Hi guys,

I need to put some new oil into my new age STI.
I have been told to use Mobil 1 5/30 or shell helix?

Is this correct & what all you guys use??

Anybody know what the going rate is for this kind of oil????

 

LOADS of threads about this mate, you'll get lots of conflicting opinions too.

My two cents. Stick with what Subaru say and you'll be fine, BUT fully Synth IS better quality, but WILL cost you more. I use fully Synth myself. Silkolene Pro S and Motul are well regarded.

Pays your money, takes your choice!

NS04

 

Subaru have reconmended those 2 shell & mobil... was just seeing if this is the best???
I dont want to put C**P in - Afterall this is my babe....

 

Subaru aren't going to tell you to put crap in your car, but to be blunt the answer to your question is: Nope, both of the above are semi-synth, and are not as "good" as fully synth.

Suggest you have a chat with a specialist who'll explain why much more eloquently than myself.

Ns04

 

I was told that these are fully synth not semi..?
I was told to get 5/30 which is fully? is this right? & where would be the best/cheapest place to get it from

Cheers

 

Drop a PM to oilman and he will answer all your questions.

 

This is the article that gets referred to a lot. Before anyone pounces, I don't sell oil, I don't profess to be an expert, I'm simply quoting a reference from someone who is an expert (i.e. John Rowland) and who's affilation with an oil company is clearly stated. This is a direct copy and paste from one of Oilman's posts:

I'm doing this simply to help out a newbie, so lets not have a flame war please people.

Cheers,

NS04

Below is an article written by John Rowland, Silkolene Chief R & D Chemist for 40 years.

Quote:

Costs of synthetics vary considerably. The most expensive are the “Ester” types originally only used in jet engines. These cost 6 to 10 times more than high quality mineral oils. The cheapest synthetics are not really synthetic at all, from a chemists point of view. These are in fact specially refined light viscosity mineral oils known as “hydrocracked”. These have some advantages over equivalent mineral oils, particularly in lower viscosity motor oils such as 5w-30 or other oils with a low “W” rating such as 5w-50 etc and they cost about 1.5 times more than good quality mineral fractions.

We use several different grades of this base oil, where appropriate. This is the “synthetic” which is always used in cheap oils that are labelled “synthetic”.

Yes it’s a cruel world, you get what you pay for!

Now, you may ask, why are these special mineral oils called “synthetic”?

Well, it was all sorted in a legal battle that took place in the USA about ten years ago. Sound reasons (including evidence from a Nobel Prize winning chemist) were disregarded and the final ruling was that certain mineral bases that had undergone extra chemical treatments could be called “synthetic”.

Needless to say, the marketing executives wet their knickers with pure delight!
They realised that this meant, and still does, that the critical buzz-word “synthetic” could be printed on a can of cheap oil provided that the contents included a few percent of “hydrocracked” mineral oil, at a cost of quite literally a few pence.

So, the chemistry of “synthetics” is complex and so is the politics!

The economics are very simple. If you like the look of a smart well-marketed can with “synthetic” printed on it, fair enough, it will not cost you a lot; and now you know why this is the case.

But, if you drive a high performance car, and you intend to keep it for several years, and maybe do the odd “track day”, then you need a genuine Ester/PAO (Poly Alpha Olefin) synthetic oil.

This oil costs more money to buy, because it costs us a lot of money to make, very simply, you always get what you pay for!

Unquote:

 

Yeha! the search engine works

Seems semi synthetic is good for running the engine in , so i'll probably put that in at the 1000mile service, then it'll be the all singing all dancing Ester/PAO (Poly Alpha Olefin) synthetic oil from 10,000 onwards

I'll just go off and search some more now.

Ester/PAO (Poly Alpha Olefin) synthetic oil

 

Yeah!!

Thats right ..... buy the MOST EXPENSIVE Oil you can get hold of - clearly, you only get what you pay for!!

But, of course, we all know that is complete and utter bollox ... you pay what the market makes you pay.

Getting 'value for money' should be your target in life .... look at the Semi-Sythetics .... £15 for 5Litres.

Read your Subaru Owners Manual and put in what THEY say - NOT what anyone tells you on here.

And yes, use search for the Oil topic otherwise this will become another 20 page thread where everyone has an opinion and you will get nowhere!

By the way - I do NOT sell Oil and have no interest in what Oil you buy - my only aim is to see that you don't get ripped-off

Pete

 

 

Pete, just searched through loads and found all your comments very interesting.
Have always used Semi syn. in my other 2 scoobs without any probs. but seeing as this ones brand new thought i would treat it Xtra special from the start
Don't mind paying a liitle extra but as for Ester/PAO (Poly Alpha Olefin) synthetic oil i aint got a clue.
I'll be asking at the dealers to get their opinion obviously

 

You do what you wish, sometimes the thought that you are doing something 'SPECIAL' for your car is worth the extra money.

For me it is a hard-nosed economic choice ... Subaru say use oil X - so, I buy oil which equals, or betters, X ........... I change the Oil twice a year (4,000miles) this Oil costs £15 for 5 Litres - the Subaru Oil Filter costs £4, £20 does a complete Oil Change - twice a year.

I could spend £40 on Oil Y ..... but Subaru say that I do not need Oil Y - so, why bother??

Pete

 

Not being funny, but pete you get 40 mpg plus and your brake pads last 60,000 miles. I doubt your oil gets much of a work-out. I'm not saying that you need brand X oil, or brand Y etc., just that what you need probably differs from 99% of the other people here.

 

You have missed the point COMPLETEY .... SUBARU say use Oil X

NOT me!!!

If you want to waste your money on Oil Y then thats every owners choice.

So, what I need is Oil X - because thats what SUBARU say I need ...... just like 99% of owners on here.

Understand the logic? Do as your Car Manufacturer recommends? It's very sound advice!

Pete

 

Give up Pete, let them spend their money...... People like us can spend what we save on other things......stella for me, fosters for you!

 

No, NOT REALLY PETE (I'm not deaf, old timer, no need to shout). Subaru say use X oil as a minimum.

Anyway, why change your oil at 4,000 miles? I don't know (or really care) what model you have, but I hope that's the recommended change frequency. Wouldn't want you deviating from Subaru's maximum interval.

For what it's worth, I use whatever the dealer sticks in it, whenever it needs to be serviced.

 

That sums the whole debate up in a nutshell.....York dealer uses Magnatec 10/40 semi Pickering dealer used Mobil 1 0/40. There is no definative answer. Its personal choice...End of.....

 

I change my Oil at 6 monthly intervals - as Subaru tell me to - that happens to equate to 4,000miles as I do about 8,000miles a year.

So, you see, I do not deviate from my Service schedule.

Pete

 

Well, for sure, my car should not be using Mobil 1 0/40 ....... that would worry me if Pickering were putting that in!!!!!

10/40 Semi is the right stuff .....

Pete

 

I'm going to set up a business selling to these muppets - make a KILLING

Pete

 

Phew! You had me worried for a moment there...