Ok - so I have searched a bit, and saw the big Subaru spreadsheet,in this thread
http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=1293170#Post1293170
and am still uncertain if there is a clear frontrunner for the subaru engines (I have an 02 WRX, so the 2l turbo) - my experience has been that almost without exception, most oils seem to hold their own for a little while, then start to rapidly fall off (in level - burnt/blow by/etc.) - the worst results I had (in terms of when the oil started going away) were with M1 - both for 5w30 and 10w30 - probably 1k miles or so in, and the volume would start to drop. RP 10w30 and 10w40 tend to go 2k miles or so, then start dropping - same deal with Redline 10w40. When I look at the spreadsheet, I don't see any clear trends in viscosity dropping off or anything like that which correlate with my experience - the oil analyses don't really say anything about how the car was driven, either, so there's that, too. I typically do all city driving, and alot of that is probably "spirited". I have typically changed around 2.5-3k miles (when I notice volume really falling off) - haven't done an oil analysis, though. (I've always figured something has changed, so I dump it - cheap insurance in my book, to protect against me forgetting to keep an eye on the level after 2k miles and running dangerously low)
Has anyone else out there taken a look at that data and have any thoughts? Are there any other good oils to try? (M1, RP, and Redline are all readily available, so that's what I have stuck to - I have RP 10w40 in there now)
I was sort of surprised that the data didn't show any clear frontrunners (or cellar dwellars) given the seemingly fanatical posts which I have seen on boards like NASIOC claiming M1 and RP are junk.
http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=1293170#Post1293170
and am still uncertain if there is a clear frontrunner for the subaru engines (I have an 02 WRX, so the 2l turbo) - my experience has been that almost without exception, most oils seem to hold their own for a little while, then start to rapidly fall off (in level - burnt/blow by/etc.) - the worst results I had (in terms of when the oil started going away) were with M1 - both for 5w30 and 10w30 - probably 1k miles or so in, and the volume would start to drop. RP 10w30 and 10w40 tend to go 2k miles or so, then start dropping - same deal with Redline 10w40. When I look at the spreadsheet, I don't see any clear trends in viscosity dropping off or anything like that which correlate with my experience - the oil analyses don't really say anything about how the car was driven, either, so there's that, too. I typically do all city driving, and alot of that is probably "spirited". I have typically changed around 2.5-3k miles (when I notice volume really falling off) - haven't done an oil analysis, though. (I've always figured something has changed, so I dump it - cheap insurance in my book, to protect against me forgetting to keep an eye on the level after 2k miles and running dangerously low)
Has anyone else out there taken a look at that data and have any thoughts? Are there any other good oils to try? (M1, RP, and Redline are all readily available, so that's what I have stuck to - I have RP 10w40 in there now)
I was sort of surprised that the data didn't show any clear frontrunners (or cellar dwellars) given the seemingly fanatical posts which I have seen on boards like NASIOC claiming M1 and RP are junk.