noob: recommended oil for 2014 Subaru Forester XT?

[Naito]

Hi, long time anonymous lurker, finally signed up an account recently. Been using Castrol Syntec 0w30 for a the past 6 or 7 years with my old car, but recently got a new one and now a little confused as to what to use.

The 2014 Forester is a direct injection turbo, and requires synthetic ILSAC GF-4 or GF-5 5w30. Unless I'm mistaken, Castrol 0w30 is only GF-3 right?

Was considering using Penzoil Platinum for my upcoming oil change as it's easy to find and relatively cheap around here, but would love to hear some alternatives. I've done searches and seen some threads where someone in an older Subaru WRX got great results with Motul 8100? but it's not easy to find and rather expensive. Not that I mind the price if its worth it, but the new engine is significantly different after all.

We do mostly city driving during the weekdays and mixed highway/city during weekends, tend to change oil+filter around every 8000km (5000 miles).

So yes, this is another really noob "please recommend me an oil" thread, my apologies and thanks in advance!

 

[Eddie]

I prefer PP, PU or M1 in 5w30 flavor because these oils meet the Honda/Acura turbo spec. There may be other oils meeting that spec. I am also a firm advocate of using Subaru OE oil filters in this application. Ed

 

[Hollow]

Use a quality synthetic SN rated oil. I'd go with Quaker State Ultimate Durability or Pennzoil Ultra/Platinum whatever you can find.

The OEM filters have an unusually high bypass spec, so I would actually go for those wherever you can find the best price.

 

[Naito]

Thanks for quick response! I'd avoided M1 5w30 in the past because of lots of reports of Subaru owners finding it too thin and often leaking from already weak head gaskets, but I may have to revisit.

I'm aware of the Subaru oil filter bypass valve requirement and do plan to stick with the OE filters. The Mazda RX8 filter is also apparently identical spec to the factory filter (including bypass setting), but I see no real reason to switch to that unless there are more problems with the Subaru blue filters.

Pennzoil Platinum is easy to find, I'd never seen anyone carry Pennzoil Ultra yet. What about Castrol Edge with Titanium (the gold bottle)? Just throwing brands out there that are easy to get at the moment. I'm not against getting more exotic/expensive/hard-to-procure oils, but I didn't think some of those would be necessary since I don't plan to go for extended oil change intervals?

 

[Hollow]

What is your anticipated OCI? Subaru states 7500miles or 7.5 months (whichever comes first) as the max.

Again, I think any SN rated synthetic could handle 5000 miles easily and perhaps 7500 in the DI engine.

 

[Naito]

Planning every 8000km (5000 miles), maybe 10000km (6250 miles). It's my first turbo car, just being extra cautious. It's hard to tell what is a "quality" SN rated oil it seems, with the way bottles various seem to be labeled.

 

[Hollow]

If it says API SN, it will meet Subaru's listed specs.

 

[FutureDoc]

M1 is fine (excellent) for a Subaru. No impact on the HG. That is a whole different can of worms and is not likely motor-oil related. If a HG is leaking, it is leaking coolant, not oil.

Any SN rated oil will be fine... including Supertech. Go by the owners manual recommendations.

And yes, the oil filter is the more important of the two.

 

[Naito]

Thanks guys.

Any particular recommendations if I'm looking for a real high-end GF-4 and up synthetic?

 

[ARCOgraphite]

I would Run an true synthetic ILSAC gf5 as it is designed for minimising turbo deposits. Dexos 1 licensed wouldn't hurt. Honda HTO-06 is as dead as that turbo engine. I will say the early formula of the truly good Quaker State Ultimate Durability was a bit sludgy (about the same as M1) in our NA FB25 Fozzy, Havent tried the "improved" version. I would check out PU or the new GTO baseoil PP I just saw on display in Wallys this past weekend. Valvoline in my sig has been too variable in quality to recommend.
FILTER: If the Subaru TokyoRoki p/n#...160 fits and is spec'd id run only that. Its a good piece.

Good luck and thank goodness they ditched the unequal length headers - why kids like that mistuned header is beyond me.

 

[Boss302fan]

Originally Posted By: Eddie
I prefer PP, PU or M1 in 5w30 flavor because these oils meet the Honda/Acura turbo spec. There may be other oils meeting that spec. I am also a firm advocate of using Subaru OE oil filters in this application. Ed


Ditto... I would use PU 5W30 and initially do 5K OCI's. Probably could go 7.5K but I am anal about oil changes.

Naito, how do you like your new Forester XT with the turbo? I almost purchased one 6 months ago and am now thinking about buying one when the 2015's come out...

 

[Donald]

Originally Posted By: Naito
Thanks guys.

Any particular recommendations if I'm looking for a real high-end GF-4 and up synthetic?


Amsoil would always be my high end choice if someone else was paying for it.

PP or PU should be fine however.

 

[Naito]

Originally Posted By: Boss302fan

Naito, how do you like your new Forester XT with the turbo? I almost purchased one 6 months ago and am now thinking about buying one when the 2015's come out...


Really happy with it so far, though I'm still on factory fill. Coming from a manual 06 NA Impreza, Forester was a real pleasant surprise. Thought the CVT would annoy me, but I'm really impressed with it. Best automatic transmission I've ever driven, just short of Audi's DSG boxes. Turbo kicks in fast and early, and CVT reacts fast enough that you'll never feel like you're waiting for power to come when passing. Handles like a much smaller car, turning radius is ridiculously small. On top of that, much quieter than I expected, feels like a much more expensive car than it is.

Minor nitpicks, the AWD is very different from the viscous diff in the 5MT. 60/40 bias is actually noticeable, particularly since the VDC keeps you from having too much fun, even when "off". Approximate maybe max 10 degree yaw when on, 30-40 degrees when "off" before it'll kick in and drag you back straight. But it's the future family car, and the wife will be driving often, so that's fine.

Overall, great car.

 

[Naito]

Originally Posted By: ARCOgraphite
I would Run an true synthetic ILSAC gf5 as it is designed for minimising turbo deposits.


Such as?

Originally Posted By: ARCOgraphite
I would check out PU or the new GTO baseoil PP I just saw on display in Wallys this past weekend. Valvoline in my sig has been too variable in quality to recommend.
FILTER: If the Subaru TokyoRoki p/n#...160 fits and is spec'd id run only that. Its a good piece.

Good luck and thank goodness they ditched the unequal length headers - why kids like that mistuned header is beyond me.


How do I tell if the PP is GTO baseoil or otherwise?
Apparently both the 130 and 160 should fit, but the 160 is hard to come by.

As I said, the Mazda RX8 filter is apparently the same filter as the factory 130 filter, so it's the alternative, but everyone seems to say the blue filters are actually not too shabby.

Hehe there's a charm to that untuned unequal length header sound, but I prefer the better power and efficiency of the new equal length headers too.

 

[Eddie]

Actually the Porsche 4 cyl was the one to use the unequal length header because they found it stretched out the torque curve slightly. You can probably Goggle the Porsche Magazine from about 1965 to find the article. I also think they sound nice and knowing there may be a reason, make them even better. Ed

 

[fdcg27]

PP should be a solid choice although there are other oils you could use without problems.
Newer GTL PP wold be an especially good pick.
It's easily identified with the new labeling.
With a turbo, I wouldn't scrimp on oil.
M1 has a bad rep in the Subie community, deserved or not.
OTOH, T6 is beloved of the turbo Sube faithful, but it does not meet your warranty requirements and SOPUS recommends against its use in any catalytic converter application, API SM rating or not.

 

[Naito]

Originally Posted By: Eddie
Actually the Porsche 4 cyl was the one to use the unequal length header because they found it stretched out the torque curve slightly. You can probably Goggle the Porsche Magazine from about 1965 to find the article. I also think they sound nice and knowing there may be a reason, make them even better. Ed


huh, very cool, did not know that.

 

[Naito]

Originally Posted By: fdcg27
PP should be a solid choice although there are other oils you could use without problems.
Newer GTL PP wold be an especially good pick.
It's easily identified with the new labeling.
With a turbo, I wouldn't scrimp on oil.
M1 has a bad rep in the Subie community, deserved or not.
OTOH, T6 is beloved of the turbo Sube faithful, but it does not meet your warranty requirements and SOPUS recommends against its use in any catalytic converter application, API SM rating or not.


Thanks, sounds like PP would be my best bet, and the Ultra if I can find it. That's good for my peace of mind.

I was worried there would be extra considerations because it's a direct injection engine, but sounds like PP should be plenty good. =)

 

[fdcg27]

Some DI implementations, like Honda's, seem very good.
Others, like BMW's (walnut shell blasting, really?), not so much.
Don't really know how well Subaru did with DI.
You'll find out, though.

 

[Naito]

Originally Posted By: fdcg27
Some DI implementations, like Honda's, seem very good.
Others, like BMW's (walnut shell blasting, really?), not so much.
Don't really know how well Subaru did with DI.
You'll find out, though.


Yeah I knew I was gonna be a bit of a guinea pig when I bought the car. Think the general feel among the community is hopefully positive so far.