil1/Castrol, mostly, PROPER datasheets (for approximate estimation).
The question of cold oil and wear is for me not the question about KV40 between wee-wee 0W-20 and 5W-30. Thats question about, HOW you drive the first 15 mins.

edit:
Wow. 10,874 posts since 2017. I though at my beginning, what a power user what all of those useful inputs...
 
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Originally Posted by Albs

Car enthusiasts say that the 0w20 is a gift to Greta Thunberg ...


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I would use a good 5W30, especially if you are using it on track days at slow tracks. Maybe you can switch to 0W20 on winter, but is not necessary .

I got nothing on the failures, but probably is not related to the oil that was being used.

I also live near the highway, so i like to let the car warm up a little before i leave.

You seem to know what you are doing and you will be fine. Maybe if you are getting very high oil temps on track, a bigger oil cooler can be a good choice. I think your attention should be on how the engine handles the oil when you have high lateral G forces, and if it can keep the temps in order.

Have fun!
 
You shouldn't using low octane fuel in this engine. Doing so may contribute to fuel dilution and bearing failures. Octane 98 or 100 is OK. As usual, higher viscosity will give you better protection and lower fuel economy. I am using a 10W-30 in my FA20. Thick when cold to give more protection and thin when hot for better fuel economy. Works fine. I can't tell the difference from a 5W-20. And I am avoiding 0W-20. Can't really see any advantage of using it unless you need to start the engine at -40.
 
Why do you have a clown emoji on your subject line? Is thread a joke to you?

And why do you title it "another" 0W20 thread? If you know other threads exist why not read those first before creating... another one?
 
Originally Posted by Lowflyer
@paoester -- HDX? HTHS 3.4, nearly all right, but >10% Noack is sadly not a revelation... But I see also, many many other GF-5 on the market are much worse
smirk2.gif

https://www.ravenol.de/en/products/usage/d/Product/show/p/ravenol-dxg-sae-5w-30.html
Your DXG suggestion is the one I'd go with. Ravenol DXG description sounds very good: "Ravenol DXG 5W-30 was developed using the proven formulation of trinuclear molybdenum, tungsten and Organic Friction Modifiers (OFM). A further component in the oil of this formulation was used in the highly polar Group V base oil. This also has good compatibility with the PAO in the oil."
 
Originally Posted by paoester
Your winter only gets to 0 celsius, thats fine for a synthetic 5w30. That is not extremely cold. Cold is not an issue here.
Since you race the car, even in amateur level runs, a 5w30 is a good idea in case you get excessive heat which will thin the oil a bit.
If it were me, in Italy, I'd get a full-PAO 5w30 with HTHS about 3.0, say 2.9 to 3.2 is about right since it adds a buffer above the basic non-racing 0w20 recomendation from Toyota-Subaru. Ravenol probably makes one of those available there.
Thanks for the input paoester, I did not know Ravenol brand, i checked it briefly and it seems it has a wide range of API SN and ILSAC G5 compliant oils, with even 3.1 or 3.7 hths to choose in the 5w30 and a lovely 2.9 for a 5w20 (I might try the 3.1, I see also @Lowflyer linked it: THANKS!) btw I did not know PAO definition so even this is a strong input for reasearch.

Originally Posted by Lowflyer
@paoester
HDX? HTHS 3.4, nearly all right, but >10% Noack is sadly not a revelation... But I see also, many many other GF-5 on the market are much worse
smirk2.gif


@Albs
Wow. Scary. Are you last night burgle in my home and tap my brain?
laugh.gif
Excellent post. Great.
Quote
Car enthusiasts say that the 0w20 is a gift to Greta Thunberg and an oil created only to aid car manufacturers to reach CO2 emissions limit standards in europe
Hmm... You say, your car is named GT86?
56.gif


The question of cold oil and wear is for me not the question about KV40 between wee-wee 0W-20 and 5W-30. Thats question about, HOW you drive the first 15 mins.
LOL never thought about Greta and that strange correlation with the car, some will say "conspiracy theory" but now I know the truth!
Regarding the first 15 mins i go with little load and 2500/2800 rpm at max and I think I'll stick to this habit. Thanks for the Ravenol links! They are also reasonably priced!


Originally Posted by LeoStrop

welcome2.gif


I got nothing on the failures, but probably is not related to the oil that was being used.
Maybe if you are getting very high oil temps on track, a bigger oil cooler can be a good choice. I think your attention should be on how the engine handles the oil when you have high lateral G forces, and if it can keep the temps in order.

Have fun!
Thanks Leo! yep high oil temps are easly reached when pushing (120/130 °C) and the car does not have any oil cooler o oil/water exchanger. When the warranty expires I think I might go for the water/oil heat exchanger: less effective than the oil radiator but it helps on warming up the oil during cold mornings.
As for the lateral G forces that is really a nightmarish situation: they are most likely the reason behind failures but then again as I told you the last guy who screwed up the bearings 3 weeks ago in Italy had already a Sump (Oil Pan) baffled plate installed so I really don't know how to approach the matter!

Originally Posted by Ded Mazai
You shouldn't using low octane fuel in this engine. Doing so may contribute to fuel dilution and bearing failures. Octane 98 or 100 is OK. As usual, higher viscosity will give you better protection and lower fuel economy. I am using a 10W-30 in my FA20. Thick when cold to give more protection and thin when hot for better fuel economy. Works fine. I can't tell the difference from a 5W-20. And I am avoiding 0W-20. Can't really see any advantage of using it unless you need to start the engine at -40.
Thanks for sharing your experience too, there's 98 and 100 octane fuel in here but while the 95 ron costs about 1,6 €/l (the equivalent of 8 usd/gallon) the 98/100 costs 1,85 €/l (9,25 usd/gallon) so 600 to 700 € Worth of savings per year. I tend to put 100 ron in the weekend only!

Originally Posted by kschachn
Why do you have a clown emoji on your subject line? Is thread a joke to you?
And why do you title it "another" 0W20 thread? If you know other threads exist why not read those first before creating... another one?
I've searched and read for similar posts, but most FA20 posts seem not related to the Gt86/frs with the 0w20 and UOA come only for 5w30 by people with non-stock cars. As for the emoji, why so serious?
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Originally Posted by PimTac
The long drawn out intro post is familiar.
If you see a ghost from the past hiding behind a fake user fear no more: if you want you can pm me, i'd give you my Fb/WhatsApp ID so you can check in first person If i'm not a 30-year-old guy from Rome!
 
Originally Posted by Albs
If you see a ghost from the past[...]
Thats normally here. If your opinion are not forced into line, you are kicked ghost from the past. Its a part of defamation from ours experts. Burn at the stake and so...
Simple solution: Ignore it.

Quote
the 98/100 costs 1,85 €/l (9,25 usd/gallon)
Wow. Thats for example 30c more expensive as I have see Vpower Shell in Germany. Anything is more expensive as Shell in Germany. Madness...
 
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Originally Posted by Ded Mazai
am using a 10W-30 in my FA20. Thick when cold to give more protection and thin when hot for better fuel economy. Works fine.
PS: on logic basis shouldn't be the opposite better? Thin when cold -> easier flow, faster film creation and protection ->Thick when hot-> better load and wear protection?



Originally Posted by Lowflyer
Wow. Thats for example 30c more expensive as I have see Vpower Shell in Germany. Anything is more expensive as Shell in Germany. Madness...
Do you think spending the 6-700 € plus per year should be Worth the expense in preserving the car?
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I think the "thickness" of 0w-30 or 5w-30 GF-5 are ok.and good enough. But thicker GF-5 have for me louse Noack.

But wait… What technically against 229.5 0W-30?

Buy a Redline SI-1 (litle bottle), put 30ml to each tank. Test it with 95 (EU) fuel. Its dont mutate to Aral Ultimate or Shell Vpower or MaxxMotion 100plus, but maybe its ok enough for you.

650€ more for antoher gasoline fuel is crazy
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Thank you for the detail and history! Actually, most FA threads here are about Subaru's!

I followed the 86 very closely at launch because I considered a Subaru BRZ for a time and I'm very familiar with the early failures on ft86club.com (didn't realize that they were still happening?). At Subaru tech school before the BRZ came out, Subaru of America insisted that the BRZ was "built for 0W-20" and there were highly respected builders that supported this statement and claimed that the bearing clearances did not allow anything thicker than 0W-20.

After input from BRZ owners in Japan, and the notes that you made about the oil selection there, it proved that the 0W-20 requirement was a bit of nonsense, IMO, and is strictly for fuel economy. There are lots of uoa's on ft86club on street driven cars where 0W-20 did just fine and going well beyond the recommended oil change interval. But once you take it to the track, all of the manufacturer recommendations should be thrown out the window IMO.
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Sorry, but you cannot have your cake and eat it too!

A lot of European Subaru manuals that spec 0W-20 also allow ACEA A3 5W-30's. Your 86 manual doesn't make mention of this? The only 0W-20 that I would use in your conditions is something like Motul 300V. Otherwise, I would go with an ACEA 5W-30 even though it robs power. Don't follow the advice of someone that runs oil in a completely different car in completely different applications. Follow the advice of owners with the same car driven in the same conditions as you. You're not driving a Lambo to the grocery store.

I know that the 86 owners in the US were installing the Forester XT oil coolers but I do not know if that cut down on bearing failures? I'm not familiar with the Bardhal oil that you mention in the recent failure, but it appears to me that the only 5W-40 they offer is reduced SAPS. Is that correct? There is no need to run a reduced SAPS oil. You have multi-point injection so there is no concern with intake valve deposits. I would go with a higher SAPS oil. Something for made for the track or something that meets A3 specs.

That's my
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. I hope it make sense because I just had two cups of coffee so I'm a bit revved up.
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Originally Posted by Albs
Originally Posted by paoester
Your winter only gets to 0 celsius, thats fine for a synthetic 5w30. That is not extremely cold. Cold is not an issue here.
Since you race the car, even in amateur level runs, a 5w30 is a good idea in case you get excessive heat which will thin the oil a bit.
If it were me, in Italy, I'd get a full-PAO 5w30 with HTHS about 3.0, say 2.9 to 3.2 is about right since it adds a buffer above the basic non-racing 0w20 recomendation from Toyota-Subaru. Ravenol probably makes one of those available there.
Thanks for the input paoester, I did not know Ravenol brand, i checked it briefly and it seems it has a wide range of API SN and ILSAC G5 compliant oils, with even 3.1 or 3.7 hths to choose in the 5w30 and a lovely 2.9 for a 5w20 (I might try the 3.1, I see also @Lowflyer linked it: THANKS!) btw I did not know PAO definition so even this is a strong input for reasearch.

PAO is an interesting organic chemistry subject. It is Group 4 base true synthetic oil. Its found in many racing oils and long life oils as well. Stable expensive base oil component. That said, many good oils use very llittle of it, if any at all, using instead Group3+ base oils.

You could skip all the chemistry science and go by oil specifications, as in just about any oil that carries German engine oil (VW, BMW, Audi, Porsche, Mercedes) specifications is better than oils that only have A5/B5 or dexos1 or certainly SN/GF5 for your engine. Mercedes 229.6, BMW LL-01FE has about the right HTHS here.
For example, I've noticed my VW 508 spec 0w20 oil is met by fully PAO oils as well as some brands that use only around 1/3 PAO, so it depends on the additives in there too. Just going by high VW 508 specs here simply lets those company scientists do whatever they need to, without requiring they use all PAO base oils up front.

Your choice of the Motul 8100 EcoLite 5w30 HTHS 3.3 oil is actually very good. You could stick with that and you are getting the extra protection for racing.
If you're willing to spend more Euros or Liras, Ravenol DXG 5w30 or anything fully synthetic Ravenol has in HTHS 3.0 to 3.3 is probably best for your engine and usage.
 
Originally Posted by bluesubie
A lot of European Subaru manuals that spec 0W-20 also allow ACEA A3 5W-30's.
Therefore, my question for 0W-30 229.5 (ergo, A3)
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Originally Posted by Lowflyer
Originally Posted by bluesubie
A lot of European Subaru manuals that spec 0W-20 also allow ACEA A3 5W-30's.
Therefore, my question for 0W-30 229.5 (ergo, A3)
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/presses like button/
 
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