Oil Recommendation

[mynameisdaniel]

Interested to know people's thoughts on changing oil for track days. I have one coming up and I'm not sure what I'm better off doing. Currently running Castrol Edge 5W-30 which will have been in there for 10 months but only 3,000km. I'd change it yearly at the absolute latest regardless of km though. It's not cheap oil so replacing before AND after the track day does seem a bit wasteful...

Would I be better off replacing it for the day with something heavier (and cheaper)? Or will mixing oils cause just negate the benefits?

I don't kill the car, only 15 minute stints at a time as an absolute max. Car's been perfect running 5W-30 at the track before, has 78,000km on it (has had an easy life)

I would not mix brands - that's a no no unless you're absolutely certain of the mix being identical

When you say oil Isn't cheap - at 50-60 dollars its cheap insurance for a 5-6k stock rebuild

I would reccomend 15w50 for any track use

15 mins of hard race driving is equivalent in my opinion to 2 months street driving. So a few track sessions and you've just done 6 months of driving on your "new" oil

Comes down to oil brand, quality, your engine setup and age (and general condition because a 20,000kms engine that chews oil due to glazed bores or other is not better than a 150,000kms engine that chews little to no oil and holds pressure), and overall driving

If you plan on going flat stick but dont want to risk too heavy an oil at normal operating temps while youre driving to the track or back home, get a good brand full synth 10w50 for safety sake. This will give you good flow and protection at normal temps but have a good enough hths rating to not break down on you at the track in high temps

Good luck

Mick

Thanks Mick, appreciate it! Castrol don't seem to make anything in 15w50, they have 10w60 which I might see if I can snag when it's on special next, although I'm not sure if that's too heavy even at track temps? Otherwise I'll look into switching brands when my stockpile runs out

Unfortunately my car now does a lot of short trips which is why I went for the 5w30 so it's got a bit more protection when it's cold. Can't really win both

[coyote]

Oh that's ok ill just throw a handful of sawdust in with each oil change to prevent glazing

What's the best sawdust to use? Where do you get it from?

Group buy?

[PoidaGT]

Oh that's ok ill just throw a handful of sawdust in with each oil change to prevent glazing

What's the best sawdust to use? Where do you get it from?

Group buy?

+1 I'm after some good quality sawdust for my GTB. What do STI recommend?

[alexeiwoody]

Oh that's ok ill just throw a handful of sawdust in with each oil change to prevent glazing

What's the best sawdust to use? Where do you get it from?

Group buy?

+1 I'm after some good quality sawdust for my GTB. What do STI recommend?

I don't think STI Australia are that advanced? Might have to ask Cosworth and Amsoil?

[rooby]

For the track day I've been tossing up the Penrite 10w40 & 15w50 for a bit now and still can't decide.

I'm leaning towards to 10w40 as I think it is heavy enough for my needs.

How many kms on your car Rooby ?

If more than 100,000 and you're tracking it hard, I would use 15w50 specifically for track

However - remember that not every 10w40 or 15w50 is the same. You need to look at viscosity at certain temps (which measures the flow rating of the oil) and more importantly, the HT/HS ratings for a given oil, which tells you how it will wear / shear in high temperatures.

You could get away with a good quality 10w40 with a good HT/HS rating but depending on your motor, it is a risk, as your oil could be thinned out and potentially breaking apart by then and ineffective.

Yeah, about 125 now.
Was only recently I switched from 5w30 to 10w40 for daily and I've never had any oil usage issues, which is good.

[Stu]

Oh that's ok ill just throw a handful of sawdust in with each oil change to prevent glazing

What's the best sawdust to use? Where do you get it from?

Group buy?

Just let me shake my head and see what falls out from between my ears

[Maxi]

I have read this whole topic as I just did an oil change and was interested to see what people's opinions are.
There is certainly alot of info on the net regarding Engine oil. I hope to understand a tiny amount of the information out there.
As earlier posted in the owner's manual the recommended oil is 5w30 but it also states 10w30 or 10w40 can be used.
As a point of interest before I purchased my car it was serviced at Bill Buckle Subaru in Sydney's Northern beaches and the oil used was 5w40 at 70,000km on 15/6/12 full synthetic.(shown on service record)
In November I am getting my car Tuned at MSR, I mentioned to Michael that I was doing an oil change and he recommended not to put anything less than 10w40.
I have put in the Nulon Full Synthetic 10w40.
On the Nulon site it has info re the oil and the the Full syn 5w30 sounds like the perfect oil for our car. It states its particularly designed for turbocharged cars.

http://www.nulon.com.au/products/Full_S ... lJxkBZLqFI

http://www.upmpg.com/tech_articles/motoroil_viscosity/

Just food for thought. I wonder if in Autumn/Winter 5w-30 would be the go and in Spring/Summer 10w40 ? General road driving mix of urban and country
Cheers

[alexeiwoody]

If you would like a second opinion -

1. Take MSR's advice. Not only does he know what he's talking about, but he's dealt with all these problems first hand - building engines and not just treating customers' cars, but having to race his own built cars pushing them to the limit. He's not even once been wrong for me.

2. Our libs really like to use oil. Whatever general guidelines you try to follow here, in the end - if your own engine starts going through the 5w faster than the 10w, then you should probably go with the 10. My 2.5t uses 10w too fast for my liking so I use 15w now, and I've tried every oil and thickness out there, not wanting to take MSR's advice, because I thought I could do it better. Turns out he was right.

3. It's just oil for a stock engine. Put in what an expert tells you and forget about it. You won't notice performance gains. It's there to lubricate your engine for as long as possible, and most top brands mentioned on here will do that sufficiently.

4. Look into oil once you have a built engine or you're running e85.

hopefully this saves some time?

[dr20t]

My 2.5t uses 10w too fast for my liking so I use 15w now, and I've tried every oil and thickness out there, not wanting to take MSR's advice, because I thought I could do it better. Turns out he was right.

3. It's just oil for a stock engine. Put in what an expert tells you and forget about it. You won't notice performance gains. It's there to lubricate your engine for as long as possible, and most top brands mentioned on here will do that sufficiently.

4. Look into oil once you have a built engine or you're running e85.

hopefully this saves some time?

15w for a stock daily driver is asking for trouble if you ask me

Once you get an understanding of the specs of these oils you will no doubt come to the same conclusion. I emplore you to look into this further

I would much rather my engine burn some oil (within reason) than have a viscous, heavy oil that sits there and doesn't do much to lubricate my motor.

Fact is unless you're motor is loose as all hell, and you're getting up to some serious operating oil temps (read: big cylinder pressure and higher than normal engine temps) then I would steer way clear of 15w for daily use, unless you drive a tractor

The unfortunate reality is mechanics and others over the years have recommended a heavier weight oil when an engine is chewing too much, as a means of masking the real issue. This is ok I guess for a <100kw daily commuter (commodore, falcon etc) but disastrous for a performance motor (of sorts) that the Gt's come with. If you want some more guidance on this I would suggest you look into cst ratings at different tps for heavier oils compared to even a 10w weight - then look at the temperature at which these measurements were taken and question yourself on when exactly your engine will be at those temps. Then juxtapose that against your engine use and what you want from an oil

That should clear up alot of the crap being circulated out there

Mick

[<GB>]

Mick you need to remember the recommended oils are for way colder conditions than we have in Australia and for better fuel consumption, the service book probably says the same oil recomendations for Alaska as here. I think 10-15 is fine on a Subaru I think 5 is too thin unless its brand new and or rebuilt to smaller clearances

my opinion totally

[paggaz]

I've been running Penrite 5w-40 in my 07 Liberty for the last 50,000kms right up until 195,000, a few weeks ago. There was a slight consumption of oil over the period between 5k services, nothing too much to require a top up though.

Last change at 195k, I decided to change to 10w-40. I've done 2.5k kms on this oil and the level is still full on the dipstick.

I must be lucky with an engine toight like a toiger.

[rooby]

I've been running Penrite 5w-40 in my 07 Liberty for the last 50,000kms right up until 195,000, a few weeks ago. There was a slight consumption of oil over the period between 5k services, nothing too much to require a top up though.

Last change at 195k, I decided to change to 10w-40. I've done 2.5k kms on this oil and the level is still full on the dipstick.

I must be lucky with an engine toight like a toiger.

Me too. If I run either 5w-30 or 10w-40 I use practically no oil.

[alexeiwoody]

Haha I'll look into it, Mick. My engine will go for a few months not using any oil, then suddenly it will start using it. The vagueness of the dipstick also makes me paranoid

I'd rather have enough average oil in there, then not enough awesome oil. Maybe a shit engine.

[Deep Heat]

Mick you need to remember the recommended oils are for way colder conditions than we have in Australia and for better fuel consumption, the service book probably says the same oil recomendations for Alaska as here. I think 10-15 is fine on a Subaru I think 5 is too thin unless its brand new and or rebuilt to smaller clearances

my opinion totally

10w is recommended in conditions above a certain temp (30c I think), 0w is recommended when driven under 0c I think. 5w is acceptable for all temps.

[<GB>]

Mick you need to remember the recommended oils are for way colder conditions than we have in Australia and for better fuel consumption, the service book probably says the same oil recomendations for Alaska as here. I think 10-15 is fine on a Subaru I think 5 is too thin unless its brand new and or rebuilt to smaller clearances

my opinion totally

10w is recommended in conditions above a certain temp (30c I think), 0w is recommended when driven under 0c I think. 5w is acceptable for all temps.

go to page 8 I posted the service page that shows the information