What Oil Do Most Subaru Owners Use?

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From doing a little reading, I am under the impression that the "knowledgable" Subaru owner pays particular attention to his selection of engine oil. It seems to be more important due to their unique engine design. For those of you that know, what would the general consensus be as to which brand and weight of oil do the diehard Subaru owners use?
 
Depends on the engine. I would say that the "knowledgeable" Subaru driver who owns a turbo or older Subie pays attention to oil. Most others will likely be the same as any other econobox-driving owner.

So, which Subaru engine are you referring to and how do you use your vehicle?
 
I'm not referring to a specific engine and I don't own a Subaru. I was reading another thread and my brother owns 2 Subaru's so I just wanted some opinions. And I don't know what Subaru's he owns. I thought T6 would be to oil of choice for most discerning Subaru owners. Just getting opinions. I'm not concerned about "overkill" if you know what I mean.
 
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Originally Posted By: Rolla07
T6 5w40

Shell Technical says that "Rotella oils are not recommended for gasoline cars with catalytic converters."
 
T6 is fairly ubiquitous with the stage 3/track crowd.

FI average user: Xw40 for 4-5k

NA average user 5w30.

That holds over the EA engine series.
 
Originally Posted By: turnbowm
Originally Posted By: Rolla07
T6 5w40

Shell Technical says that "Rotella oils are not recommended for gasoline cars with catalytic converters."


Are you sure about this? A bitog search shows differing opinion.
 
Originally Posted By: 05LGTLtd
T6 is fairly ubiquitous with the stage 3/track crowd.

FI average user: Xw40 for 4-5k

NA average user 5w30.

That holds over the EA engine series.


Well, I did have to look up "ubiquitous" but as a Pastor, I do understand "omnipresent". LOL Absolutely perfect description.

Understood, thanks!
 
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Originally Posted By: Gebo
Originally Posted By: 05LGTLtd
T6 is fairly ubiquitous with the stage 3/track crowd.

FI average user: Xw40 for 4-5k

NA average user 5w30.

That holds over the EA engine series.


Understood, thanks!


smile.gif
 
05LGTLtd, read my modified post. You'll get a kick out of it.
 
Originally Posted By: turnbowm
Originally Posted By: Rolla07
T6 5w40

Shell Technical says that "Rotella oils are not recommended for gasoline cars with catalytic converters."


That being the case, one wonders why SOPUS bothers with the API SM service classification for these oils?
This is among the listed certs on the label.
Rotella 5W-40 has long been popular among turbo Subaru owners as well as owners of older German SI and CI engined cars.
There have been no reports I've seen of excessive catalytic converter failures.
 
Originally Posted By: Gebo
Originally Posted By: turnbowm
Originally Posted By: Rolla07
T6 5w40

Shell Technical says that "Rotella oils are not recommended for gasoline cars with catalytic converters."


Are you sure about this? A bitog search shows differing opinion.


Footnote 2 in the link below is a message from Shell Technical regarding the above.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shell_Rotella_T
 
The wife's 2009 Forester and my son's 2011 Impreza Outback Sport both use Mobil 1 0W40 year round. Both have naturally aspirated EJ253 engines. Both run nice and quiet and both use almost no oil between changes (6500 mi.) Also use genuine Subaru oil filters. Like the man said, "oil is cheap, engines ain't!"
 
This has been discussed here in several past threads and has been pretty well dismissed as a concern.
It has been pointed out in other threads that many high mileage oils intended for use in vehicles with catalytic converters, including some from SOPUS, have ZDDP levels that rival anything you'll find in current HDEOs.
Unless an engine is consuming a lot of oil, I don't think that there would be any problem since those adds that could poison a cat don't seem to volatize, judging by the residual amounts seen in UOAs.
Most of us take the cautionary note from RDS as CYA and the fact remains that these oils do carry current API SI certs. I can't think of any vehicles for which an API SM oil is recommended that don't have catalytic converters and Rotella, like every other dual rated HDEO is marketed as a mixed fleet oil.
 
Originally Posted By: fdcg27
This has been discussed here in several past threads and has been pretty well dismissed as a concern.
It has been pointed out in other threads that many high mileage oils intended for use in vehicles with catalytic converters, including some from SOPUS, have ZDDP levels that rival anything you'll find in current HDEOs.
Unless an engine is consuming a lot of oil, I don't think that there would be any problem since those adds that could poison a cat don't seem to volatize, judging by the residual amounts seen in UOAs.
Most of us take the cautionary note from RDS as CYA and the fact remains that these oils do carry current API SI certs. I can't think of any vehicles for which an API SM oil is recommended that don't have catalytic converters and Rotella, like every other dual rated HDEO is marketed as a mixed fleet oil.


Anyone who chooses to ignore Shell Technical's recommendation does so at their own risk.
 
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