Shell Rotella T6 5W-40... God Send?

[thefultonhow]

Useful information about the 4 quarts of oil that are inside your actual engine.

 

And of course, this is affected by the oil formulation, any variability in batches of oil, the way your particular engine responds to the formulation, AND your driving style and conditions. Kind of like how NASIOC doesn't allow "how much will my insurance cost" threads -- too many variables.

 

Of course, this isn't to say that I won't take various UOAs into account when choosing oil, and Rotella T6 does seem to hold up well in Subaru turbo engines from the UOAs I've seen. But in the end, with 3000-mile oil changes, does it really matter that much? Personally, I suck at maintaining a good OCI (I'm pushing 7000 miles on my G20, when I shoot for 5000), so Rotella T6 makes a lot of sense for me, and I may do a UOA on the batch of Supertech oil that's currently in my G20 just for fun.

[BigBlack-V]

I switched a few years ago (had it in my wrx now my LGT) to this oil and I think its awesome. IMO its def one of the best oils for the Subaru.

[HarryN]

I think that if you really care (and yes, I understand why you do) about the properties of the oil you are using and how those properties change over time/miles, then you are a good candidate to pay for some UOAs. I don't think UOAs are worthless. I think they can give you lots of information about what's going on with your motor and the oil that you have in it. I think it's important, however, to note the (appropriately) limited scope of your own statement - "...useful information of how the oil is behaving in my engine[.]" That's exactly what you will get. Useful information about the 4 quarts of oil that are inside your actual engine. What I tend to take issue with is the degree to which people in general try to extrapolate that very limited information into some kind of broad statement regarding a particular oil's virtue.

 

What is the threshold TBN for an oil to perform effectively? How much zinc is really too much? How much does the shear stability matter in actual practice? I would suggest that in reality no one knows the answers to these questions with certainty. At some point you are just playing a game of statistics, and taken to absurdity you could argue in favor of changing the oil every day or, as rao suggests, never driving the car at all.

 

I do know you aren't going this far, and that in reality you are just trying to share some oil-related info for the community benefit, which shouldn't be discouraged. However, the notion of one particular oil being this kind of "magic bullet" of maximum protection for minimum expense has been playing out on the internet for years, and in cold garages for decades before that. I think asking the question just invites this to continue, and that, in my opinion, has never been a very constructive exercise. I'm done commenting on it only because I think we've had our exchange here and there are probably some minor points on which we'll just forever disagree. I'm glad it seems like that disagreement is perceived to be reasonable on both sides. Cheers.

 

Thank you. I can't argue againt a single thing mentioned here, and the points made I will take as sage advice.

 

And I mean this with all sincerity, I appreciate your time in this post. I will keep people informed of my UOAs.

 

Just a heads up, I do drive my car in what Subaru would say is extreme driving conditions (lead foot, driving on controlled courses, etc) so I am curious how this motul oil handles my driving.

[GEE-OTTO]

I run T6 simply because it flows well when cold and my car doesn't eat it like it did the Quaker State 5w-30.

 

I have 77K on my 2008 Legacy so i also wanted the SAE 40 grade for better protection so this stuff fit the bill

[csbrown28]

I dunno if I speak for others, but I'm not looking for a magic bullet, I'm not expecting to add HP, get an extra 10 years out of my engine or a 5mpg increase, what I am interested in is an oil that gives good results backed by corroborated evidence. Yes much of the evidence is circumstantial but given the shear volume of positives I switched to Rotella T6 simply because I know, based on quite a bit of other peoples experience, that, at the very least, it's not bad for my car. I know that all other factors being equal if the engine blows up or turbo gives out, I'll be reasonably confident that the oil or filter (OEM blue) wasn't to blame.