2015 Subaru Forester, which oil to use?

[JTK]

John, it says right in the OM on my 2016 Forster that 5w30 or 5w40 can be used if 0w20 is not available, but it "should" be changed out for 0w20 at your next oil change.

It does say in the manual that 0w20 is "required for best performance". Nothing about it being required to maintain your engine warranty. To me, it's ludicrous to pay for $60-70 for a 0w20 oil change at a Subaru dealer, only to dump it at 6000mi. People do it all day long. Obviously you can do it for half that by yourself.

FWIW, I've used 0w20, 5w20 and 5w30 in my 0w20 "required" Subarus.

 

[bluesubie]

Originally Posted By: MoneyJohn

The owner's manual states I should use 0W-20 oil but over Forester forum, folks are using all ranges of viscosity, most common being 5W-30. I found occasional mentions of 0W-40 or 10W-30.

Like BITOG is any different!

As long as you don't have any crazy usage, I'd just stick with Pennzoil/Castrol/Mobil1/Quaker State 0W20 from Wal Mart.

Originally Posted By: y_p_w

I still wonder about my car - a 2004 WRX. I've heard it came from the factory with some special 5W-40 that can't be bought in the US.

The cars that spec 0W20 come with a factory fill made by Idemitsu that has higher levels of ZDDP and moly. The cars that spec 5W30 come with possibly a thicker version of the same oil. I say possibly because any Subaru 5W-30 factory fill always comes back as a 20 grade. I suspect the 5W-30 factory fill is engineered to shear to a 20 grade from the moment they first turn the key (for fuel economy purposes)! You cannot buy either oil anywhere since the factory fill is usually different from the dealer service fill. Another disclaimer with "usually" since the UOA's have been coming back all over the place lately (high moly/low moly, high ZDDP/low ZDDP).

 

[SatinSilver]

Any oil that they stock at Walmart except for the Supertech will be good for the Forester. Not that ST is bad by any means. The other name brands they stock seem to have more additives in them for only a few bucks more.

 

[TiredTrucker]

Unless I lived in some extreme cold conditions, I would just use 5w20 if I was using a 20w oil. Don't see any appreciable advantage to using 0w20, and even for warranty, the dealer or OEM couldn't tell the difference. But that being said, if there was any hint in a manual about a higher vis oil being ok, even it only recommended on high ambient temp days, I would probably just stick with it year round. So a 5w30 would probably be my choice. But I am not the OP, so that choice really doesn't mean much.

 

[y_p_w]

Originally Posted By: TiredTrucker
Unless I lived in some extreme cold conditions, I would just use 5w20 if I was using a 20w oil. Don't see any appreciable advantage to using 0w20, and even for warranty, the dealer or OEM couldn't tell the difference. But that being said, if there was any hint in a manual about a higher vis oil being ok, even it only recommended on high ambient temp days, I would probably just stick with it year round. So a 5w30 would probably be my choice. But I am not the OP, so that choice really doesn't mean much.

I think Toyota doubles their OCI if 0W-20 is used. It's of course implied that 0W-20 will generally be a more stable synthetic oil, although there are synthetic 5W-20s out there.

 

[SubieMovie]

I've personally been running Castrol with very good results in my Crosstrek. I ran Magnatec and I'm now on Edge (less than a hundred in) and the engine is extremely quiet. Their rebates have been decent and I think with Edge and OEM filter, it came to $36 on Amazon.

Even if you don't take advantage of any rebates, it beats paying the dealer $180 for oil changes a year (2x6k). Most places want 70-90 dollars for an oil change.

Whatever you do just make sure to stick with OEM filters as the PSI is different compared to most.

As I asked in a previous topic, it seems that most don't really do an extended OCI on the Crosstrek, and I don't want to risk it either (even if you get a little lazy).

I think it could potentially be safe based on the UOAs, but why risk it.

I used M1 AFE, QSUD, and both Castrol products. Right now, it seems like the car runs super quiet on both Castrol oils.

M1 ran really loud for whatever reason.. QSUD was quiet, but was always loud for a split second at startup.

Right now I'd say

1. Castrol
2. QSUD (It was like $13 after the rebate!, for a 6k oil, that's dirt cheap)
3. M1 AFE

 

[Flashlightboy]

So much angst.

The M1 Oil Selector prominently recommends, among others, AFE 0/30.

Seems to me that if Mobil recommends the oil and we around here do like it too, it would satisfy the high temps and high film thickness that is being debated.

Available at Wally World is a plus.

 

[Cooper]

I like Pennzoil Platinum 0w20 in my wife's Forester. It has been almost always had Pennzoil Platinum 0w20 for almost 80k miles. I have the same vehicle as you do, but a 14 Forester 2.5. It has done very well with Pennzoil Platinum. Just make sure to check the levels in the morning after it has set over night on a regular basis. They are known to burn a little oil. Mine really only burns about half a quart in 5k miles. But, I have heard of some severe oil burning in these. Pretty much any full synthetic 0w20 will work. I use Fram Ultra filters in mine.