Idemitsu Full Synthetic 5W-30 Engine Oil SP/GF-6?

[Odd_Ball]

Does anyone know anything about this oil?

Idemitsu Full Synthetic 5w30 Oil SP/GF-6

I assume this would be factory fill for some Asian vehicles that call for 5w30. I looked for a VOA but all I could find were for the 0W-20 version.

This would be going in a Nissan Frontier that calls for 5w30.

 

[Greasymechtech]

Never assume anything concerning factory fill.

Its just another oil brand selling their products that meet specs. Whether its worth paying more/less for one brand over the other is for you to decide.

 

[Blagoje]

The KV100 is only 9.492cst which makes it among the lightest 30 grade viscosity oils I have ever seen.

 

[Odd_Ball]

The KV100 is only 9.492cst which makes it among the lightest 30 grade viscosity oils I have ever seen.

Then have a look at Pennzoil Platinum 5w30 , which ironically is why I'm looking at other oils. I've been a fan of PP but have grown a little leery of the fact that it starts at the bottom of 30w grade. In a passenger car I'm not as concerned but in a truck that does occasionally pull a load I'd really like something that starts off in the middle of the grade.

I guess Idemitsu is going for fuel efficiency first and foremost.

Well dang.

 

[PimTac]

It’s good oil. I’ve run the 0w20 before and will likely run it again here soon.

 

[Ovalnut]

Just a random bit of info but I'm nearly 100% sure factory fill for nissan is made by eneos.

 

[Odd_Ball]

Just a random bit of info but I'm nearly 100% sure factory fill for nissan is made by eneos.

Yeah, I'm not really hung up on going with the Nissan factory fill, so I probably shouldn't have mentioned that. But, I believe that Idemitsu does many of the Japanese brand oils and the Japanese tend to be pretty quality conscious so I thought that might be a good place to start.

But if this oil starts life near the bottom of 30w grade then I'm considerably less interested in it. I may continue looking for a PDS though.

But thanks for the heads up on Eneos. I'll have a look at their offerings.

 

[haggler]

The 0w20 variant is factory fill for mazda. The high moly variant in that grade is very thin with loads of VI. Not a fan. I've seen OK used oil analysis around here but I don't think it is worth the money. I suspect they use this oil for best possible fractional mpg numbers on EPA tests.

 

[UncleDave]

Idemitsu is factory fill for Honda as well as Mazda.
It meets the rating on the label.
Use with confidence.

There are better idemitsu formulations available, thats the low end stuff.

 

[PimTac]

Idemitsu is factory fill for Honda as well as Mazda.
It meets the rating on the label.
Use with confidence.

There are better idemitsu formulations available, thats the low end stuff.

Yep and Toyota as well. Their Zepro product line is the more premium oil.

 

[Sonofsonof]

The KV100 is only 9.492cst which makes it among the lightest 30 grade viscosity oils I have ever seen.

Hmmm... 9.49 cst is a tad on the low side. Is this stuff definitely GF-6 because my gut feel is such an oil would be very tight to pass the Sequence VIII stripped viscosity stay-in-grade requirement. Just sayin'...

 

[Blagoje]

Then have a look at Pennzoil Platinum 5w30 , which ironically is why I'm looking at other oils. I've been a fan of PP but have grown a little leery of the fact that it starts at the bottom of 30w grade. In a passenger car I'm not as concerned but in a truck that does occasionally pull a load I'd really like something that starts off in the middle of the grade.

I guess Idemitsu is going for fuel efficiency first and foremost.

Well dang.

Oh I know about Pennzoil Platinum 5w30, it has been on my list of light Xw-30 oils to use in my Hyundai GDI in which 5w20 is recommended. With some of my vehicles I like stepping up to a light version of next oil weight/grade viscosity. I like using 0w40 from M1, Valvoline, or Castrol in my 5w30 spec engines for example. Right now I am running through my stash of Valvoline Modern Engine 5w30 in my Hyundai and might try Citgo Full Synthetic 5w30 next. I would not mind using Idemitsu as it is the factory fill for Subaru and tends to produce good to great UOA results.

 

[Odd_Ball]

Thanks for the input guys.

I think I'm going to go look at the Eneos offering a bit.

Eneos 5w30 Full Synthetic

I notice it has a dexos badge unlike the Idemitsu, but it's only an API SN oil whereas the Idemitsu is SP.

 

[blingo]

This lower KV100 (relative to HTHS-V) and slightly lower VI make the Idemitsu look fine here. Presumably less VII and thicker in its base oil blend – good for timing chains and more.
Times are long gone when KV100 in a bottle was the hottest stuff around. With ENEOS especially, they made and make dozens of normal (specific) oils but at the same time a Diesel DX 0W-40 with a VI of 250 for bus and truck, some sporty TGR oils >300 in VI – and for the Yaris GR now even a bold VII-free Endurance flavor to maximize contrasts.

 

[Sonofsonof]

This lower KV100 (relative to HTHS-V) and slightly lower VI make the Idemitsu look fine here. Presumably less VII and thicker in its base oil blend – good for timing chains and more.
Times are long gone when KV100 in a bottle was the hottest stuff around. With ENEOS especially, they made and make dozens of normal (specific) oils but at the same time a Diesel DX 0W-40 with a VI of 250 for bus and truck, some sporty TGR oils >300 in VI – and for the Yaris GR now even a bold VII-free Endurance flavor to maximize contrasts.

You're absolutely correct on all those technical points & I couldn't agree more.
However when you hand over your hard earned dosh for a supposed GF-6 5W30, then it's not unreasonable to expect the oil to actually meet ALL the requirements of GF-6, not just bits of it.
It's been a while since I last dabbled in the dark arts but passing the Sequence VIII test, both for bearing corrosion AND stripped viscosity, is about as basic as it gets. The latter parameter is not something that can be blithely ignored as it's the only check on oil shear in the US specs. European oil are protected by the far stricter KO30 shear test but traditionally API/ILSAC have baulked at adopting it.
Just to be clear, I'm not saying this oil definitely WOULD fail on Stripped Vis but I am saying, to me, it looks very tight. It would be interesting to see the actual test result but I suspect hell will freeze over before that happens!

 

[ARCOgraphite]

Does anyone know anything about this oil?

Idemitsu Full Synthetic 5w30 Oil SP/GF-6

I assume this would be factory fill for some Asian vehicles that call for 5w30. I looked for a VOA but all I could find were for the 0W-20 version.

This would be going in a Nissan Frontier that calls for 5w30.

I run the Subaru 0W20 in the wife's subaru - nothing compares as far as seat of the pants goes. Includung Valvoline Advanced, PP, Castrol Magnatec. Ran them all. UOA looked fine, but for engine response and fuel mileage the SUBARU brand Idemitsu gets the prize.
I would look at the SUBARU Idemitsu 5W30 blended in Indiana. It's a good oil formulated to keep those pesky Turbo 2.5 Liter
four-bangers alive that are putting out as much power as a 4.6 modular V8 GT mustang. Lots of Moly too.

Here is a link to PQIA analysis: Subaru Professional Use Certified 5W30 Synthetic Motor Oil

 

[blingo]

If it has half the VII to begin with that's only tight in a good sense and the rest would be just causes of funny fears for the dreadmores. I'm the dreadnought...

 

[PimTac]

I run the Subaru 0W20 in the wife's subaru - nothing compares as far as seat of the pants goes. Includung Valvoline Advanced, PP, Castrol Magnatec. Ran them all. UOA looked fine, but for engine response and fuel mileage the SUBARU brand Idemitsu gets the prize.
I would look at the SUBARU Idemitsu 5W30 blended in Indiana. It's a good oil formulated to keep those pesky Turbo 2.5 Liter
four-bangers alive that are putting out as much power as a 4.6 modular V8 GT mustang. Lots of Moly too.

Here is a link to PQIA analysis: Subaru Professional Use Certified 5W30 Synthetic Motor Oil

I wonder if there is any difference between the Subaru branded and the Mazda branded oils they have? My guess is they are the same or very close.

 

[Highboy]

I used this 3 times in my WRX. I change it every 6 months for warranty purposes and a DIT engine seems to thin it out.

 

[Sonofsonof]

I need to correct myself.

This 5W30 oil has a KV100 of 9.49 cst. IMO, such an oil risks falling foul of the Sequence VIII stripped viscosity, stay-in-grade requirement of 9.3 cst min.

Having had a fresh squint at API 1509 for SP/GF-6A, I can see that the spec now allows you to use the (cheap) Kurt Orbahn 30 cycle shear as an alternative to the (expensive) Seq. VIII engine test with a minimum sheared KV100 of 8.5 cst for a 5W30. If occurs to me that whilst this oil may fail the VIII, it might conceivably pass on KO30 (9.49 to 8.5 gives you more head space than 9.49 to 9.3). I wonder if this is how they have got around things to get the approval?

Elsewhere on the site, I saw someone asking whether Euro oils we're materially different from their US counterparts? Given that a Euro 5W30 must always stay-in-grade after KO30 (ie be 9.3 min) this is one area of difference.