lads would you use castrol gtx magnatec in a my96 sti if not y cheers

 

Nope.

Breaks down, tars up, loses lubrication .. turbo motors too harsh environment for non synth / semi synth oils.


Stick with good quality Synthetic oils, such as Castrol RS 10-60, Motul 300V, Mobil1 Motorsport ( thinks its 10-40 ? ). Avoid very thin synthetic oils too.

Hope that helps

 

cheers mate a great help

 

No probs, we are here to help!

Only problem is these synth oils cost ... £25 for 4 litres of Castrol RS 10-60 .. Doh!

 

is it rite my car holds 4.5 litres

 

What type of driving do you do?

I'd only recommend Castrol RS 10w-60 if you drive like a nutter and run high BHP, and don't do many cold starts.


The viscosity for that stuff at 40degrees is like 20w-50

 

.... is that a bad thing?

 

i drive the car normal only thrash it now and again

 

Use 5w-40 or 10w-40 (10w-50 if competing in the car) I would recommend a proper synthetic oil like MOTUL 300V or SILKOLENE PRO S.

You can always email me for prices.

Cheers
Simon

 

SIMON...Why the hell does "EVERY"Subaru dealership..(Including one near me that rally a scooby)....Recomend,The oil replaced with semi-synthetic......??????????If this is no good for the motor..Infact i have contacted several dealerships and each recommend...Semi-Synthetic oil.......????????????And some even state "NOT" to use over engineered oils....???????????
I believe in some Classic Scooby manuals....To use SEMI-SYNTH oil in the engine.....

 

I can vouch for that too....Autodata list semi-synth for 93-00 Turbo's too, as do Castrol (although there is RS as an option). Although I think I can explain....

Bottom line is that the only thing Subaru specify for oil requirements is the viscosity and an API rating of SH or SJ, most semi-synths comply with this. This is the most likely reason why they are used.

Now if it was totally unsuitable, I'm sure Subaru would change the required oil specifications - like ford did with their early zetecs (changed from 10w-40 to 5w-30), and BMW with some of their M-series engines. Subaru haven't, so it seems they don't think there is a problem. Perhaps the 6 monthly oil change schedule is already supposed to address this?

Synthetics do last longer and cope better, I cannot see no viable reason why you shouldn't use it, as long as it meet the minimum specifed viscosities. Perhaps the dealer was against the use of a synthetic due to many off-the shelf sythetics, such as Castrol SLX, etc are 0w-30 or 5w-30, which is unsuitable for the Impreza Turbo's ideal requirements.

 

Cost, profit margins? I really don't know.

My question is.........Why wouldn't you want to put the best in your scoob?

If I owned one, which I don't then I would be using synthetics as they are so much better than petroleum oils.

You don't have to be a rally of race driver to benefit. We're talking about long term wear and better protection here. If you had a 200,000 mile Ford Ka then I'd say don't waste your time but in a performance car, it's a no brainer!

At the end of the day, it's your choice and I respect that.

Cheers
Simon

 

Worth a read although parts are out of date

http://www.synlube.com/basics.htm

Questions re a semi is what advantage is there in mixing an unknown quantity of I assume PAO, except Magnatec which is an ester, with a basic mineral?

 

hmmmm well i know my 2 local main dealers service all subarus with magnatec cos i went for some oil one day and they sold me a tub cos thats what they use all the time aparently!

 

Wherever you go to have your car serviced, you will find different brands and in some instances, different grades.

Dealers are not bound to use a brand specifically, they tend to use what they can get the best deal on and this normally means profit margins.

Some use proper synthetics and will generally make less money than they would using a semi-synthetic or a hydrocracked synthetic but they are comfortable knowing that they are using the best type of oil.

I have heard all sorts of "horror stories" over the years about Dealers in general, not specifically scooby ones and some really don't have a clue, take my word for it.

The best people to recommend the correct oils are the oil companies themselves as they have dedicated technical departments for this purpose.

The easiest way to check at the end of the day is to "look in your handbook" that's what it's there for.

Cheers
Simon