Howdy. I'm new to the site and have to admit I'm a little overwhelmed with the tons of good info here. I just bought an '06 Forester non-turbo (sadly) and am looking for some input. It's the wife's car and generally won't be driven too hard, and go maybe 15k miles/yr. Currently at 2500 miles, I broke it in gently, and changed the factory fill at 1100 miles to 5W30 Syntec. Common to Subaru boxers (I think, our first), there is some noise and less than perfectly smooth idle, pretty much equal when cold or warm. Seems more like the solid lifters than piston slap to me. Also, we're not getting more than 24.5 mpg and hoped for up to 28. I'm hoping that will go up with further break-in. Subaru really pushes the 5W30, going as far to put it on the oil filler cap, although it does allow for other weights in the manual, as long as they're SM/GF4. I'm in the south and will likely see more summer days over 100 than winter nights under 20. Single digits are unlikely. It'll be garaged. I'm not opposed to different winter/summer grades or blending. Factory OCI for std service is 7500 miles and I realize a decent synthetic will be best on the engine if I follow this schedule (a better one than my current Syntec?). I'm resistant to the high-end ($) RL, Amsoil, etc. I'm quite intrigued by the GC 0W30, but am a little leary since it is neither SM nor GF4. Does it rally matter? I've read everything from Soobs prefering thin oil to liking thicker, to them not liking synthetics at all. What's gonna be my best bet for long-term protection and good running/decent mileage? Should I just ditch the synth/7500 mi idea and run a decent dino w/3750 OCI?
Thanks!
Thanks!