Ok folks, did the searches, and I'm already aware that there's no best oil! Just looking for opinions on what might be suitable for me.
1. What kind of vehicle you have?
Car is a 2005 WRX. Mileage is circa 60,000 km / 36,000 miles on the odo.
2. What your owner's manual says -- not just viscosity, but certifications (look for acronyms like API SM, ILSAC GF-4, etc.) and change intervals as well
API SL, GF-4. 10W30 is recommended for the widest temperature range. However, the manual recommends higher viscos for "severe" usage.
3. Where you live
Live in the Caribbean. Ambient temps are 34-36 deg C during hot days.
4. How you drive (easy? hard? fast? slow?)
While I may not reach high top speeds, I do accelerate aggressively with this car. So I would say a "hard" driver.
5. What your daily drive is like (short trips? long trips? city? highway?)
Highway driving on mornings, heavy traffic on evenings.
6. Whether your car has any known problems
None as far as I'm aware, other than some oil burn off between oil changes (see below).
Additional notes:
a) Subarus in our country (Trinidad) are often filled with 50W oils by most local mechanics. Earlier on, I believe the dealership also used this viscosity (5W50 syntec is used by many, for example).
b) Oil choice is limited. My local choices are:
- Gulf Oil Synthetic 5W50
- Castrol Syntec 5W50 (No "edge")
- Redline 15W50/20W50
- Amsoil 20W50 (unsure as to exactly which line of Amsoil this is...eg. Series 2000)
- Total Quartz 7000 (*W50)
- Schaeffer's 9000 synth 5W50 Racing Oil
- Castrol GTX 20W50
- Shell Helix *W50
- Royal Purple 20W50 (bleh)
- Quaker State "Q Horsepower" (*W50)
- Castrol Magnatec 20W50
Put the " * "'s where I'm unsure as to what the number is.
c) This WRX, as with others around my country, does burn off some oil between oil changes. Nothing to cause smoke etc....but lets say between 0.5 - 1 qt for many owners.
d) Used 5W50 SYntec on acquisition of this car from prev owner. Added about 0.8 qt between oil change. Switched to Redline 15W50....oil loss is ALOT more. CUrrently 2/3 way thru my OCI and I've already added a quart!
e) I should add that these cars seem finicky. SOme of them like certain oils, and others HATE other ones. A friend's Forester ate up 1.2 qts of RP between Oil CHanges. Switched to Schaeffer's and now consumes less than a qt.
Bottom line - any recommendations?
1. What kind of vehicle you have?
Car is a 2005 WRX. Mileage is circa 60,000 km / 36,000 miles on the odo.
2. What your owner's manual says -- not just viscosity, but certifications (look for acronyms like API SM, ILSAC GF-4, etc.) and change intervals as well
API SL, GF-4. 10W30 is recommended for the widest temperature range. However, the manual recommends higher viscos for "severe" usage.
3. Where you live
Live in the Caribbean. Ambient temps are 34-36 deg C during hot days.
4. How you drive (easy? hard? fast? slow?)
While I may not reach high top speeds, I do accelerate aggressively with this car. So I would say a "hard" driver.
5. What your daily drive is like (short trips? long trips? city? highway?)
Highway driving on mornings, heavy traffic on evenings.
6. Whether your car has any known problems
None as far as I'm aware, other than some oil burn off between oil changes (see below).
Additional notes:
a) Subarus in our country (Trinidad) are often filled with 50W oils by most local mechanics. Earlier on, I believe the dealership also used this viscosity (5W50 syntec is used by many, for example).
b) Oil choice is limited. My local choices are:
- Gulf Oil Synthetic 5W50
- Castrol Syntec 5W50 (No "edge")
- Redline 15W50/20W50
- Amsoil 20W50 (unsure as to exactly which line of Amsoil this is...eg. Series 2000)
- Total Quartz 7000 (*W50)
- Schaeffer's 9000 synth 5W50 Racing Oil
- Castrol GTX 20W50
- Shell Helix *W50
- Royal Purple 20W50 (bleh)
- Quaker State "Q Horsepower" (*W50)
- Castrol Magnatec 20W50
Put the " * "'s where I'm unsure as to what the number is.
c) This WRX, as with others around my country, does burn off some oil between oil changes. Nothing to cause smoke etc....but lets say between 0.5 - 1 qt for many owners.
d) Used 5W50 SYntec on acquisition of this car from prev owner. Added about 0.8 qt between oil change. Switched to Redline 15W50....oil loss is ALOT more. CUrrently 2/3 way thru my OCI and I've already added a quart!
e) I should add that these cars seem finicky. SOme of them like certain oils, and others HATE other ones. A friend's Forester ate up 1.2 qts of RP between Oil CHanges. Switched to Schaeffer's and now consumes less than a qt.
Bottom line - any recommendations?
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