20W50 VR1 in a Subaru...

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Just to make all you thin oil guys cringe, I picked up some Valvoline 20W50 VR1 this weekend at Rural King for $2 a quart! And dare I say, I put it in my '08 Legacy GT! lol The car has 152K miles and I'm sure the thicker vis and extra AW goodies won't hurt it especially in the dead of summer here in Florida.

Amazingly the car starts and runs perfectly normal and has slightly less audible valvetrain noise when hot!

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Good buy! However, IIRC it isn’t recommended for cat equipped vehicles.
 
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Not unusual to me since 50 grade is allowed in the owner's manual. But unless you have a built engine with clearances that call for a 50 grade, there is no benefit IMO.

So built and/or catless or is it stock?
 
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I think it is a poor choice of oil for the street driven Subaru. Doesn't meet specs in any form, high Zinc will kill catalytic converters if used regularly, very low detergent level. Ed
 
Originally Posted By: Pelican
Also I don't think that racing oil is a detergent oil.


I've been using it in my MG, it meets API SL. Wouldn't that still be a detergent oil?

OP: I'd be leary of poisoning your cats with the zinc.
 
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Originally Posted By: Eddie
I think it is a poor choice of oil for the street driven Subaru. Doesn't meet specs in any form, high Zinc will kill catalytic converters if used regularly, very low detergent level. Ed


To hurt the cat, first you have to burn a lot of oil, second, if your state doesn't do emissions testing I wouldn't worry about the cat
 
Originally Posted By: Pelican
Also I don't think that racing oil is a detergent oil.

There are 2 version of VR1, the normal oen and NSL version ( Not street legal ) most places carry the regular stuff which is packed full of detergents like calcium and has a really high starting TBN.
 
Originally Posted By: Eddie
I think it is a poor choice of oil for the street driven Subaru. Doesn't meet specs in any form, high Zinc will kill catalytic converters if used regularly, very low detergent level. Ed

The normal street version of VR1 meets API SM and ACEA A3/B4.
 
He runs a few miles on this oil and has already declared it a rousing success. Use it for 200K and then post the results. Oil use, MPG results VS OEM requirements, oil fill hole pics, etc. Of course most here do the same thing I have noticed.
 
Sorry guys, went on a brief vacation for the 4th and just got back to this...

I have several hundred miles on the car now with this oil. The car does not burn or lose any noticeable amount of oil between OCI's so the one time use of this oil poisoning my CAT isn't even a thought.

The motor is the EJ255 turbo motor so in some applications it does allow the use of 50WT oil and with me being in the deep south and Florida summer I don't see it hurting me.

TIG- just because it isn't M1 don't get all upset...
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I'm not making any false claims, just that it didn't blow my car up and seems to be working very well in a car that calls for 5W30... my main reason for this post was to poke fun an the thin oil mafia. I knew it wouldn't hurt a thing, especially when its only going to be in the sump for one OCI. Then I'll likely go back with my PUP 0W40!!

FWIW- My local Rural king only had about 10 quarts of it left. If I still had the old 'stang it would certainly be in the sump of the ol 5.0!
 
But a guy at Midas told me that you can never go back to thin after a change with 20W50!!
Something about the thick oil pushing out all the engine clearances so thin oil will just gush out in the future...I figure he knew oil because his clothes were soaked in it and it even oozed out of his shoes when he walked.

;^)
 
I'm one of the guys who pimps this oil hard for MGs.

There are three reasonably common 20W-50 oils in the US that meet the often-cited 1200ppm zinc value for flat tappet engines. Those three oils are VR-1, Brad Penn(Kendall) and Amsoil. Of the three, you're most likely to find VR-1 in stock at your local auto parts store.

In any case, I might have to run out to Rural King this evening if all of them are at this price. I'm well stocked from an Autozone $1/qt haul back in the fall, but you can never have too much oil when you're putting it in a British car
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As others have said, this is kind of a "racing in name only" oil-it has a decent amount of detergent and a pretty robust additive package. It's definitely a street oil that's just riding on the "racing" name. You likely won't find "real" Valvoline racing oil on the shelf at anything short of a specialty shop.

I do have to admit that I'd have reservations about using it a modern engine mostly due to cat poisoning concerns.
 
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