ok, I have 900 miles on my motor, I need an oil change, how many of your are running synthetic oils? any specific brand?
anyone running Mobil One synthetic oil?

I am. Switched over at 1100 miles. Car has only got 12K now, but runs great and hasn't lost a drop of oil between the two oil changes I've done so far(5K, 10K). Go for it.

I also switched at 1000. I "broke my car in" through some hard driving and varying RPM and the oil consumption is little to none in between oil changes. If I had to do it again, I'd drive the car the same but keep dino oil in for a good while longer.

Wrong forum buddy, I'll move this to the right forum and inside the FAQ/Threads of Note post there is a wonderful write up on oil, I suggest you read it.

I did dino at 2750 and 4750. Switched to Mobil 1 5W-30 at 6880. So far, so good.

I did dino at 2750 and 4750. Switched to Mobil 1 5W-30 at 6880. So far, so good.
Although if you run over 4k miles on M1 5W30 in FL in July and August, I'm willing to bet the viscosity will shear down to a 20 weight or very close to it. The current GF-4 spec M1 is slightly thicker so it is some improvement over the GF-3 stuff at least.

-Dennis

Although if you run over 4k miles on M1 5W30 in FL in July and August, I'm willing to bet the viscosity will shear down to a 20 weight or very close to it. The current GF-4 spec M1 is slightly thicker so it is some improvement over the GF-3 stuff at least.

I've never gone over 3200 between Mobil 1 changes, so not a problem. :)

You have me looking at Mobil's web site again. I can't find the Mobil Racing 0W-30 on there anymore. Wonder if they dropped it? I actually have some of that in my car right now and am going to send it out for testing, though if I can never buy that again, maybe there is no point in knowing how it is performing. Hmm...

ok, I have 900 miles on my motor, I need an oil change....
Why do you need an oil change at only 900 miles? Anyhow, there are quite a few threads on this already, but I would use conventional oil for the first 5000 - 6000 miles.

You have me looking at Mobil's web site again. I can't find the Mobil Racing 0W-30 on there anymore. Wonder if they dropped it?
I heard it's been discontinued.

I heard it's been discontinued.

Oh well. Guess I'm going to try Mobil 1 Extended Performance 5W-30 this weekend. I just wish it was a tiny smidge thicker. Closer to Redline 5W-30.

...but I would use conventional oil for the first 5000 - 6000 miles.
I switched at 7,500 miles. I'm now at 22,000 miles and my last analysis showed that my engine is still breaking in. The wear metals are dropping, but they're not quite down to "normal" levels yet.

...I can't find the Mobil Racing 0W-30 on there anymore. Wonder if they dropped it?
I think it was dropped when the EP came out.

-Dennis

I just wish it was a tiny smidge thicker. Closer to Redline 5W-30.
Why not just run something thicker, like the RL or German Castrol Syntec 0W30?

-Dennis

I have been tempted to try the RedLine. Might do it one of these changes. Is there a good site to order the German Castrol?

I have been tempted to try the RedLine. Might do it one of these changes. Is there a good site to order the German Castrol?
If you can't locate the German Castrol locally (AutoZone) I'd probably go with something else that is easier to source, I heard GC costs an arm-and-a-leg to mail-order (mentioned on BITOG forum).

Lots of work. Think I am going to use the Extended Performance Mobil 1 and have it tested. If I don't like the results I'll move to Redline.

well for one, i would never run synthetic oil THAT early in the engine's life, I would use good ol' Castrol GTX.

but for synthetic I use M1 10w30, wonderful stuff. Although if you live in somewhat colder climates, you might want to stick with 5w30.

Not sure why you would bother changing the oil so soon but I just did my first oil change at 3750 and I put in Castrol Syntec. No problems at all. Runs great.

My 2000 Forester factory recomendation for the first oil change was 3,000 miles and NOT before 1,000 miles. I split the difference and changed over to Mobil 1 at ~2200 miles. I now have 91,000 trouble free miles and do a 5,000 miles OCI. My engine consumes about 6 oz of oil per 5000 mile change. Too many feel they have more experience than the factory engineers and change out the factory fill much too early. Several on this NG have had the factory fill oil analysed and found extra moly and stuff to assist in obtaining a good broken in engine.

Too many feel they have more experience than the factory engineers and change out the factory fill much too early. Several on this NG have had the factory fill oil analysed and found extra moly and stuff to assist in obtaining a good broken in engine.
While I agree that switching to synthetic should probably be postponed until 10k or so miles if you're running it longer than 3k mile intervals (that's a benefit of switching in the first place), I now believe it's no harm in changing the factory fill to another dino before 3k depending on the application.

After seeing a UOA on an FXT factory fill, and on Andy H's STi with a synthetic blend with under 3k on the oil, there are a few cases where the oil sheared down to a 20 weight. Outside of N. America I don't think you'll see 5W30 as the preferred oil weight for an STi. My FXT's (as did my WRX and probably the STi) owner's manual says that 5W30 is preferred for fuel economy and that a thicker viscosity is required for higher temps and severe driving. A lot of people miss that IMO.

You can search around and use something like Havoline that contains a good shot of moly. 5W30 just doesn't cut it in every application in every Subaru in N. America. Hey, we gotta keep those CAFE requirements in check regardless if there are people driving around with an oil that sheared down to a 20 weight. :D Is there any harm in driving around with a 20 weight? I don't know and I don't want to be the one that finds out. :)

-Dennis