Oil recommandation for 2004 Subaru WRX STi

[my2004sti]

Year: 2004
Make: Subaru
Model: WRX STi
Notes: power was upgraded to stage 2.

This is my weekend car, I drive it mostly in the summer, but sometimes in the winter as well. If I don't drive it much in winter months, I start it up and let it run for a bit.

I bought the car new and followed the break in procedures and the car is running really well.

I did the first oil change around 1300 miles and started using Mobile 1 full synthetic 5W-30 for 4 years until I heard it was too thin, so I switched to 10W-30. Oil gets changed every 3.5 months, only subaru filters are used (black ones), all other maintenance is performed by my friend who is a retired Toyota Master mechanic. Nobody else touches this car.

People tell me 10W-30 doesn't provide startup protection, but then others say 5W-30 is "too thin" or something.

I tried to do some reading on the subject and I see a lot of opinions in a lot of forums and it gets confusing.

In anycase, I live in Northern California and just need some advice if I should change the brand/viscosity or not. As mentioned, the car doesn't have any issues. I let it warm up really well when I start it plus I have an oil pressure gauge, so I don't get into boost until everything is warmed up.

RedLine oil is local here, I thought of trying them.

Any suggestions are appreciated.

 

[d00df00d]

A good 10w-30 synthetic will be just fine on a cold start in California. A 5w-30 will be better, though.

Mobil 1 5w-30 is slightly on the thin side for a 30 weight, but it's still a good oil. I wouldn't sweat having used it. 10w-30 won't be much better for you if at all.

If you really want to try something new, Red Line is a good alternative. Their 5w-30 would work very well for you.

 

[my2004sti]

Thank you, I will give RedLine 5W-30 a shot next time.

 

[Johnny]

to BITOG

 

[dbvettez061]

'People' generally don't know what they speak of......Too thin, how many time have we heard that term here..Ignore it, got with a premium syn 10 30 and sleep well at night...

 

[my2004sti]

LOL, ya you hear all this stuff and you sit there and go like:

so you say 10W-30? grrrrrrr he said 5w-30....haha.....here we go again....

 

[my2004sti]

Thank you Sir.

 

[Johnny]

When you do drive this car, how do you drive it? Do you drive it like a WRX STi was meant to be driven, or do you baby it?

 

[d00df00d]

What dbvettez061 is saying is that a good 10w-30 will be fine. I agree, especially if it's Mobil 1 or Red Line or another good synthetic brand.

I just think a good 5w-30 would be better. Honestly, there isn't too much difference. I'm just a lot pickier than your average person, especially about cold performance.

This is a complex topic, so you're going to get a lot of opinions. I guarantee someone's going to come in here at some point and say you should use a diesel oil or some kind of 40-weight. They have good arguments, too. As always, the best thing to do is to get as many opinions as possible, do you research, and pick accordingly.

 

[chestermo]

I use GC 0w30 in my S60. It has the hi pressure turbo and I like the fact that this oil is in the thicker range of a 30 weight oil.

Also, remember all 30 weight oils are in the same viscosity range at operating temp whether they are 0, 5 or 10w30.

 

[Solo2driver]

I would not use M1 5w-30....even without the intarweb rumor mill, not very many great UOA's on it and plenty of spun bearings in Subaru turbo engines.

German Castrol 0w-30, Shell Rotella T Synthetic 5w-40, Redline 5w-40 are all great choices and have shown great UOA's on this web site and NASIOC.

 

[sicko]

Originally Posted By: Solo2driver
German Castrol 0w-30, Shell Rotella T Synthetic 5w-40, Redline 5w-40 are all great choices and have shown great UOA's on this web site and NASIOC.


+1

 

[scoobie]

look at the published viscosity figures. an oil like NAPA full synthetic and Valvoline full synthetic are nice and heavy for 5w30.
also read Dr. Haas's articles on oil under the "interesting articles" sticky part of the forum: He will tell you that always a 5w30 oil of the same make is always superior to a 10w30 oil. Any name brand, full synthetic 5w30 will be excellent for the Subaru. Because I have an NA 2.5 flat four, I can get away with using Dino oil, and I actually use a 50:50 mix of 5w20:5w30, conventional 20 and synthetic 30. My engine runs great, and uses zero oil between 5000 mile changes. I use that mix in all of my cars and trucks, and I usually run a dino/synth mix. And usually I shop by price.

 

[my2004sti]

Most time, I baby it. I will open it up every now and then, but only after the oil pressure and coolant temp is where it should be.

I usually shift around 3000-4000, I don't get into full boost if it's not needed. The car is running about 18 psi, it's stage 2 and custom tuned on the dyno etc.

 

[Johnny]

These fellows came in 2nd in the Koni Challenge at the 24 Hours of Daytona. They use Mobil 1 10W-30 in the engine and Mobil 1 75W-90 for their gear oil. Seems to work well for them.

http://www.phoenixperformance.net/srrt%2...son-opener.html

 

[my2004sti]

Originally Posted By: Solo2driver
I would not use M1 5w-30....even without the intarweb rumor mill, not very many great UOA's on it and plenty of spun bearings in Subaru turbo engines.

German Castrol 0w-30, Shell Rotella T Synthetic 5w-40, Redline 5w-40 are all great choices and have shown great UOA's on this web site and NASIOC.


I like to stick to the manual. The manual says 5W-30 is fine in all temperatures. It then says I can use 10W-30 or 10W-40 if the temperature doesn't go below 0 degrees (F)

I do know that alot of people run the 0W-30....but I don't see the manual talking about this stuff.

 

[e55amgbenz007]

I ran GC in my 01 E55 for several OCI's.

 

[my2004sti]

Alright, so what does the 0 mean then?

 

[tropic]

It means the oil must be pumpable at -40°C, where "pumpable" means an absolute viscosity of less than 60,000 cP.

 

[my2004sti]

Ok I did a quick search on google, seems like a lot of people are raving about the GC, people with Corvettes, VW's, Nissans etc.