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What type of Motor Oil do you use?

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Old 10-12-2006, 06:59 AM
  #31  
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Mobile 1 5w-30
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Old 10-12-2006, 07:11 AM
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Neo 15w-50... might go with 15w-40 next time
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Old 10-12-2006, 07:36 AM
  #33  
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Originally Posted by blue blurr
royal purp 10w30 or redline 10w30
which do you like better? I'm trying to decide between those for my next one
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Old 10-12-2006, 08:30 AM
  #34  
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Originally Posted by UK n00b
I have always recommended 10w/30 for street cars, cars with crazy setups I always use Mobil One 15w/50.

Dan I would have for sure used nothing other than 15w/50 in your car.

Mike
I have always been on the same thought pattern

imo, you only need to use 5w-xx when you are living in areas that often see temps below 0 deg F in the winter, which definately isn't anywhere around here.
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Old 10-12-2006, 08:33 AM
  #35  
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Originally Posted by SkylineR35GTRx
Hey Kevin! If you need any help changing oil lemme know, my friend has rhino ramps here in Davis. !
MAy want to reconsider the dino ramps for an oil change. Yes, it's convenient, but unless you're draining while the car is level, you "may" not be getting all the old oil out (not that it's possible to get it "all" out). I'm sure every car is a bit different in design. Just something to consider if you're **** about it.

I've been using Modil 1 5-30 (from Costco) since Aug 2002 for my wrx. It's at 80K. No issues that I'm aware of. Stage 4 for a third of its life.

(edited w/ oil info added)

Last edited by BOOOST4; 10-12-2006 at 08:35 AM.
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Old 10-12-2006, 08:45 AM
  #36  
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Originally Posted by fd777
Not exactly...

The 0w just refers to the viscosity at cold temps - really cold (like at -20c to -40c).
The xW-30 or xW-40 refers to the viscosity at operating temps - specifically 100c.

It's very possible for a 0w-40 to be thicker than a 5w-40/10w-40 at operating temps.
It's also possible for a 0w-30 to be thicker than a 5w-30/10w-30 at operating temps.

Cool, eh?
Excuse the newb post rating...

Edit:
I use Castrol Syntec 0w-30 (Made in Germany) year-round.
If my car wasn't stock, I'd definitely use a 40 or 50 weight though.
Huh?? Unless I am really confused - the lower number is the oil's viscosity when warm and the higher number is the oil's viscosity when cold. Oil thins out when it warms. Thicker oils have higher viscosity ratings.

So 0-40 would be like water when hot, and pretty thick when cold.

I used Pennzoil 5w30 in my WRX until I switched to Mobil1 5w30 at 10k miles. I switched to 10w30 Mobil1 because my car was using oil and I was told the lower viscosity oil (the 5 in the 5w30) was getting burned up too quickly. It actually made a difference to switch..

I rarely use synthetics in N/A cars. Usually for me it's turbo - synthetic and N/A - dino. I used strictly Castrol GTX 10w30 in my RS for the 2 yrs and 20k miles I had it. My new car is N/A but it will be getting synthetic 5w40.

For an N/A 2.2 or 2.5L I would use Castrol GTX 10w30. If it's older and tired I would either switch to 20w50 or a straight non detergent 30wt dino oil.
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Old 10-12-2006, 09:07 AM
  #37  
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'05 STi-changed my own oil since day one. I have used Mobile 1 Syn 5-30 since mile 1001.
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Old 10-12-2006, 09:07 AM
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I used to use Mobil 1 5w-30 but I ended up burning off 1 qt every 3k miles. I switched to Castrol Syntec 0w-30, the german formula thats a little harder to find. I have yet to burn off any significant amount of oil between oil changes.
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Old 10-12-2006, 09:08 AM
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Originally Posted by UK n00b
I have always recommended 10w/30 for street cars, cars with crazy setups I always use Mobil One 15w/50.

Dan I would have for sure used nothing other than 15w/50 in your car.

Mike
In my mostly stock STi you would reccomend 10-30 syn?
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Old 10-12-2006, 09:11 AM
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Originally Posted by wombatsauce
Huh?? Unless I am really confused - the lower number is the oil's viscosity when warm and the higher number is the oil's viscosity when cold. Oil thins out when it warms. Thicker oils have higher viscosity ratings.

So 0-40 would be like water when hot, and pretty thick when cold.
From How Stuff Works.com, http://auto.howstuffworks.com/question164.htm

"Multi-weight oils (such as 10W-30) are a new invention made possible by adding polymers to oil. The polymers allow the oil to have different weights at different temperatures. The first number indicates the viscosity of the oil at a cold temperature, while the second number indicates the viscosity at operating temperature. This page from the Sci.Electronics.Repair FAQ offers the following very interesting description of how the polymers work:

At cold temperatures, the polymers are coiled up and allow the oil to flow as their low numbers indicate. As the oil warms up, the polymers begin to unwind into long chains that prevent the oil from thinning as much as it normally would. The result is that at 100 degrees C, the oil has thinned only as much as the higher viscosity number indicates. Another way of looking at multi-vis oils is to think of a 20W-50 as a 20 weight oil that will not thin more than a 50 weight would when hot. "
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Old 10-12-2006, 09:21 AM
  #41  
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Originally Posted by wombatsauce
Huh?? Unless I am really confused - the lower number is the oil's viscosity when warm and the higher number is the oil's viscosity when cold. Oil thins out when it warms. Thicker oils have higher viscosity ratings.
The xW is the viscosity at cold. The "W" stands for Winter.
The second numbers represent the viscosity at 100c.

Just because the 5w is smaller than the 30 (in a 5w-30), that doesn't actually imply the oil is thinner at cold temps. You're right, oil thins down as temperature increases.
It's just a misleading system that one of the established groups chose. (Maybe SAE or ATSM, I forgot who started the standard.)

Just to play with some real numbers, here are Mobil1's datasheets for 5w-30 and 10w-30.
http://www.mobil1.com/USA-English/Lu...bil1_5W-30.asp
http://www.mobil.com/USA-English/Lub...l_1_10W-30.asp

Both these numbers refer to the -30 part.
10w-30 Viscosity = cSt @ 100º C 10.0
5w-30 Viscosity = cSt @ 100º C 11.3

Clearly, 5w-30 is thicker than 10w-30 at 100c.

Originally Posted by wombatsauce
So 0-40 would be like water when hot, and pretty thick when cold.
Nope, the 40 will keep it nice a thick (relatively) when hot. The 0 will keep it nice and thin (relatively) when cold.

Originally Posted by wombatsauce
I used Pennzoil 5w30 in my WRX until I switched to Mobil1 5w30 at 10k miles. I switched to 10w30 Mobil1 because my car was using oil and I was told the lower viscosity oil (the 5 in the 5w30) was getting burned up too quickly. It actually made a difference to switch..
I've heard the same thing from many people... I suspect this has to do with other factors in the oil. (i.e. Flash Point, HTHS, Shear Stability etc.) I'm no oil expert, so I can't really explain why.

I hope I didn't make things more confusing...
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Old 10-12-2006, 09:21 AM
  #42  
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Originally Posted by STiYLIN
In my mostly stock STi you would reccomend 10-30 syn?
Yes, I would also use Mobil One over the other brands mentioned here as I have yet to see them do anything to warrant the extra expense.

We used to pony up for the Motul Compitition stuff for the race cars and found the Mobil One 15w/50 to work every bit as well and save us over $50 a oil change.

Mike
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Old 10-12-2006, 09:28 AM
  #43  
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I run redline just because its easier to get locally to where i live then royal purple but from what i have read redline royal purple and mobil one are the 3 top rated synthetic oils on the market.
you can get mobile one at any kragen store so if thats close then run that
BTW castrol syntec sucks stay away from that sh**. it just burns.
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Old 10-12-2006, 09:32 AM
  #44  
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I now use Mobil Clean 7500 10/30w, change every 6k. I used to use regular Mobil 1 10/30w, and changed every 3k when I used to autox, rallyx, etc.

I am doing both of my cars this weekend.
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Old 10-12-2006, 09:40 AM
  #45  
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Mobil1 10w30

Its on the damn oil cap
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