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guys check out my latest UOA for my sube. the first two samples (right columns) are using shell rotella T 15W40 conventional oil. the third (latest, and left most column) sample is using Castrol Syntec 0W30.. (sometimes called 'German Castrol' or 'GC'.. and supposedly a fantastic example of full synth oil tech.. according to the guys on bobistheoilguy)

some things to note: the GC was used about 1k miles longer than the other two.. the right most sample of rotella T was used during a lapping school.. the middle sample was strictly commuting.. the left most GC sample was used in commuting and in a couple of 15-20min 'mountain sessions'... (not quite full on effort like a track day since it is on public roads.. but certainly lots of full boost/high rpm usage and elevated (~1450F) EGTs (measured in the exhaust manifold near the #3 cyl of a 2.0L turbo subaru)... during the GC sample i am using a mix of 50% 91 octane and 50% 100 octane.. in the previous samples i used 100% 91 octane. (i think this explains the elevated manganese levels.. (blackstone says manganese is a trace element in fuel additives)

another interesting factoid is that GC 0W30 is very sheer resistant.. ie its viscosity is higher than some full synth 5W30 oils that i've seen reports for.

this is exactly what i was expecting.... no difference in engine protection between a good quality dino oil and a good quality full synth oil.... no difference in fuel econ between the full synth 30 weight and the dino 40 weight (avg mpg remains 21-24mpg depending on throttle usage)

the advantages of the GC as i see it are #1 potentially longer change interval and #2 (not really an advantage but more of a physical property) can be used in the winter

i have GC in my car right now, and i will get another sample, but at this point I can't justify the $6/qt for the GC versus the $2.5/qt... i will likely be going back to rotella T 15W40 in the summer since my extra $$ isn't giving me any extra protection anyway

any thoughts guys?

Well, it doesn't look like the dino oil is doing your engine any damage from the numbers perspective, and even if you have to change it more frequently, it will likely end up being cheaper anyways (I'll leave the math to you tho).

And you won't feel like you're wasting synth oil either.

So my vote is go with Dino... unless you feel you want the extra peace of mind...

of course, it might be interesting to see at what point the synth starts breaking down...

darkpuppet,Mar 13 2008, 12:40 PM Wrote:of course, it might be interesting to see at what point the synth starts breaking down...
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yea others have told me to leave the synth in longer. i'm not sure how i feel about that yet

naz,Mar 13 2008, 11:36 AM Wrote:

darkpuppet,Mar 13 2008, 12:40 PM Wrote:of course, it might be interesting to see at what point the synth starts breaking down...
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yea others have told me to leave the synth in longer. i'm not sure how i feel about that yet
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some experiments are better left for others to try out ;) ... your car, your call tho.

darkpuppet,Mar 13 2008, 04:14 PM Wrote:some experiments are better left for others to try out ;) ... your car, your call tho.
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word.. i'm actually going to change out the GC at 3300miles this time around, so i can get something closer to apples to apples with GC versus the rotella T. (kind of a waste of $6/qt full synth to change that soon.. but.. whatever)

for focus guys who are concerned about using something thicker than a 30 weight, GC could be the way to go...

a focus owner should do a similar UOA comparison between the ford branded oil, redline, GC and M1 full synth. that would really be interesting to see! (i will not use an energy conserving 5w30 in my sube, can't help with this one!)

i'd like to see what the results are like at the 12K-24K mark that the motor companys are using as the standard oil change interval now ... i'm sure the results can't be good

I went 10,000km's on my Mobil 1 synthetic, when I dropped the oil out of the car it still looked relativly brand new. The filter was heavy but still worked fine. In my opinion i'd say any where between the 6-10,000 km mark is a decent time to change your synthetic. My car has only seen 5,000kms on conventional oil, so really there aint much point in me switchin back over. Shocking to see how there is no change in the results, but a big change in price.

Burnin21,Mar 13 2008, 09:51 PM Wrote:I went 10,000km's on my Mobil 1 synthetic, when I dropped the oil out of the car it still looked relativly brand new. The filter was heavy but still worked fine.
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you can't tell how the oil or filter are performing just by visually inspecting them......

I used 5 w 50 castrol and changed every 5 000 km , i could have gone longer , but why ? I believe oil is the life blood of my engine and frankly its the cheapest form of insurance for the car. If i went over 5000 km then its ok , the oil and filter supposedly go to 10 000 km but why test it lol .....
Im interested to know what the standard viscosity of oil is for your car from the factory and if running a thicker oil in a turbo car is a good idea ? i've been slightly shy to mess around with viscosity numbers in oil on my new car since im worried about the oiling system being designed for one type of oil and changing viscosity might affect flow rates to the turbo and such .... i dont want to fry the snail :)

Mike,Mar 14 2008, 02:31 PM Wrote:I used 5 w 50 castrol and changed every 5 000 km , i could have gone longer , but why ?  I believe oil is the life blood of my engine and frankly its the cheapest form of insurance for the car. If i went over 5000 km then its ok , the oil and filter supposedly go to 10 000 km but why test it lol .....
Im interested to know what the standard viscosity of oil is for your car from the factory and if running a thicker oil in a turbo car is a good idea ? i've been slightly shy to mess around with viscosity numbers in oil on my new car since im worried about the oiling system being designed for one type of oil and changing viscosity might affect flow rates to the turbo and such .... i dont want to fry the snail :)
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mike, i have a '02 WRX.. from the factory it had 5W30 but the owner's manual specified a range of acceptable viscosities based on ambient temp and usage. ie.. 10w30, 10w40, all the way up to 20w50 were acceptable oils as well

general consensus among people in the WRX world who get their oil analyzed is that most xW30 oils shear down to a 20 weight too fast and result in very elevated wear metal levels, and 5W30 was put in from the factory in the US market for fuel economy reasons and not engine protection reasons (ie 15w50 is supposed the OE oil viscosity in JDM world)

you should check your owners manual or factory service manual for acceptable oil types. i'm almost certain is it ok (and desirable) to run a thick oil in your turbo car

Interesting topic.

I always wondered if Ford putting 5W20 semi-synth as the recommended lubricant for my '05 was more for fuel economy at the expense of long term durability? (Since I have no idea who makes Ford's lubricants and as such have no clue as what 'semi-synth' means in Ford speak)

NefCanuck

NefCanuck,Mar 14 2008, 08:52 PM Wrote:Interesting topic.

I always wondered if Ford putting 5W20 semi-synth as the recommended lubricant for my '05 was more for fuel economy at the expense of long term durability?

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i personally think it was definitely was fuel econ driven decision. my '00 zx3 recommended 5w30 and IIRC my owners manual had a section about other viscosities that were acceptable. and then i heard that a few yrs later ('02 or '03 maybe?) the recommended oil suddenly changed to 5W20... and i don't think anything changed internally with the 2.0L 16v focus engine (but i could be wrong about that of course)

i started doing these UOA because i pretty much beat up my wagon fairly often and i wanted to make sure that i was at least maintaining it properly as well. also, i wanted to give myself 'proof' either way that i would be getting some actual protection increase from synth oil.

i think you (or another focus member) should get some UOAs done so you guys have focus specific data to go on. there's so much hype going around re oil (lucas additives and amsoil full synth anyone?) i think UOAs are awesome because they are a way to bring tech to the table when talking about oil