Picked up my Steel Gray WRX TR today!!!

[Shadow248]

Originally Posted by Chiketkd

The owner's manual says synthetic is just fine and the majority of people on NASIOC have switched to synthetic by their 1st or 2nd oil change. I did it on my first since the car already has 2,000+ miles.

As she was alread broken-in, I'm looking forward to taking her up to higher and higher revs over the next 2 weeks. Took her up to 5,000rpms this evening in 1st, 2nd and 3rd and she feels amazing!!!!

-Chike

Yeah it's not THAT big a deal. Everywhere I go I hear differing opinions on the synthetic oil vs. regular oil. At the end of the day, it's oil. It lubricates the motor. Synthetic definetly remains effective longer than natural oil. Is it any better for an engine under normal use? I don't think anyone really knows for sure. I use Synthetic in the WS6 (the owner's manual recommends it) and natural oil in the truck. Both are running flawlessly. Not that I expected different. There are some nazi's on my home site that will only use the German Castrol 0W-50 oil. One guy even claims that he tested different LS1s with different synthetic oils...blah blah blah. I don't buy it.

I don't really know where I was going with that. Oh well.

[TomsSVX]

When I installed the cams in my car, I used organic motor oil for 3k miles in order to break in the cams properly. Told the buyer to use mobil 1 afterwards

Tom

[Chiketkd]

Well, my engine was broken in with the factory oil (regular) for ~2,400 miles, and I switched to synthetic today. The owner's manual says it's fine and if something happens to my engine it'll be covered by the dealership or Subaru for quite some time to come.

Sorry, I've read those articles on regular dino vs synthetic oil and they're non-conclusive. Subaru uses synthetic oil in their WRC cars and recommends it for both the WRX and STI.

-Chike

[Landshark]

are you cheap or are you lazy?

regular dino is teh cheap, but synthetic lets you go longer between changes.

i'm more lazy than cheap, but i still have a case of Castrol to use up. after that, i'll switch to Mobil1 and change every 4k-5k.

pick your flavor.

[TomsSVX]

Even running synthetic I would still suggest changing oil every 3k. You "can" keep it off for another 1-2k but it is in your hands...

Tom

[Landshark]

Originally Posted by TomsSVX

Even running synthetic I would still suggest changing oil every 3k. You "can" keep it off for another 1-2k but it is in your hands...

Tom

that's overkill, probably even with regular oil. check the oil change intervals listed in the owner's manual of most modern cars - they recommend anywhere from 7500 - 15,000 (not that i'd ever go that long!)

4000-5000 on synthetic isn't going to hurt anything - i'd go a little longer but its a turbo, and i do mostly city driving. i will probably change at 4000 when i do switch over.

[Royal Tiger]

Congrats Chike. Have fun and take care of her. Sorry I won't have that 951 to race you, uh, drive 10 below the speed limit around Morgantown with you.

[Chiketkd]

Originally Posted by Landshark

are you cheap or are you lazy?

regular dino is teh cheap, but synthetic lets you go longer between changes.

i'm more lazy than cheap, but i still have a case of Castrol to use up. after that, i'll switch to Mobil1 and change every 4k-5k.

pick your flavor.

I guess neither. I change my synthetic oil every 3-4K miles. As I did this first oil change at 2,400 miles, I'll do the next one at 5,000 and then change it every 3-4K afterwards for as long as I own the car...

Originally Posted by Tigershark

Congrats Chike. Have fun and take care of her. Sorry I won't have that 951 to race you, uh, drive 10 below the speed limit around Morgantown with you.

Thanks Dan. I look forward to taking you for a spin at Reading!

-Chike

[benebob]

Originally Posted by Landshark

that's overkill, probably even with regular oil. check the oil change intervals listed in the owner's manual of most modern cars - they recommend anywhere from 7500 - 15,000 (not that i'd ever go that long!)

4000-5000 on synthetic isn't going to hurt anything - i'd go a little longer but its a turbo, and i do mostly city driving. i will probably change at 4000 when i do switch over.

Remember though the severe driving conditions * takes it down to the 3750 mark.

Seriously chike if you plan to keep the car past 100k which is long past the warranty I'd examine the issue. True break in is about 10k for most cars engines today. My dealership wouldn't put mobil 1 in my wifes at the first oil change (was in for its 4th round of warranty crap at the time). Why would a dealer deny the mark-up they could get? I wouldn't be listening to owners either.

[Chiketkd]

Originally Posted by benebob

Seriously chike if you plan to keep the car past 100k which is long past the warranty I'd examine the issue. True break in is about 10k for most cars engines today. My dealership wouldn't put mobil 1 in my wifes at the first oil change (was in for its 4th round of warranty crap at the time). Why would a dealer deny the mark-up they could get? I wouldn't be listening to owners either.

I'm not sure why the dealer refused to use synthetic oil in your wife's car, but remember, mine had 2,2xx miles when I bought it and 2,4xx miles when I did the first oil change. That's long enough for the regular dino oil to break-in all of the engine seals.

The modern engine has come along way. Some cars (Lancer Evolution, E46 BMW M3) even come from the factory with synthetic break-in oil! I plan on only using Mobil 1 5W-30 and keeping the car for at least 3-4 years (maybe longer).

-Chike

[benebob]

Originally Posted by Chiketkd

I'm not sure why the dealer refused to use synthetic oil in your wife's car, but remember, mine had 2,2xx miles when I bought it and 2,4xx miles when I did the first oil change. That's long enough for the regular dino oil to break-in all of the engine seals.

The modern engine has come along way. Some cars (Lancer Evolution, E46 BMW M3) even come from the factory with synthetic break-in oil! I plan on only using Mobil 1 5W-30 and keeping the car for at least 3-4 years (maybe longer).

-Chike

A service bulletin I think he said. I've know him since I got my first Subaru at 16 something like 15 years ago now and he's not the kind of guy to force something down your throat. Even told my mom not to get her 60k service done at 60k aside from the tranny fluid. Told her to wait until the 75-90k mark for the t belt and all as that's a better time to replace the seals to get a reasonable life out of it all. I did call the two other area service managers and they both said the same thing. Best to wait until around the 10k mark for long term durablity of the vehicle. I've also hear that before and when I posted about it Mike Davis also said that Kerven wouldn't do it until about 10k either if I remember correctly. I'm quite conservative myself when it comes to auto car. Still change everything at the 3k mark regardless of anything (except my SVX which gets its oil done annually at the 200 mark ). Then again my vehicles sit for a week at a time so 3k to me is closer to the 4.5-6month time frame depending on usage.

Seriously I'd check around, Call that dealer today!, of course if you're not planning on keeping it past say 80k then it really doesn't matter, you'll just screw the next owner just like 1/2 the WRXs are gonna do anyways. Won't be pretty in 5 years to see what happens to the reliablity record of Subaru I'm guessing with so many Solberg wanna-be's out there driving like rally drivers in a car that isn't even close to the real thing for that kind of beating.

Oh yeah and another thing. I hope they extended your bumper to bumper and 60k service by 2400 miles as they can and should do that provided the car is being sold as a new (untitled) car which it should be. If they didn't call that Business manager and get it done! Its just paperwork for most manufactures so of course they don't do it unless you force the issue but it should be done now as opposed to at 36.1k when a piece of trim breaks.

[Chiketkd]

Originally Posted by benebob

A service bulletin I think he said. I've know him since I got my first Subaru at 16 something like 15 years ago now and he's not the kind of guy to force something down your throat. Even told my mom not to get her 60k service done at 60k aside from the tranny fluid. Told her to wait until the 75-90k mark for the t belt and all as that's a better time to replace the seals to get a reasonable life out of it all. I did call the two other area service managers and they both said the same thing. Best to wait until around the 10k mark for long term durablity of the vehicle. I've also hear that before and when I posted about it Mike Davis also said that Kerven wouldn't do it until about 10k either if I remember correctly. I'm quite conservative myself when it comes to auto car. Still change everything at the 3k mark regardless of anything (except my SVX which gets its oil done annually at the 200 mark ). Then again my vehicles sit for a week at a time so 3k to me is closer to the 4.5-6month time frame depending on usage.

Seriously I'd check around, Call that dealer today!, of course if you're not planning on keeping it past say 80k then it really doesn't matter, you'll just screw the next owner just like 1/2 the WRXs are gonna do anyways. Won't be pretty in 5 years to see what happens to the reliablity record of Subaru I'm guessing with so many Solberg wanna-be's out there driving like rally drivers in a car that isn't even close to the real thing for that kind of beating.

Oh yeah and another thing. I hope they extended your bumper to bumper and 60k service by 2400 miles as they can and should do that provided the car is being sold as a new (untitled) car which it should be. If they didn't call that Business manager and get it done! Its just paperwork for most manufactures so of course they don't do it unless you force the issue but it should be done now as opposed to at 36.1k when a piece of trim breaks.

I bought the car as a brand new untitled car. I'm not interested in having my warranty extended (even another 2K miles) as my car will be out of compliance after 1 year of ownership. That's also the reason why I didn't get the 100K extended factory warranty - just no point with the plans I have for the car.

I don't think I'll be screwing anyone who owns my car in the future, but with that said, it's my car and I'll maintain in the best way I see fit. While an engine is still breaking in within the first 5-10K miles, regular dino oil only needs to be used for the first 1K miles to properly break in the cams, seals, etc. The factory oil was in my car for over 2K miles and with the additives in Mobil 1, I know she'll be fine for many years to come.

Ben, you keep bringing up the advice of different service techs/managers (and 1 possible TSB), however, show me one WRX owner who's had a 'stock' engine damaged as a result of using synthetic oil? They're several '02 owners with well over 100K miles and they've reported no issues. All I've been told is once you go synthetic, stay with synthetic which I shall...

-Chike

[Chiketkd]

Ben,

I re-checked my owners manual and it definitely says synthetic oil within the recommended weights (5W-30 or 10W-30) is fine to use in any Impreza engine (2.5i, WRX & STI).

I also heard on WRX forums that synthetic oil is almost 'needed' in the turbo engines if you plan on doing any kind of racing as they run hotter by nature. The oil lines which run around the turbo and are used to cool it, get extremely hot and can cause regular oil to break-down very quickly. However, synthetic oil is much more resistant to these hot temps and will better cool the turbo and lubricate the engine!

-Chike

[benebob]

Originally Posted by Chiketkd

I bought the car as a brand new untitled car. I'm not interested in having my warranty extended (even another 2K miles) as my car will be out of compliance after 1 year of ownership. That's also the reason why I didn't get the 100K extended factory warranty - just no point with the plans I have for the car.

I don't think I'll be screwing anyone who owns my car in the future, but with that said, it's my car and I'll maintain in the best way I see fit. While an engine is still breaking in within the first 5-10K miles, regular dino oil only needs to be used for the first 1K miles to properly break in the cams, seals, etc. The factory oil was in my car for over 2K miles and with the additives in Mobil 1, I know she'll be fine for many years to come.

Ben, you keep bringing up the advice of different service techs/managers (and 1 possible TSB), however, show me one WRX owner who's had a 'stock' engine damaged as a result of using synthetic oil? They're several '02 owners with well over 100K miles and they've reported no issues. All I've been told is once you go synthetic, stay with synthetic which I shall...

-Chike

I don't think you understand what break in is for and what it actually does. It simply helps everything seat properly, wear in evenly, etc. There is no way to tell if a car had been broken in properly at 120k or not but in the long term a car will last a shorter period internally then one that isn't. Also it will run slightly stronger typically if broken in properly etc. It just typically leads to problems down the road. Granted most newer engines never die unlike older ones. Just passing along very sound advice which came from that company that you seem to admire so much . Not from the hick down them hills who gots himself a rally car ya know..

Its wise not to switch up after using one for a while but that is simply for seal reasons, nothing else. You wouldn't be in that position yet.

Did you read the owners manual? I think if I remember correctly I was told by someone too that the oil should stay in for 3k, not the 1k you stated but my memory isn't the greatest and as Hocrest can attest to. I don't read manuals. That's why I needed him for the race car. He reads and I hack.

As for the warranty. You never know. Just again, sound advice that you already paid for so why not take it. Maybe you'll pop twins out in 10 months and you're plans will be put on hold.

[benebob]

Originally Posted by Chiketkd

Ben,

I re-checked my owners manual and it definitely says synthetic oil within the recommended weights (5W-30 or 10W-30) is fine to use in any Impreza engine (2.5i, WRX & STI).

I also heard on WRX forums that synthetic oil is almost 'needed' in the turbo engines if you plan on doing any kind of racing as they run hotter by nature. The oil lines which run around the turbo and are used to cool it, get extremely hot and can cause regular oil to break-down very quickly. However, synthetic oil is much more resistant to these hot temps and will better cool the turbo and lubricate the engine!

-Chike

From my limited knowledge its the opposite as to above. Sythetic better at cold temps then regular. Not sure about the opposite. I know that for highway driving studies have shown that regular oil was a better lub then sythetic as it "stuck" better but who did the studies I don't know. I just remember reading it somewhere that was somewhat rep.

Oh and I did just check. Its 3k for that 1st oil change. Much easier online then the book.