Help me pick a brand...

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Ok, did this when I first joined, but now it's slightly different. In an effort to make life more simple, im looking for one brand and one brand only of motor oil to use.

Car is 94 corolla, engine is 1.8L cyl, putting out about 110hp, nothing big or hard on the oil. Car has 139,800 miles on it right now, i've had it since 124,500 and 10 months. I've autorx'ed it 2 times, currently on my third time, and it's had 3000 mile OCIs all its life on dino, but still burns a quart of oil every 1000 miles (all corollas do).

I drive around 80 miles a day, 4 days a week, about 80% of the trip is highway. By the time I hit the 1 year mark with this car, i'll have driven about 18k miles, so i'll be putting about 18k on a year. I dont speed much, rarely do I get above 70mph, stays around 2800rpm on the highway, and rarely do I go above 3000rpm before I shift.

From what i've read, i'll get bored with this car before the engine or transmission die, bodys in good shape, so I can realistically keep the car running for a few years, granted I dont get hit or something.

Currently I have about 6 gallons of havoline, thats about a years worth of changes. But once thats over, I want to stick to a brand, for various reasons, biggest one is probally because i'd like to keep one brand in, instead of switching around to whatevers on sale. Auto parts stores are always on my route, so i'd like to just buy oil a case at a time, instead of hording it.

I was leaning towards castrol GTX or maybe pennzoil dino, dont want to use synthetic, it'd be wasteful if I kept burning it. Valvoline all climate I heard is a weak oil, supertech too, formula shell and exxon oil I heard are decent, but I can usually find GTX or pennzoil at the same price. I'll use the 5w30.

So lemme hear what you guys have got to say, which is your personal preference, pennzoil or GTX? Or maybe something else I forgot? I wont go back to havoline, it's always expencive around here. Quaker state im not crazy about either, i'd rather have it's sister pennzoil for the same price. Instead of using whichevers cheapest, because I know they're both great oils, what would you run if you had my car and wanted to stick to one brand? Also I was thinking a 7.5k OCI? 7k on my engine is 11 quarts, 4 initially and 7 added.

Pennzoil and GTX are usually $2 a quart around here, so even if im not getting $1 a quart oil, im still miles ahead of the 3k jiffy lube crowd!

Thank you for your input, sorry I dragged this out, but I wanted to make sure I didnt leave anything out.

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Not wanting to throw a wrench into your very good explanation, but at that kind of consumption rate, what's wrong with your original plan of getting what's on sale at your favorite parts store. Any SM rated oil these days is more than adequate, since you are replenishing the additives with your make up oil additions.
 
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Not wanting to throw a wrench into your very good explanation, but at that kind of consumption rate, what's wrong with your original plan of getting what's on sale at your favorite parts store. Any SM rated oil these days is more than adequate, since you are replenishing the additives with your make up oil additions.




Thats true, but I want to keep one brand in the crankcase, and the only brands that are consistently low priced are supertech and various other house brand oils. I'd rather spend the little extra and get the name brand, for peace of mind if nothing else.
 
I have a '93 with that same engine, the 7AFE. Mine has about 163k and does not burn that much oil.

It likes GTX, and you might consider keeping a maintenance dose of Auto-Rx in there with it. Maybe that consumption will decrease.

Another good dino option is Valvoline Maxlife, which may also help somewhat with consumption.

I have been running synthetic in mine ever since I A-Rxed it, and consumption, which had been close to your level, has decreased to about 1 qt. per 4k miles.
 
I agree with dad2leia; your consumption rate, combined with 3K OCI's, and a motor that's easy on oil should mean you can use the cheapest oil you can get your hands on. Why not Supertech, or one of the parts stores store brands.
 
Say I do run supertech, would 7.5k be a good interval? Would any of you guys run it in a brand new 2007 car with confidence?
 
Bag the 5w30 would be a good start. Maybe a quality 10w-40 like GTX would help, but definately check the oil switch for leaks.
 
A quart of oil every 1000 miles is a lot of consumption by today's standards. I'd be going up in viscosity in an effort to remedy that situation. My vote goes to GTX 10W-40.
 
Yep Castrol HM alleviates the most issues on posts I've read here at BITOG. Another product to try is Valvoline Stop Leak - loaded with seal conditioners. It sits on store shelves next to VSOT and other oil supplements. Use the entire bottle for the entire OCI.

It cured a small consumption issue (half-quart 1K) with my daughter's Dodge Shadow.
 
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