oil recommendation

[mors]

Hello,

First post here. I was hoping to get a recommendation on what oil I should use in my car. I own a 2009 Mazda3 2.3L engine with about 14,000 miles. I live in Michigan so the weather gets fairly cold in the winter. I have always used the oil from my dealership thus far for the car. My owners manual recommends SAE 5W-20 ILSAC. I was thinking maybe a synthetic oil would be best since it gets cold in the winter, but I am unsure what weight to get or what brands (if it matters). Oh, and I am a pretty aggressive driver...fast and hard. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[CarbonSteel]

Welcome to BITOG! I am guessing some of the gang will recommend a good 0W-20 synthetic (due to the cold temps that you are in) such as M1 or the like. Of course, you cannot go wrong with any of the synthetics--M1, Pennzoil, Kendall, Amsoil, Royal Purple...

 

[Quest]

to OP:

all 5W20 are, in technical terms, Group II+ meaning that it already contains a portion of syn base oil as blend.

Unless $$$ is no object and you are eternally anayl about motor oil, otherwise, no need to fuss about full syn 5W20.

Also: how cold can you get? (I in Saskatchewan/mid-BC for years and to me 5W20/5W30 is more than enough to deal with all situations, even w/o block heater in -40C )

Q.

 

[mongo161]

If you want to use conventional Dino oil then a good option is PYB, (Pennzoil Yellow Bottle) in 05W-20 or 05w30. If you go to Walmart and use the Kmart store-wide sales ad for this week. The sale price is good until 12/06 and WalMart will honor the Kmart sale price as long as you bring in a print out of the Ad. This is a good option if you want to pick up some quarts of PYB API-SN for $2.40 a quart. It seems that most of the other retailers and auto parts stores are still trying to unload their inventory of PYB API-SM with the exception of Walmart that has the SN right on the shelf.

That is only if you want a great quality Dino oil that will give you at least 6K miles of service until the next oil change.

Welcome to BITOG and Good Luck in making your selection.

 

[Kuato]

0w20 synthetic would be my call, if it's allowed under warranty.