Oil change question

[KW521]

I just bought a brand new(8 miles on it when i drove it off the lot) 2011 Impreza OBS. I was wondering with a brand new car(never owned a 100% new car before) do I change the oil at the normal 2500-3000 or after the break in period at 1k. Also im quite meticulous about oil changes in my previous turbo Subarus and would change every 2500 with full synthetic. Can you go a little longer with synthetic in a N/A Subaru.(chances are ill still do it at 2500 w/synthetic though) Curious on your opinions. Thanks

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[Wrencher86]

Read and follow your owners manual.

Given your location I would follow the "Severe" maintenance schedule., oil changes every 3750 miles. Personally I don't think you need synthetic in most cars unless a) it's what the manufacturer calls for or b) you're trying to stretch the oil change intervals out. Any quality, name-brand conventional oil should hold up just fine as long as you're not flogging the thing constantly.

[KW521]

I don't flog the car at all. Lol it's slow and do not need to drive it that way haha. But I am fairly meticulous so is it fine to change it every 3k with synthetic? It shouldn't hurt it. If anything it should be good for it.

[Wrencher86]

It won't hurt anything but your wallet.

[blackfang]

If you want to change it with synthetic, feel free. It will only hurt the bank account. I don't run synthetic in either of my cars and 1 of them see's the strip from time to time. Severe service is 3750 miles, not 3,000.

[n2oiroc]

i do full synthetic every 5,000 miles and did the first change at 1,000 miles to dino oil then ran that until 5k. could go well past 5,000 but its nice and easy to just change it to full synthetic at 5k, 10k, 15k, etc. and rotate the tires at the same time.

[TheViking85]

Well in my 06 2,5i I plan on following the Manufacturers spec, with Synthetic, which means changes every 7500 miles.

If my 1,3 Corolla could make it through bad driving and rough Norwegian winter on 9000 mile changes I'm sure the Subaru can make 7,5k. The 3k mile change is a myth.

[williaty]

My personal opinion is to not follow the recommendations at all. I'm getting better results doing a harsh break in (I've posted the procedure several times but it amounts to a very controlled/specific way of beating the crap out of it) with oil changes at 20mi, 200mi, and 2000mi before starting a normal oil change schedule.

[nasiocjunkie]

keep with maintenance schedule and you'll be fine.

[chazly413]

You'd be so fine running at least 4000 mile intervals. Anything else is a waste of money. I'm also about to switch back to conventional because I don't see the point of synthetic if I don't drive hard a lot nor have a turbo.

[BDZ]

2006 2.5i owned since new. Now has 125k.
Oil changes since new at min 7500 mile max 11,000 mile increments.

Oil sample analysis of Valvoline 5W30 Synpower with Purolator Pureone filter at 92,000 miles suggested 7k mile intervals could be stretched to 9k with no adverse effects. All wear metals read at or better than average.

Vehicle usage ~70 miles per day mixed 2 lane and interstate.
OIl change intervals =winter 8,500 miles, summer 9,500 miles

Currently maintaining similar schedule with our 2008 2.5 OBS.

[subi400]

If you haven't taken a look at the Shell Rotella T6 oil, then you should. That stuff is awesome in the boxer engines and it is pretty cheap too! It would be about the same as a conventional now.

[KW521]

Never heard of it actually. I was planing on royal purple, mobile 1, or castrol syntec

[BDZ]

Subaru recomends 5w-30 API service SM; ILSAC standard GF-4.
Synthetic is not mandatory nor even suggested by subaru.

If you drive at high rpm, or high load conditions synthetic may be beneficial.

With easy driving and oil changes at 7,500miles or less you can pretty much pick any off the shelf conventional that meets the above standards and never notice a difference.

[vicious_fishes]

i'd personally change every 5k.

and i'd put some 40 weight in.

[n2oiroc]

Originally Posted by KW521

Never heard of it actually. I was planing on royal purple, mobile 1, or castrol syntec

i tried mobil 1, peenzoil ultra and finally castrol 0W30 euro formula. without a doubt it runs the best on the castrol.

[chazly413]

Originally Posted by vicious_fishes

i'd personally change every 5k.

and i'd put some 40 weight in.

The 40 weight benefits on a turbo don't really carryover to the NA. It just gives you thicker oil than you need.

[treksofar]

Originally Posted by KW521

Never heard of it actually. I was planing on royal purple, mobile 1, or castrol syntec

If anything, do NOT use Royal Purple. Yes it's a great lubricant but the composition of the oil makes is highly susceptible to being consumed via blow-by. I ran it once and I lost 2 quarts of the stuff by 3k miles.

[Wrencher86]

Originally Posted by n2oiroc

i tried mobil 1, peenzoil ultra and finally castrol 0W30 euro formula. without a doubt it runs the best on the castrol.

Define "runs better"...

[n2oiroc]

Originally Posted by Wrencher86

Define "runs better"...

less valvetrain noise and it seemed to idle smoother. sounds hard to believe that oil would make any difference, but it seemed to in my case. i have nothing against mobil 1. heck, i run it in my evo.

[Wrencher86]

Just curious. Makes sense.

[RaceFaceXC]

Originally Posted by n2oiroc

less valvetrain noise and it seemed to idle smoother. sounds hard to believe that oil would make any difference, but it seemed to in my case. i have nothing against mobil 1. heck, i run it in my evo.

I was using M1 and it really quieted the engine compared to the factory fill and first dealer change. I had used M1 for two changes and switched due to consumption. I also sent a sample for UOA and the results were poor as far as the oil maintaining its integrity. What's even worse is that I had added just under 2qts over the 4500 miles that I ran it and it was still completely sheared and had a laughable viscosity index.

I am now using a real fully synthetic oil and the valves are loud again but the UOA results are impressive and so is the lack of consumption. So don't put to much weight on how quiet the oil makes the engine or how it makes it "feel"

[williaty]

The amount of valvetrain noise will be highly influenced by the HT/HS Viscosity of the oil. Higher HTHS runs quieter.

[n2oiroc]

Originally Posted by RaceFaceXC

I was using M1 and it really quieted the engine compared to the factory fill and first dealer change. I had used M1 for two changes and switched due to consumption. I also sent a sample for UOA and the results were poor as far as the oil maintaining its integrity. What's even worse is that I had added just under 2qts over the 4500 miles that I ran it and it was still completely sheared and had a laughable viscosity index.

I am now using a real fully synthetic oil and the valves are loud again but the UOA results are impressive and so is the lack of consumption. So don't put to much weight on how quiet the oil makes the engine or how it makes it "feel"

i agree, but the 0W30 euro castrol has proven to be about the best when it comes to uoa's.

[williaty]

Originally Posted by n2oiroc

i agree, but the 0W30 euro castrol has proven to be about the best when it comes to uoa's.

German Castrol. There's Belgian Castrol as well and it's not as good.


And the UOA's don't prove one oil is better than another. That's not possible from that kind of testing.