emilbus Posted December 5, 2009 Share Posted December 5, 2009 Just did my first oil change on the slightly used legacy 2.5i @ 20,300 miles. Used a NAPA gold filter (rip-off, it costs more than an OEM suby filter) AND Castrol GTX 5w-30 (non-synthetic). This is what was used at the dealer I purchased it and it's recommended and I have no doubt that it will work just fine as long as it's changed regularly! No oil burned yet.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apexi Posted December 6, 2009 Share Posted December 6, 2009 While expensive, napa gold's are actually pretty darn good oil filters. I agree that that combination should work just fine. Personally I've decided to stick with oem subie oil filters since I can't find anyone who makes a filter that matches the oem's bypass setting. http://www.legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php?t=109265 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FocuS Posted December 6, 2009 Share Posted December 6, 2009 I use Rotella Synthetic 5w40. Decent price and no burning or missing between changes... My .02... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doccrowley Posted December 6, 2009 Share Posted December 6, 2009 I have read bad things about using synthetic oil in a Subaru. Enuf said Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emilbus Posted December 7, 2009 Share Posted December 7, 2009 I use Rotella Synthetic 5w40. Decent price and no burning or missing between changes... My .02... That's the Shell oil for diesels and heavy trucks, correct?? I recently had a friend recommend using Shell Rotella diesel oil... any experience from ANYBODY??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
05pearl Posted December 7, 2009 Share Posted December 7, 2009 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FocuS Posted December 7, 2009 Share Posted December 7, 2009 That's the Shell oil for diesels and heavy trucks, correct?? I recently had a friend recommend using Shell Rotella diesel oil... any experience from ANYBODY??? I think your thinking of the Rotella T...I just use the synthetic version... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeFromPA Posted December 7, 2009 Share Posted December 7, 2009 Rotella T 5w40 is a heavy duty engine oil marketed towards diesel engines and heavy duty gasoline use. It's perfectly suitable for our cars and has shown itself to be one of the better oils for resisting our unique blend of engine characteristics. Diesel oils usually aren't formulated to be as energy conserving or as emissions conscious as the current oils marketed towards passenger car gasoline engines. Hence the marketing and formulation differences. Nevertheless, they tend to be able to withstand alot more abuse & fuel before breaking down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emilbus Posted December 8, 2009 Share Posted December 8, 2009 Thanks for the input JOE. I do believe it was the Rotella T that I"m thinking of since it seems that others are familiar with what I was talking about. I take it that no one is using Shell Rotella T...???? Might not be a bad idea since they are designed for a more heavy duty engine. Diesels run hotter than a regular 4-stroke gasoline engine, correct?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeFromPA Posted December 8, 2009 Share Posted December 8, 2009 Emilbus - I've run it, as have many others. Good choice of oils for our 2.5 liter turbo engine. I'm running synthetics on sale till the end of my warranty (i.e. average oil change costs me about $25 to do it myself with synthetics). After that, I'll focus on synthetics I can run for a long duration between changes. So far, everything I've seen indicates Rotella T is a good choice for 7k+ changes if you are into that sort of thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emilbus Posted December 8, 2009 Share Posted December 8, 2009 I am actually a non-turbo; just a 2.5i... ... lol But I'm thinking the Rotella T still wouldn't be a bad choice. Rotella is synthetic whereas the ROTELLA T (diesel/heavy duty) is a non-synthetic, correct? I'm not really into long durations betwen oil changes, I may have hit 6 or 7,000 on my previous car once but i don't make habit of that. -Jeremy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeFromPA Posted December 8, 2009 Share Posted December 8, 2009 In that case, just run Pennzoil Platinum 5w30. Subaru non-turbo 2.5 liter engines are very, very easy on oil and don't require any sort of robust option. Run it for as long as you said 6-7k is fine on that oil, as long as you drive about 15k miles a year or more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
schwinn Posted December 8, 2009 Share Posted December 8, 2009 FWIW, I'm using Rotella T 5w40 synth (in the blue jug)... no issues with the UOAs. It doesn't look any significantly better than the M1 5w30 I was using - maybe it was holding up in thickness, I don't recall... bottom line, the Rotella is a little cheaper, so I figure why not. It's cheaper than PP for me, too, which is why I didn't go that route. Of course, I'm on a turbo motor, Stage 2. As Joe mentioned, the non-turbo doesn't need anything fancy... Joe knows his stuff, and has the data to prove it... I'd go with what he says. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emilbus Posted December 9, 2009 Share Posted December 9, 2009 I believe that Joe knows what he says. I didn't really intend on switching to the Rotella T, I just asked more about it since it was mentioned previously. I'm actually running Castrol GTX 5w-30. I don't plan on putting synthetic in my N/A engine! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeFromPA Posted December 9, 2009 Share Posted December 9, 2009 Synthetic's betters in your engine will mainly come about in long-term lack of deposit formation and overall cleaning of the engine. I can't wait to crack open my 06 civic SI's valve cover for the first time at 100-105k miles....I could see a cam lobe from my oil filler cap the other day, and at 78k miles it looked like it was on the showroom floor. Synthetic from 3000 miles helps with that, as well as nice hard driving Castrol GTX is a phenomenal dino oil. In fact, one of the most knowledgable members on here (UncleMat) and I just entered into a contest: I'm going to run Castrol GTX in my turbo motor for 3500 miles and then do an oil analysis in the hopes of showing it didn't shear at all (my bet). Unclemat thinks it will. I wouldn't put an oil in my engine and intend to do an oil analysis on it, with a bet on hand, if i didn't think that is one fantastic dino oil. In your engine, I'd say run it for 5-6k or 6 months without concern, as long as you are doing somewhat normal driving style (non-severe) and somewhere over 12-15k miles a year. Joe P.s. 5 quarts of Pennzoil Platinum 5w30 is $20 and readily available. What is GTX costing you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emilbus Posted December 12, 2009 Share Posted December 12, 2009 I've had the car less than 2 months so I've only done 1 oil change on it @ a 3,000 mile interval. The car is barely over 21,000 miles. I don't recall the price of the Castrol GTX but I bought a case of it. And I bought it at NAPA; that's the reason for me using the NAPA filter so I'm sure it was overpriced. I"ll probably look into picking the next case up at Wal-Mart or somewhere, they seem to have excellent oil prices. I'd consider my driving style to be non-severe. Since the car doesn't really have any balls I baby it in dry weather. The only time that it does/will see higher RPM's is in the snow! :) but even at that I stray from hitting the redline or rev limiter.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
naimouasta Posted December 12, 2009 Share Posted December 12, 2009 i believe castrol gtx in 5qt jug at walmart is $12.50. atleast where i live. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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