2018 Subaru WRX - Oil

Joined
Sep 11, 2018
Messages
2
Location
Toronto
Hi folks,

New to the forum, but have read many of the posts over the years. Great information...Thanks all!!

I've been using Castrol Syntec (now edge) for several years on my vehicles (Rav4 V6, VW 1.8T), but have now acquired a Subaru WRX and have been reading a bit, perhaps over reading, and over thinking which engine oil to use. According to spec. it states 5W30 with API-SN, or ILSAC GL4/5 or better. There are several "performance" oils on the market (Motul, Royal Purple, Total etc..) and even the Syntec from Canadian Tire is rated SN as well as Pennzoil, Mobil 1 etc.

Question is, which one is "better" to handle the extreme temperatures of the Subaru Turbo, and the lovely Toronto weather yet to come. Thoughts?

Thanks folks,
 
I was going to say Rotella T6 5w40, but since its new and under warranty, why not go with a 5w30 meeting D1G2, at least until SN+ oil comes available. Thats what Id do. Welcome to BITOG by the way!
 
I would use a full synthetic, 5W-30 API SN+, D1G2 in your favorite brand. A full synth should give better cold start flow versus non synthetic 5W-30 since you're up there in the GWN.
 
There's also Rotella T6 Multi Vehicle if you can find it.

A "normal" synthetic worth looking at is Castrol Magnatec. Last I looked, it was $18 something a jug on Walmart.com.
 
Originally Posted by Oildudeny
read your manual


Guys, stop telling him to read his manual, he already has as he states in his original post what the oil requirements are from his manual so he's obviously read it already. So now he's asking for which brands that other people would recommend for him to handle both the heat of the turbo and a Toronto winter. I personally would recommend either Mobil 1 5w30 or Pennzoil Platinum 5w30, whichever happens to be on sale at Canadian Tire at oil change time
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I have a 2015 WRX that has a stock engine, but I do track events and autocross. I ran 5W-30 synthetic for the first two oci's, but then switched to 0W40/5W40 because I was getting oil temps close to 250F on track in Texas summers. I use German Castrol 0W40 or Shell Rotella 5W40.

If you don't track your WRX, I would use a quality synthetic 5W30 or 0W30 given your cold winters and follow the severe service schedule. These are good cars and I have not had any issues or had any warranty needs in 25k miles.
 
Originally Posted by dlundblad
There's also Rotella T6 Multi Vehicle if you can find it.

A "normal" synthetic worth looking at is Castrol Magnatec. Last I looked, it was $18 something a jug on Walmart.com.

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Many WRX owners are running SN 5W-30's, but foregoing the GF5 recommendation for higher HTHS oils like Rotella Multi Vehicle and ACEA C3 oils like Motul X-clean and Mobil 1 5W-30 ESP.

Some dealerships, especially in Canada, offer Motul X-clean as their premium oil. With a DIT, the oil gets contaminated with fuel pretty quickly becoming a 20 grade oil. That said, uoa's on 100% stock DIT WRX's running regular GF5 oils seem to show normal uoa wear numbers despite being a 20 grade. Seach the Service and Maintenance Forum (using google) for the 2015+ WRX uoa thread.

Remember, even a reflash is a modification so don't stick with a GF5 oil if you intend to modify. Probaly a good idea for the track too.

And
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Originally Posted by dlundblad
There's also Rotella T6 Multi Vehicle if you can find it.

Given the manual wording where it appears ILSAC is optional, I'd agree with that recommendation. The HTHS will be elevated while maintaining the correct SAE grade, with a phosphorus level that isn't overboard, for those that worry about that.
 
Originally Posted by Patman
..... handle both the heat of the turbo and a Toronto winter. I personally would recommend either Mobil 1 5w30 or Pennzoil Platinum 5w30, whichever happens to be on sale at Canadian Tire at oil change time
smile.gif

That would work, but I think I'd use Mobil1 AFE 0w30 during the winter, and Mobil1 0w40 new-Corvette oil (the dexos2 ESP stuff, not the euro one) in the summer for this WRX beast. Seasonal change, 6 months at a time.
Originally Posted by Garak
Originally Posted by dlundblad
There's also Rotella T6 Multi Vehicle if you can find it.

Given the manual wording where it appears ILSAC is optional, I'd agree with that recommendation. The HTHS will be elevated while maintaining the correct SAE grade, with a phosphorus level that isn't overboard, for those that worry about that.
Rotella T6 Multi-vehicle 5w30 also has low calcium, which should keep LSPI away too. Good choice there. I'd still go with my seasonal 0w30/0w40 here though, even if the Subaru Owner's Manual is not sophisticated enough to cover that nice set of options that would satisfy the HTHS hot requirements with better Canada-cold flow!
 
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When people say "read the manual" they are not necessarily being flippant, but may be saying it doesn't matter as long as the oil meets the specs. As the OP suggests, he may be over-thinking this. It's hard to find UOAs or other hard evidence to support the notion that different brands, or "high performance" oils, or synthetics vs. conventional, makes any practical difference in engine wear or longevity, so long as each oil is used in-spec.

That said, all else equal, a narrower vis range is likely to be more shear stable: 5w20 over 0w20, 10w30 over 5w30 etc. Of course all else is not always equal. Synthetic base stocks have a flatter viscosity/temp curve so a synthetic 0w30 may be more shear stable than a conventional 10w30. It will definitely flow better on cold starts. But if the engine allows conventional oils, the engineers think it can withstand the temperature extremes. You may have to change it more often, but it's cheaper.
 
Originally Posted by oil_film_movies
Rotella T6 Multi-vehicle 5w30 also has low calcium, which should keep LSPI away too. Good choice there. I'd still go with my seasonal 0w30/0w40 here though, even if the Subaru Owner's Manual is not sophisticated enough to cover that nice set of options that would satisfy the HTHS hot requirements with better Canada-cold flow!

I always say Toronto really doesn't have winter, even though they really do.
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Personally, I already did one winter in Saskatchewan with Shell Rotella Multi-Vehicle 5w-30, and found it cranked just fine unaided in our brutal cold snaps. Anecdotally, it cranked better than the 5w-40 that was in there before, but it certainly wouldn't beat a 0w-40 or 0w-30, or even an ILSAC 5w-30, but it still performed suitably well.
 
Originally Posted by Garak

I always say Toronto really doesn't have winter, even though they really do.
wink.gif



Even though anything under 15C feels cold to me, we really don't get super cold winters here in Toronto. It's rare to see temps below -20C for any length of time (and some winters it doesn't even get that cold at all) And if you have the luxury of parking inside a warm garage at night, it's possible to never really see a super cold start too often. So a lot of vehicles can get away with running a 5w20 or 5w30 here as opposed to some parts of Canada which definitely need 0w20 or 0w30.
 
real synthetic PAO + Ester oils are the best. Ester oils handle heat better than other types. Redline my fav recommends 2,000 break in on conventional oil to better seat the rings, a good idea for subies for sure. most of today's "synthetic" oils are all or mostly group III highly refined CRUDE oils, good but not as good as the real stuff. my 1.8T 2001 jetta went 200,000 miles on amsoil first when it was "real" then redline 10-30 with 10,000 change intervals before trading + running great. it had 300 tq + 275 hp via upgrades, a fun car still giving 30 mpg's!!
 
Head gaskets are known to die often on subarus regardless of how well its looked after. So id just put the cheapest oil in.
 
Originally Posted by benjy
real synthetic PAO + Ester oils are the best. Ester oils handle heat better than other types. Redline my fav recommends 2,000 break in on conventional oil to better seat the rings, a good idea for subies for sure. most of today's "synthetic" oils are all or mostly group III highly refined CRUDE oils, good but not as good as the real stuff. my 1.8T 2001 jetta went 200,000 miles on amsoil first when it was "real" then redline 10-30 with 10,000 change intervals before trading + running great. it had 300 tq + 275 hp via upgrades, a fun car still giving 30 mpg's!!


Amsoil SS is still real, can have the their labels on the bulk in Germany
 
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