- Joined
- Sep 27, 2024
- Messages
- 3
Hello, this is my first post in this forum and English is not my first language, but I will try to do my best.
I have been using the enormous information of this fantastic forum for a while and today I crossed the line posting my first question.
I own of an old 2004 impreza in mint condition with barely 123,000kms (76,400 mi). It has the EJ201 engine, a 2.0 pretty similar to the EJ251. I have had this car for 10 years using mostly M1 Esp 5w30 changing it once a year and doing around 5000 km (3100 mi) and 7000Km (4300 mi ) between changes. (It has always been a weekend car for trips, groceries and rainy days)
Since I knew about the change in formulation of M1 ESP without PAO and GTL and only group III base (we have a French made version of M1 ESP here in Chile) I decided to change brand because you still have to pay premium price here for that oil and no PAO? No way.
Like every lubrication aficionado and falling for the hype of boutique oils, this year I decided to try Ravenol VMP 5w30 because it was in a good offer, pretty good numbers in VOA and very complete data sheets available on web page.
Ravenol is doing excellent. I Cleaned the PCV at the moment of change (January 2024) and the PCV is going really clean (way better than M1 ESP), probably due to the lower evaporation index. So far I only have driven 6,000kms (3700mi) I will probably get 7000km by January 2025 with it. Of course, it is an excellent oil but I think it is a real waste of money for the kilometers I normally do in a year and my driving style.
My driving style is not spirited at all, mostly quiet city driving and a couple of 860kms highway trips (1068mi) during the year and some visits to parks or beaches. Sometimes I push it to 5000 rpm trying to get the pace when entering the highway and once in it I usually go at 3000 rpm and 3500 (best torque) on mountain roads.
I have seen in this forum that Rotella have had excellent results in subarus but unfortunately it is not available here. Shell only brings the European line of products and not equivalent to Rotella line here. For PCMO the market is shared mainly by Mobil (euro line) Shell (the good ones with boutique price) and far behind Total and Castrol.
In lubricant stores you can find a very wide range boutique brands and mainstream American brands. The distributos of Chevron and Valvoline focus mainly on industrial or fleets clients and their PCMO offer is pretty basic. Petro Canada the same. However, the range of Chevron products is a bit wider than Valvoline.
Chevron has good prices here and I have seen good comments on BITOG. You can find Havoline Pro DS Full Synthetic 5w30 I don't know if it has some group IV in it, but a good group III will give me some peace of mind. Perhaps DELO 400 5w40 (HDEO API SL) would be better avoiding deposits and possibly similar performance to Rotella.
I'm pretty sure I'm over thinking and maybe considering my driving and maintenance habits I could be perfectly fine with SUPREME.
If I look for a recommendation in the store they will try to sell me the most expensive option and certainly they don´t know more than you guys
So please I would really appreciate to have your advice.
Thanks in advance
I have been using the enormous information of this fantastic forum for a while and today I crossed the line posting my first question.
I own of an old 2004 impreza in mint condition with barely 123,000kms (76,400 mi). It has the EJ201 engine, a 2.0 pretty similar to the EJ251. I have had this car for 10 years using mostly M1 Esp 5w30 changing it once a year and doing around 5000 km (3100 mi) and 7000Km (4300 mi ) between changes. (It has always been a weekend car for trips, groceries and rainy days)
Since I knew about the change in formulation of M1 ESP without PAO and GTL and only group III base (we have a French made version of M1 ESP here in Chile) I decided to change brand because you still have to pay premium price here for that oil and no PAO? No way.
Like every lubrication aficionado and falling for the hype of boutique oils, this year I decided to try Ravenol VMP 5w30 because it was in a good offer, pretty good numbers in VOA and very complete data sheets available on web page.
Ravenol is doing excellent. I Cleaned the PCV at the moment of change (January 2024) and the PCV is going really clean (way better than M1 ESP), probably due to the lower evaporation index. So far I only have driven 6,000kms (3700mi) I will probably get 7000km by January 2025 with it. Of course, it is an excellent oil but I think it is a real waste of money for the kilometers I normally do in a year and my driving style.
My driving style is not spirited at all, mostly quiet city driving and a couple of 860kms highway trips (1068mi) during the year and some visits to parks or beaches. Sometimes I push it to 5000 rpm trying to get the pace when entering the highway and once in it I usually go at 3000 rpm and 3500 (best torque) on mountain roads.
I have seen in this forum that Rotella have had excellent results in subarus but unfortunately it is not available here. Shell only brings the European line of products and not equivalent to Rotella line here. For PCMO the market is shared mainly by Mobil (euro line) Shell (the good ones with boutique price) and far behind Total and Castrol.
In lubricant stores you can find a very wide range boutique brands and mainstream American brands. The distributos of Chevron and Valvoline focus mainly on industrial or fleets clients and their PCMO offer is pretty basic. Petro Canada the same. However, the range of Chevron products is a bit wider than Valvoline.
Chevron has good prices here and I have seen good comments on BITOG. You can find Havoline Pro DS Full Synthetic 5w30 I don't know if it has some group IV in it, but a good group III will give me some peace of mind. Perhaps DELO 400 5w40 (HDEO API SL) would be better avoiding deposits and possibly similar performance to Rotella.
I'm pretty sure I'm over thinking and maybe considering my driving and maintenance habits I could be perfectly fine with SUPREME.
If I look for a recommendation in the store they will try to sell me the most expensive option and certainly they don´t know more than you guys
So please I would really appreciate to have your advice.
Thanks in advance
