Oil reccomendation for 2011 NA Subaru Forester

[Hollow]

If you can find it, I would say Quaker State Ultimate Durability would be one of the best values. About $19 for the jug at WalMart.
Or for a few $$ more Pennzoil Platinum at about $23.

I admit to being a fan of SOPUS products, although I have Valvoline products in my AT and diffs at present.

 

[WagonBoss]

The UOA's on the NA EJ25 engine did well on just about any brand - how that might transfer to the new design is a guess at this point. Any of the major brands should do well. If I had to chose I'd probably consider the Subaru oil, toyotas 0w-20 or Castrol Edge 0W-20 - whichever was the cheapest.

 

[bodeh6]

Here is the manual recommendation


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[steve20]

I would use the Subie 0-20 oil without thinking twice.

As far as this goes
"""That way if there are any engine issues they cannot finger you for not following recommended specs."""

IF I was fingered at the dealer, I would leave

 

[chevman4life]

You do realize there is a Federal Law stating that if car manufacturers want you to use a certain oil, product etc that they cannot void your warranty unless the product/service is provided Free to the customer. I have used 0w30 in my Ram from the first oil change, no issues, better mileage, and not one person has said anything when I've had it at the dealer about what oil I'm using. All engines have tight tolerances these days and for years. 20 wt is all about emissions regardless of what any pencil pushing engineer has to say about it. Just think about to when 5/30 came out, this same thing went on. Go 200k with 20wt on one engine and one with 30wt and lets see how well that 20wt protected that engine against wear, especially in a hot Texas summer. Oh, yes and my Ram runs cooler on 0w30 than the factory fill 5w20.

 

[webfors]

Originally Posted By: HollowEyes
Originally Posted By: webfors
Subaru engines will run on anything, including the new FB. I would use a good synthetic 30 weight.


And you suggest ignoring the factory spec because?


Recipe for success:

1. Take everything into consideration.

2. Do your own research.

3. Mix in some common sense.

4. Come to a reasonable conclusion.

0w20 is pushed hard for emissions and fuel economy. I have no doubt it would protect well for those who wish to use it. But I am *NOT* going to punish an H4 the way I do with a 20 weight.

 

[Rudyjr]

I e-mailed Castrol just to see what they would say about which product of theirs that they thought would be suitable. Their response was somewhat surprising. They stated that at this time they did not have a product that they could reccomend for a 2011. Kind of a curious response i thought.

 

[bluesubie]

Use whatever I recommended on the Forester board.

As you mentioned, there's not much data on the FB engine. As others have mentioned, the n/a EJ engines do well on any 5W-30 so the FB will probably do well on any 0W-20.

-Dennis

 

[SubLGT]

Looks like Subaru has increased the sump capacity by 1 quart? Now 5.5 quart instead of 4.5 quart, as in the previous generation? Am I right about this?

 

[Xstang]

Originally Posted By: SubLGT
Looks like Subaru has increased the sump capacity by 1 quart? Now 5.5 quart instead of 4.5 quart, as in the previous generation? Am I right about this?


From my understanding, the EJ25 (and most other non-turbos) takes 4.35 quarts, while the turbo (EJ205 and EJ255) takes 4.8 quarts.

 

[Rudyjr]

Originally Posted By: Xstang
Originally Posted By: SubLGT
Looks like Subaru has increased the sump capacity by 1 quart? Now 5.5 quart instead of 4.5 quart, as in the previous generation? Am I right about this?


From my understanding, the EJ25 (and most other non-turbos) takes 4.35 quarts, while the turbo (EJ205 and EJ255) takes 4.8 quarts.


The 2011 non turbo FB motor is 5.5 US quarts.

 

[bluesubie]

Originally Posted By: Xstang
Originally Posted By: SubLGT
Looks like Subaru has increased the sump capacity by 1 quart? Now 5.5 quart instead of 4.5 quart, as in the previous generation? Am I right about this?


From my understanding, the EJ25 (and most other non-turbos) takes 4.35 quarts, while the turbo (EJ205 and EJ255) takes 4.8 quarts.

That includes the oil filter and the manual usually does not include the oil filter. I believe the FB is 5.5 not including the filter.

-Dennis

 

[SubLGT]

Originally Posted By: bluesubie
........... I believe the FB is 5.5 not including the filter.

-Dennis


On page 3 of this thread was posted the page from the OM, stating 5.5 quarts for an oil change that includes the filter. On my 2.5L EJ255 turbo engine, it is 4.5 quarts for an oil change, including the filter.

Are we that far away from getting 5.5 quart containers of oil at Walmart?

We already have 4.0, 5.0 and 5.1 quart containers.

 

[Rudyjr]

Originally Posted By: bluesubie
Originally Posted By: Xstang
Originally Posted By: SubLGT
Looks like Subaru has increased the sump capacity by 1 quart? Now 5.5 quart instead of 4.5 quart, as in the previous generation? Am I right about this?


From my understanding, the EJ25 (and most other non-turbos) takes 4.35 quarts, while the turbo (EJ205 and EJ255) takes 4.8 quarts.

That includes the oil filter and the manual usually does not include the oil filter. I believe the FB is 5.5 not including the filter.

-Dennis

5.5 including the filter as per the manual and that is what I used yesterday in mine. It is right at full on the dipstick

 

[cavitating]

Originally Posted By: chevman4life
You do realize there is a Federal Law stating that if carmanufacturers want you to use a certain oil, product etc that they cannot void your warranty unless the product/service is provided Free to the customer. I have used 0w30 in my Ram from the first oil change, no issues, better mileage, and not one person has said anything when I've had it at the dealer about what oil I'm using. All engines have tight tolerances these days and for years. 20 wt is all about emissions regardless of what any pencil pushing engineer has to say about it. Just think about to when 5/30 came out, this same thing went on. Go 200k with 20wt on one engine and one with 30wt and lets see how well that 20wt protected that engine against wear, especially in a hot Texas summer. Oh, yes and my Ram runs cooler on 0w30 than the. factory fill 5w20.


What you are saying is partially true. The Magnusson-Moss Act specifies that if a manufacturer requires that you use a specific brand, oil in this case, in order for them to honor the warranty, then the manufacturer has to provide that oil free. Requering a specific viscosity and API, SAE or other ratings is perfectly OK
My 2011 Forester did not use a drop of oil before the first oil change at about 3000 miles. The dealer changed the oil and used Subaru 0W-20 and that was over 1500 miles ago and it is still full. I have free oil changes for the first year, the next one will
be at 7,500 and from there on, every 7,500 miles. I wll do oil changes between dealer changes since towing a trailer in Florida and shprt trips fall under severe the severe maintenance schedule.

I am not an automotive engineer so, I go by what Subaru recommends after all, they designed it and warrant it.

 

[DR Racing]

Have the car manufactures tested 20w out to 20 years and 300k miles of consumer use? No they have not!!! I will keep 30w in my cars until the day comes when we all know the long term effects of 20w oils. Dan

 

[Al]

Originally Posted By: DR Racing
Have the car manufactures tested 20w out to 20 years and 300k miles of consumer use? No they have not!!! I will keep 30w in my cars until the day comes when we all know the long term effects of 20w oils. Dan

Oil analysis suggests that there will be little if any difference.

 

[DR Racing]

Originally Posted By: Al
Originally Posted By: DR Racing
Have the car manufactures tested 20w out to 20 years and 300k miles of consumer use? No they have not!!! I will keep 30w in my cars until the day comes when we all know the long term effects of 20w oils. Dan

Oil analysis suggests that there will be little if any difference.


Thanks you have made my point. If 20w does not improve the wear numbers then why run it. As many have said before 20w is about cafe standards and emissions and not about what is best for my engine. If it's not broken why fix it.

The film strength and hths of 30w oil is better than 20w and sometimes whole story on a change does not become fully known till years latter (Cigarette smoking comes to mind). I am not saying 20w is bad I am just going to take a wait and see approach. I have read the 101 article and I just don't see it the writers way. Dan

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: DR Racing
Have the car manufactures tested 20w out to 20 years and 300k miles of consumer use? No they have not!!! I will keep 30w in my cars until the day comes when we all know the long term effects of 20w oils.


Sure they have. There's been real world testing with such weights and miles. There are a lot of taxis and police interceptors in North America that have used 5w-20 and been retired on that weight, with engines in perfect working order.

With respect to your vehicles, however, I'd agree with you. The makes and vintages suggest thicker oil. I'm not going to try 5w-20 in a Ferrari anytime soon, nor would I use it in my old Audi (even though it's within the acceptable range). I would use it without question in a vehicle for which it has been specified as the primary or sole viscosity.

 

[cavitating]

Originally Posted By: Garak
Originally Posted By: DR Racing
Have the car manufactures tested 20w out to 20 years and 300k miles of consumer use? No they have not!!! I will keep 30w in my cars until the day comes when we all know the long term effects of 20w oils.


Sure they have. There's been real world testing with such weights and miles. There are a lot of taxis and police interceptors in North America that have used 5w-20 and been retired on that weight, with engines in perfect working order.

With respect to your vehicles, however, I'd agree with you. The makes and vintage suggest thicker oil. I'm not going to try 5w-20 in a Ferrari anytime soon, nor would I
use it in my old Audi (even though it's within the acceptable range). I would use it without question in a vehicle for which it has been specified as the primary or sole viscosity.


Go to the link below and you will have a better understanding of oil viscosities, why it can make sense to use a 0W-20 in a Ferrari and possibly your Audi.
http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/motor-oil-101/