100% not true, and its almost irresponsible for you to post such. The differences between oil types, brands, and weights are huge.

You can't compare old style (dino) oil to a true synthetic like amsoil or redline. Do yourself a favor, send in your oil at 3000 and get it tested, then change oils and do the same. The differences will be night and day.


That said, Rule one, DO NOT BUY CHEEP FILTERS. Anyone here who has a fram or low end Wix filter on their car, should be shot for the protection of the human race. Spend the extra 5-10 dollars and get a high end filter. Top 3 brands are...

1)purolator pureOne (not their lower end stuff)
2)Mobil one
3)K&N (built by mobil one)

There is one filter that is ranked above the pureOne, and that is amsoil, but they charge far too much for the thing.

 

I like to add Napa GOLD 1365 to that list of Oil Filters.

 

There's no reason to pay an "extra" 5 dollars for a PureOne filter.

They sell on Amazon for ~$10 for a 2 pack. Buy 6 and you qualify for free shipping. Now you have all you need for a while with no tax & no shipping. Ends up like +$1 over buying crap filters at Kragen.

PL14460 (older WRX) -- http://www.amazon.com/Purolator-PL14...4375799&sr=1-1
PL14612 (2.5L turbo) -- http://www.amazon.com/Purolator-PL14...4375799&sr=1-2

 

I agree with you about spending the extra $ on a good oil filter, however I don't think there's any significant difference between synthetic oils. I've ran everything from cheap 5qt jugs of Mobil 1 to high end synthetics like Neo, Torco, Eneos, etc. I've sent oil samples in to Blackstone Labs in the past for analysis as well. After getting the results back, there was no change in TBN and wear #'s after switching from the expensive oils to Mobil 1. So I'm not just talking out of my *** when I say oil is oil.

If you think using some $10/qt oil is going to save your motor from a catastrophic failure any better than a cheap oil, you're wrong. I speak from first hand experience. As long as you use a good oil filter and make sure it's screwed on tight, you should be good to go.

 

Try to find the European Formula (its marked "Made in Germany" on the back). There are some subie owners that posted really good oil analysis results on the bobistheoilguy forums. Results have also shown that its nearly a 40 weight.

That said, I'm starting to lean more and more into Lurk's corner that nowdays, oil is pretty much oil. The most important thing is to use the proper weight and check the dipstick OFTEN! Subarus run real good as long as they're full of clean oil.

 

oil is oil as long as the pressure is right. A lot of people don't use an oil pressure gauge, and you're pretty much just guessing at the right viscosity without a gauge. Any oil is fine as long as the viscosity stays in a good place. Issues happen when you put in one viscosity, then it comes out another. That's when oil is a problem.

Spun bearings are one of the most common subaru failure, and this is something directly related to the oiling.

 

It makes me laugh when ANOTHER thread pops up about oil and people are jumping in to hate on Mobil1...yet the 2 shops I trust (Both build race cars and both compete regularly) both recommend Mobil1.

I guess their 20 years combined experience building, modifying and racing Subarus means nothing?

I'll stick with the advice from the shops that have been there and done that with everything from daily drivers to race cars running close to 700hp.

 

Instead of just shooting in the dark and running oil ____ cause so and so said its awesome... Try sending your oils to a lab.. Its like $25, no biggie, then you dont have to trust all the garbage thats splattered all over message boards..... In which one thing I can assure you of... Mobile 1 is completely fine for 99% of people. Is there "better" stuff? Yeah depending on what you do with it, but few to no other oils will cause less wear if you actually change it regularly....

BTW, my car.. Mobile 1 only cause its cheap and works great.. over 15k on my motor pushing over 30psi on e85(which breaks oil down) and the three labs I have run have all come back great.

 

The old M1 stuff was pretty decent, but I don't trust M1 anymore.. I had to fill a quart of "lost" oil (no leaks) into my STi every 1,200 miles... Same with my wife's car (300M), but she goes through about a half quart every 1k miles. My old WRX (06 WRX) had some issues with M1 as well, but nothing too major. All problems with "lost oil" have been resolved since I switched to TOTAL oil.

GST used to us M1 in their race car, that is until they sent in some samples to Blackstone oil analysis and found out how much the oil was breaking down. Blackstone recommends Total over any other oil, and it's now the primary oil used by the L racecar.. All oil related problems that they had with Mobil 1 in the race car have been resolved thanks to switching to better oil (Total, not sure what weight).

Only problem with Total is that it's a European oil and it's hard to find. I buy mine at GST...

Not only is Total (I'm not just favoring TOTAL, I'm favoring pretty much ANY oil over M1) better in our cars (Cars tested by ME personally: 2000 2.5RS with 140k miles, an 06 WRX with 70k miles, a Crysler 300M with 70k miles, and finally my 2007 STi), but it's also cheaper than buying Mobil 1 at retail stores. It's not that much cheaper, but you save about a buck or two with 5 quarts.


I used to be a Mobil 1 fanboy and it was all I used... Everyone recommended it, from everyday people to race shops... A couple of years ago that all changed and everyone who loved M1 now no longer uses it due to the reasons illustrated above.


When I first saw the amount of oil my car was burning in my car originally, I thought something was wrong with the motor, so I kept using the same oil. Before I could get the car serviced (this was my 2006 WRX) I was in an accident which totaled (no pun intended) my car. When I got my 2007 STi, I started using the same old oil and noticed that I was losing almost a FULL quart every 1k miles regardless of how I drove! That's when I realized that it wasn't my motor that was at fault, it was the damn oil! I promptly switched to Motul, and then to TOTAL and the problem has gone away completely. I use OEM filters and always have, NOTHING changed except the fact that I changed the oil brand.

You can tell that there's a HUGE difference in oil when you drain Mobil 1 compared to oils like Motul and Total... When I'd drain the M1, it would come out like runny coffee, and that was even with 10w40 (which is what I switched to after noticing how thin the 5w30 came out of my engine was)... When draining the new oil (Total 5w30), it comes out as if it didn't lose ANY viscosity which is what you want.

I tried to like Mobil 1, I really did, but I'm not going to risk my engine on the fact that I'm loyal to some brand.


Mobil 1, you've let me down, big time.




PS: To M1, my engine sends it's regards, and by "regards", I mean it said "F U, M1!".


PPS: We should all get stickers made that say "F U, M1!".

 

For a boxer engine, Mobil 1 just doesn't have the right formulation anymore to stand up to the extra abuse they heap out. It goes for the old pancake motors in the VW Type I,II,III, and IV. After 2006 when they changed formulation it went down hill.

That said, my camry and the 7m-gte in the 4runner both run exclusively mobil 1, and I have no problem with thinning and fast breakdown.