sapkan

Subaru manual says 5w30 to be ideal for the turbocharged motors on the 03 lineup. But have heard that lots of people and tuners use 15w50 or similar.

For my first change at 1500 I used Motul6100 5w30 100% synthetic.
Can anyone give me an expert opinion on the matter?

p.s. the car would see very cold winters (up to -20) as well as hot summers (40+)

scoobyslut

the manual says to use "5W/40" in cooler climates, not the UK. For normal european usage, you can use and is reccommended to use 10w/40 oil. 5W oils can be too thin for our climate and possibly cause engine damage.

csomole

5W oil is not necessarily too thin, it depends on what comes after the W. Mobil 1 is sold as 5W50 in Queensland where there are only a few frosty spots and lots of hot ones. Visco 5000 comes, AFAIR, 5W40. Actually, the 5W bit helps to start lubrication sooner after startup than thicker oils - those few unlubricated moments after startup are the most damaging for the engine.

George

Absolute Shower

I've been running fully synth 5w40 on MY02 (manual says same thing) and done 31,000...no noise, tick sounds, etc...comp is brill and car's running 1.6 bar boost!

Prodrive Andy

My cars running with Motul 300v 5w40 and is spot on but alot of the folks around here prefer 15w50 mobil 1 10w60 castrol rs.
I think Tsl Motorsport recommend silkoline 10w50.

If the cars well run in i.e. over 7500 miles use a good quality full synthetic if not use a good quality semi synthetic shell helix etc, until 7500 miles.

The other thing is nobody's an expert, thats what makes scoobynet so damn good.

[Edited by Prodrive Andy - 10/26/2003 7:51:37 AM]

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

5w30 is defiantely too thin to be running in your scoob, unless as the book states your using it in 0 and below temps (so the engine can get up to temp quickly).
I would go with a 15w50 in hot climates, its thicker so will take the heat out of your engine better, just ensure you use a fully synthetic oil though (Motul 300v or the likes) and run a slightly thinner oil in winter (the 5w40 would be preferable for this).

Tony

sapkan

I have got an MY03 WRX sourced from Germany and I promise you it says that 5w30 is the recommended oil for the turbocharged cars for all seasons- a very wide temperature range shown in the booklet! On paper it does the job for me cause I need to run the car at as low as -20 in winter and up to +40 in summer.


However I posted because I find that weird especially because I know that these numbers usually mean an oil for winter conditions.

But then again why would Subaru advise to stick with 5w30 all year round?!

If it turns out to be an oil for winter driving, is there any harm in running it during the winter and changing it for 10w40 or 15w50 during the summer months (not running the same viscosity oil all year around)???

stiler83

My UK 03WRX Hand book also say's to use 5W30. I decided to got with Motul 300v 5W40 and have had no problems.