Chevron 5W30 Dino, 2009 Subaru Legacy 2.5i 6244 mi

[aigochamaloh]

Pretty happy about this one. I had two autocrosses on this oil, and one hard track day in September, where it was hot enough that coolant came out of the expansion bottle. Temp gauge was getting up there, and I was even worried about a BHG, but no signs of it during driving and looks like nothing in the oil.

 

[Scienceman]

Great! you have one great car!

 

[aigochamaloh]

^Thanks! I do love the car.

One thing I wonder about is the shearing of the oil down to a 5W20 level consistently. I have only used Chevron and Shell dino and they both do this. Seems like it doesn't matter about the OCI. Am I actually getting 5W30 in the bottles I buy?

 

[ThirdeYe]

Yes, but Chevron/Havoline run thin to begin with.

 

[FZ1]

Very nice wearing engine. 6k oci.

 

[Patman]

Great results! I wouldn't change a thing.

 

[bluesubie]

Nice uoa! Most Energy Conserving 30 grades will shear to a 20 grade in a Subaru with hard driving. A High Mileage oil may be a little more shear stable, but you have good results there.

-Dennis

 

[defektes]

chevron is really thin to start with. Usually why I use it in the winter! great UOA!

what filter are you using?

 

[Button]

Why not try a 10W-30?

 

[Patman]

Originally Posted By: Button
Why not try a 10W-30?


I can't see what he would gain with that, even with the 5w30 thinning down it's not hurting the engine by the looks of things. And the 5w30 is definitely the better choice in the cold months (even in CA I know it gets cold overnight).

 

[WagonBoss]

Thanks. Looks like a good report. The 2.5i seems to do very well on conventional 5w-30 as this is about the 3d UOA I've seen recently with good results. Shearing only seems to help my mileage. Recent trip to Grandma's house on fresh OCI of NAPA synthetic was about 25.5 MPG. Right at the 1200 mile mark mileage jumped to 28.7 on the computer. I noticed a x-40 weight oil seemed a little sluggish last summer for the first 500 miles or so. I think I would be nervous about tracking on 5w-30.

 

[aigochamaloh]

I have always used OEM Subaru filters. Using the blue ones now.

I get right around 26 mpg and that's with my harsh driving. I have gotten 31 mpg on one tank before though, and I was content with that.

I wasn't expecting to be a quart low though at around 5k miles. It never happened before on the previous OCI's. I'm going to have to keep track of the level more often.

I will definitely push it to 7500 now and see how the UOA comes out. No wonder manufacturers are now saying 7500 OCI's are ok. The engine doesn't seem to notice, as long as people are vigilant about keeping the oil level in the correct place.

 

[aigochamaloh]

This car probably won't be tracked again either, maybe autocrosses though. My other car project is just about done!

 

[addyguy]

Looks great. Shearing isn't a problem - still a very high 20-weight.

Havoline conventional (same as this) and PC Supreme are my two fave conventionals.

 

[bluesubie]

Wouldn't a 10W-30 perhaps be a bit more shear stable, especially for an autocrossed car? Might consumption go down as well?

I'm currently running Max Life Blend 10W-30 in NJ in a '99 Outback and a '00 Impreza RS with temps in the teens (F) and don't have any problems or consumption.

-Dennis

 

[aigochamaloh]

Well, like I said, I don't plan on autocrossing or tracking the car again. It was SUPPOSED to be my comfortable daily driver.

Happy new year everyone! Shameless plug on my project that I just started up today.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0waZ70WbbM

 

[Button]

I wasn't expecting to be a quart low though at around 5k miles. It never happened before on the previous OCI's.

10W-30 have lower Noack Volatility #'s than 5W-30 oils & your car will consume/burn less oil between OCI's.

Nevertheless, Castrol GTX has excellent N.V. #'s 6.89% vs Chevron which is 14.75%.

Good luck,
~Button

 

[hominid7]

Originally Posted By: aigochamaloh
Well, like I said, I don't plan on autocrossing or tracking the car again. It was SUPPOSED to be my comfortable daily driver.

Happy new year everyone! Shameless plug on my project that I just started up today.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0waZ70WbbM


The MR2 sounds nice!

 

[ARCOgraphite]

The last OCI on my wifes 09 foz was with dealer and EoM jobber driveclean 5w-30. She's 1/2 quart down at 2200 miles. When I ran 10w-30 rotella in the summer I never HAD to top off though I did put in a cup near the end of a 5k OCI.

 

[aigochamaloh]

Thanks for the bit on the Rotella. I know the 2.5GT guys use it and love it, but I didn't know about using it for myself. I may use that next. Is it made for diesels?