Virgin Subaru 0w20 SM by Idemitsu

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This is virgin analysis of Subaru 0w20 SM oil by Idemitsu. Since 2012 Forester owner manual says "Always use Subaru approved oil" I was wondering what the numbers look like. Looks like it is very similar to Mazda 0w20 (also by Idemitsu) which my Subaru dealer says is approved by Subaru. One exception is Molybdenum which is much higher in Mazda version. The final goal is to determine whether Subaru oil is worth extra money (about $13 per oil change compared to 0w20 Mobil One in Walmart) and a trip to a dealer.

Code:


ALUMINUM 0

CHROMIUM 0

IRON 0

COPPER 0

LEAD 0

TIN 0

MOLYBDENUM 77

NICKEL 0

MANGANESE 0

SILVER 0

TITANIUM 0

POTASSIUM 0

BORON 218

SILICON 4

SODIUM 0

CALCIUM 2071

MAGNESIUM 12

PHOSPHORUS 696

ZINC 850

BARIUM 0



INSOLUBLES 0

WATER 0

FLASHPOINT ºF 435

SUS VIS 210ºF 52.8

cSt @ 100ºF 8.13

TBN 8.6
 
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its more like 20$ more around here
and thats without shopping for a deal.

5qt jug of 0w20 m1 + 1qt = ~~29

6qt of subaru 0w20 = 6x8= 48
 
"Always use Subaru approved oil" Ok. What other oils meet Subaru's specs. Seems simple enough. My Corvette G.M. says Mobil One oil or one meeting G.M. specs. I use Amsoil XL 5w30. It meets and exceeds those G.M.specs.

Manual doesn't say "or one meeting Subaru specs". It says "if Subaru approved oil is not available then the following can be used:" and then it simply lists specs for 0w20 GF-4/GF5 SM/SN synthetic energy conserving oils. I'm sure I can get away using any 0w20 synthetic oil, it could be more trouble if warranty is denied based on "wrong" oil used. I can see lawer saying "Why were you not using Subaru (approved) oil while it was available ?"
smile.gif
Another question was whether Subaru oil is better than other brands. I guess I'll know more when UOA is done.
 
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If its SM/SN 0w20 there is no issue then. Subaru knows that they can't strong arm customers into using their products specifically. Subaru oil comes from someone and of course not Subaru. Who?

Subaru oil is manufactured by Idemitsu. So I don't think you can buy it cheaply in Walmart, etc. Besides, it looks like Idemitsu oil is not the same depending on which car it is made for. Compare VOA of Mazda Idemitsu to Subaru Idemitsu, moly is different. Mazda oil is SN, Subaru I got was SM, it could be the reason, I don't know.
 
its more like 20$ more around here
and thats without shopping for a deal.

5qt jug of 0w20 m1 + 1qt = ~~29

6qt of subaru 0w20 = 6x8= 48

_________________________
2011 Subaru Forester X Prem. 5MT


Rand,

What are you using for your XT ? I heard M1 5w30 shears quickly in turbo engines, is it true ?
 
Originally Posted By: lukoil
its more like 20$ more around here
and thats without shopping for a deal.

5qt jug of 0w20 m1 + 1qt = ~~29

6qt of subaru 0w20 = 6x8= 48

_________________________
2011 Subaru Forester X Prem. 5MT


Rand,

What are you using for your XT ? I heard M1 5w30 shears quickly in turbo engines, is it true ?

This comes from a few UOA's on the GF4/SM Mobil1, although there have been a few uoa's posted here where the SN version on the regular M1 5W-30 and the EP did well and stayed in grade.

That said, many 2012 owner's still run more robust oils despite the recommendations in the manual. The manual also says that 5W-40 conventional can be used for replenishment and there is no such oil (conventionally speaking). Some Outback manuals recommend that owner's should stick with synthetic if they switch to it (SO 1980's).

-Dennis
P.S. - You may never find the answer to your question to whether ANY oil is worth it over another. Especially with a $30 uoa.

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/used-oil-analysis/

I do love moly though and there is an improvment in starting and engine/turbo reponse as confirmed by my butt dyno.
laugh.gif
19.gif


P.P.S. - There have been a few uoa's on the SM Subaru oils where moly was low. Maybe they changed the formula before moving to SN.
 
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After using M1, PP and Subaru ow20 I have QSUD in the '11 forester now and its appear to run the bestest of the bunch
smile.gif
Plus it was under 21 bucks for a 5qt jug - Christmas at Christmas! I bought 'em all (2!)
smile.gif
 
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After using M1, PP and Subaru ow20 I have QSUD in the '11 forester now and its appear to run the bestest of the bunch
Just out of curiosity, what was your method to determine it was the bestest ? I can think of the following:

1. Best UOA (low iron, didn't shear much or not at all, enough TBN left)
2. Best MPG
3. Lowest noise
4. Car is peppier
5. The cheapest available
smile.gif


I'm not sure what of the above would be the most important to me, ideally all
smile.gif
 
the VOA highly resembles the components of QSUD--how about that one?

I guess I should give it a try. I don't think it is available in my Walmart though. Sometimes deals in auto parts stores beat even Walmart, they usually include filter however. I decided I'd use Subaru filters at this time. Usually I'd use Purolator, classic or P1, they don't seem to have one matching Subaru specs, bypass valve setting is not the same as Tokyo Roki 15208AA160 (23 in Tokyo Roki vs 12-15 in PL14459 which some auto parts store catalogs recommend for 2012 Forester).
 
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You may never find the answer to your question to whether ANY oil is worth it over another. Especially with a $30 uoa.

I was afraid it would be the case. I guess it means I'll go the expensive route: VOA of Subaru oil (done), UOA of Subaru oil, UOA of some other oil. If UOAs are not so much different then I'll probably stick to that other oil. At this time I'm looking at M1 as next candidate. The reasons are simple - it is readily available for a reasonable price and UOA I did in the past for M1 5w30 was decent and a little better than PP 5w30 (lower iron, higher flash point, higher TBN). UOAs were done for 04 Corolla at 7k OCI. Blackstone recommended trying 9k next time for both oils but I decided to stay at 7k for piece of mind. Since then I switched to M1 EP 5w30 too for the reason it is supposed to have more PAO stock and comparison of M1 EP and Amsoil (on Amsoil site) shows M1 EP is not much behind Amsoil. I trust Amsoil although the only their product I tried was MT Syncromesh fluid for 98 Accord. Gears switch noticeably better now, I forgot when was the last time they grinded while downshifting. I also put Amsoil Severe Gear 75w90 into rear diff of 2012 Forester. Nothing changed, I guess it is good news
smile.gif
 
I was afraid it would be the case. I guess it means I'll go the expensive route: VOA of Subaru oil (done), UOA of Subaru oil, UOA of some other oil. If UOAs are not so much different then I'll probably stick to that other oil. At this time I'm looking at M1 as next candidate. The reasons are simple - it is readily available for a reasonable price and UOA I did in the past for M1 5w30 was decent and a little better than PP 5w30 (lower iron, higher flash point, higher TBN). UOAs were done for 04 Corolla at 7k OCI. Blackstone recommended trying 9k next time for both oils but I decided to stay at 7k for piece of mind. Since then I switched to M1 EP 5w30 too for the reason it is supposed to have more PAO stock and comparison of M1 EP and Amsoil (on Amsoil site) shows M1 EP is not much behind Amsoil. I trust Amsoil although the only their product I tried was MT Syncromesh fluid for 98 Accord. Gears switch noticeably better now, I forgot when was the last time they grinded while downshifting. I also put Amsoil Severe Gear 75w90 into rear diff of 2012 Forester. Nothing changed, I guess it is good news

One correction, iron was higher with M1 UOA, sorry (10 with M1 vs 6 in PP). M1 Flash point was still better (385 vs 370), same with TBN (2.5 vs 1.7).
 
Originally Posted By: steve20
the VOA highly resembles the components of QSUD--how about that one?


I couldn't find QSUD 0w20 VOA here. I did find 5w20 which doesn't have boron, Subaru one does. Not that I know enough to say Subaru is better because of that but at least add pack doesn't seem to be the same
smile.gif
 
Originally Posted By: lukoil
it is very similar to Mazda 0w20 (also by Idemitsu) which my Subaru dealer says is approved by Subaru. One exception is Molybdenum which is much higher in Mazda version.

It is not just the much lower moly level that differentiates this oil from the Mazda 0W-20.
The Subie oil is a different formulation to the very recent Mazda 0W-20 and is a much heavier oil due to it's lower 169 VI vs 221 for Mazda.
It's interesting to note that Mitsubishi and Honda/Acura Canada have stuck with the older Idemitsu SM GF-4 formulation that is very high in moly (625 ppm) with a 197 VI rather than going with the low moly and lower VI GF-5 Idemitsu oil that Suburu is using.
 
Originally Posted By: CATERHAM

It's interesting to note that Mitsubishi and Honda/Acura Canada have stuck with the older Idemitsu SM GF-4 formulation that is very high in moly (625 ppm) with a 197 VI rather than going with the low moly and lower VI GF-5 Idemitsu oil that Suburu is using.


I'm not sure Subaru Idemitsu oil I sent for analysis is GF-5. Bottle I took sample from just says API SM Energy Conserving which I thought was GF-4 but I'm not an expert on that.
 
Originally Posted By: lukoil
I'm not sure Subaru Idemitsu oil I sent for analysis is GF-5. Bottle I took sample from just says API SM Energy Conserving which I thought was GF-4 but I'm not an expert on that.


You are correct, API SN + Resource Conserving = ILSAC GF-5. It's reasonably likely that the oil inside the bottle is the new GF-5 formula and the bottle is mis-labeled. Older UOA/VOAs show much more moly, and as CATERHAM said, the new GF-5 PDS is consistent with your VOA results.

Take a look at the most recent UOA I did on my Civic HERE. All of my bottles said SM/GF-4, yet it's clearly a different formulation than my previous UOA which was also Subaru 0w20 SM. The dealer where I bought the oil had just received a new shipment of oil, a year after SM was supposed to have been phased out. I suspect I got two bottles of SM and two of SN and that's why my UOA looks to be halfway between your VOA and my previous UOA.
 
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