Oil for my Mazdaspeed3...

[fwise3]

I've been researching oil non-stop for days now, trying to figure out which oil to use in my next oil change. I've heard recommendations for just about everything. I'm quite confused. A friend of mine told me he used 0w-40 (mobil I assume) in his turbo cars and it made them run like a dream. I've been hearing a lot of good stuff about Pennzoil Ultra 5w-30, Rotella 5w-40, GC, Mobil 0w-40 and several others. My owners manual recommends 5w-30 and Mazda has a partnership with Castrol... I've used syntec 10w-30 for 65,000 miles with no problems (however I've never had my oil analyzed. I live in southern Ohio so the temperature ranges from below freezing in the winter to 80 and above in the summer. My car seems to use anywhere from a half quart to a full quart every 8-10k miles. Any suggestions on what oil to use? Thank you!

 

[shpankey]

The most consistently good UOA's for our car come from Rotella T6 5w40. Despite the manual calling for 5w30 there is a TSB out for our car for smoking at idle caused from too thin an oil pushing past the turbo seals causing it to smoke if at idle for a few minutes. In this TSB it is recommended to switch the car to a 5w40 to prevent this from happening. This is why many of us use it.

I've seen a LOT of UOA's for our car, which shreds oils due to the direct injection and turbo; and for this reason I highly recommend a good synthetic. Our car will shear most name brand 5w30's within a 1k miles. Though I will say, Pennzoil Platinum, despite shearing, puts up great UOA's, so that's not a bad option either. Especially in winter. But I've seen tracked Speed 3's with tons of mods go 8k miles on Rotella T6 5w40 and the oil held up astonishingly well.

I haven't seen our car with the current formula of M1 0w40, but I've not used it due to Terry Dyson's tests that show it breaking down by 1k miles in another direct injected turbo (different car though and I don't think it was with the newer formula). I've been thinking about giving it a go in the winter time as an alternate to the T6 in spring/summer/fall as it's a rather thin 40 weight. If you do try it, I'd love to hear impressions and a UOA if you do one. I think this new stuff would do pretty well myself.

But if you want a safe bet guaranteed do good in your car oil, T6 is as close to that there is.

If you're not worried about warranty. Red Line 5w30 or even 5w40, or Motul 300v would definitely do well. I've heard the turbo spools quicker on these oils due to their being mostly group V ester based oils. Also very shear resistant as they use very little or no viscosity index improvers. I've asked Dave at Red Line and he said to use their 5w30... but if your turbo smokes and/or it's summer or you have mods or track it, I would go w/ their 5w40 myself.

 

[fwise3]

thank you for the great info! do you personally have experience with the rotella?

 

[shpankey]

Yes, I've ran it a few times with great results. I just like experimenting! lol

Do a search on the mazdaspeed forums under their UOA thread and you can look at a ton of UOA's. Lots of T6 UOA's there with awesome results. It's one of the more popular oils for our car. Lots of scoobie's and evo's run it too w/ great results. Very tough oil. Very very tough. It's hard to beat for the price.

 

[BeanCounter]

I run Amsoil 0w30 in a vehicle with the same BW turbo, if that counts for much.

 

[ltslimjim]

Yes, if you're not boosting, use something like Mobil1 AFE or Amsoil SSO. 0w-30 is the best option for your car, IMO. Change it per the manual in normal service unless you drive really hard most of the time, have some kind of mechanical issue develop that affects the oil life(anitifreeze in oil, overheating, excessive driving while low on oil if you lose any etc).

 

[fwise3]

shpankey, have you had any experience with the German Castrol?

 

[shpankey]

It's what I have in it right now. I've ran it once before also. I consume a bit more of it than other oils for some reason but it does ok I guess.

 

[Eddie]

I'm running Pennzoil Platinum 5w30 in my CX7 and 3 UOAs suggest it is doing a great job. Using 6,000 mile OCI with WIX or MC/Mazda oil filters.

 

[fwise3]

Thanks shpankey, I'm going to try the Shell T6 this time around, I'm sure just about anything could be better than the 10w-30 Syntec I'm running now...

Also, Eddie, I may consider trying the Pennzoil Platinum (or Ultra) next time around, I've heard lots of great things about that oil as well!

 

[kcfx4]

i have an 08 mazda 6 2.3l and an 08 escape 2.3l, running M1 0w-20 in the mazda and Castrol Edge 5w-20 in the ford, the ford is much quieter, not to mention gets better mpgs......

 

[CATERHAM]

Originally Posted By: kcfx4
i have an 08 mazda 6 2.3l and an 08 escape 2.3l, running M1 0w-20 in the mazda and Castrol Edge 5w-20 in the ford, the ford is much quieter, not to mention gets better mpgs......

Now there's a guy after my own heart!

For the OP, the spec' oil for the Mazda 3 is a light 30wt, so even GC is heavier than specified.
Since you don't track your car I'd stick with something like PP, PU, CE or M1 5W-30. In fact, if it were my car I'd go with M1 0W-30 which would be a great choice in the winter but of course you could use year round.

 

[Eddie]

I prefer the PP 5w30 because it has the Honda turbo spec approval as does M! in 5w30. The 10w30 does not meet the Honda spec.

 

[shpankey]

Originally Posted By: CATERHAM
Originally Posted By: kcfx4
i have an 08 mazda 6 2.3l and an 08 escape 2.3l, running M1 0w-20 in the mazda and Castrol Edge 5w-20 in the ford, the ford is much quieter, not to mention gets better mpgs......

Now there's a guy after my own heart!

For the OP, the spec' oil for the Mazda 3 is a light 30wt, so even GC is heavier than specified.
Since you don't track your car I'd stick with something like PP, PU, CE or M1 5W-30. In fact, if it were my car I'd go with M1 0W-30 which would be a great choice in the winter but of course you could use year round.

Hi CATERHAM, just curious where you're reading this car specs a "light" 30 weight? I've read my manual several times and hang out on the mazda speed forums and this is the first I've heard that.

I should point out that many dealers actually put 5w40 in this engine now since the TSB came out correcting the smoking at idle issues where it was found 5w30 oil was too thin and pushing past the turbo seals in the k04 turbo. Something I myself suffer from (and many, many others).

OP, here's a good resource for some UOA's on our car. Note, your car could be suffering from this without your knowing, as for some people the 2 catalytic converters catch most of the smoke, so the problem may not reveal itself unless one or both are removed, which could lead to early cat failure. Also, due to the turbo and especially the inherent fuel dilution issues associated with direct injection, most 5w30 will quickly shear to a heavy 20 weight oil. Pennzoil Platinum will almost always do this within 1k miles, but despite that, wear numbers are usually still very good (well, as much as a cheap UOA can tell us anyhow, which is not all that good in this regard imo).

I myself like your idea of M1 0w40 as it's a light 40 weight that will likely shear into our grade anyhow. But the UOA's on Rotella T6 don't lie, and it has a very nice record for doing extremely well in our application. So that's a great choice as well. Just know our car can brutalize an oil, so I tend to side on this side of caution.

 

[fwise3]

I will have oil analyzed when I do my change this weekend, I'll post the UOA asap, and I'll have it done again after using the T6 so we can see the difference. Also, I really am interested in trying the M1 0w-40 next time around... or maybe if it goes on sale at AutoZone this weekend I might grab some for this oil change... we'll see...

 

[CATERHAM]

All Japanese OEM's that spec' a 30wt oil expect a HTHS vis >2.9cP but not much higher than 3.1cP which is on the light end of a 30wt range.
Engine wear at operating temperature does not correlate with viscosity as long as you maintain the minimum oil pressure as specified the manufacturer. The difference in wear between various oil brands has more to do with the oil's chemistry and anti-wear packages than anything else. Consiquently using a higher viscosity than specified in an engine in good condition accomplishes nothing other than a reduction in overall performance, particularly at start-up and during the warming up period.
If excessive oil is getting past the turbo seals, clearly that is a defect and the turbo should be replaced under warranty. I can understand why a dealer may choose to use a higher viscosity oil to mitigate the problem, but that is not the proper solution. This is not a lubrication issue but rather a seal issue.
Furthermore, using a heavier oil than specified in a car that doesn't have the turbo seal problem, will not prevent it from occurring, but simply mask the problem should it occur.

 

[shpankey]

Believe me, I agree!

Unfortunately, Mazda doesn't really hand out new turbo's so easily. You can really push for it, but some of the people that's got new ones only ended up right back in the same situation. Oh, and you'll probably not like my choices then, as I've ran M1 15w50 and Red Line 10w40 along with RT6. I particularly liked the 15w50 on my car, though I had my reasons for running these. They all did well imo. Drop in mpg was less than 1mpg for my driving conditions.

OP, M1 0w40 is currently on sale at AutoZone I believe, with the M1 EP filter. Though not sure if they'll give you the filter as I think ours goes above the $12.99 limit. Very interested in your UOA for both. Like you, I'm going to run it in my next run and see how it goes. I haven't seen a UOA for the recent formula on our car yet.

 

[dparm]

The Renewable Lubricants stuff seems to handle DI fuel injection very well.

 

[MCompact]

I've run M1 5W-30 in my 2007 MS3 since the 5000 mile oil change and I have no complaints. UOAs have been very good, although my car may be a bit of an outlier since fuel dilution has never been an issue.