Hi guys,
Basically I'd like your thoughts on wheather or not im being a bit 'over the top' on my service intervals.
I've owned quite a few Impreza's now along with a couple of Evo's and GTIR's. I have always serviced (oil + filter at a minimum) every 3000 miles. I've always done this with my high performance cars and the cost factor is irrelevant.
I recently read through the service book of a more modern Impreza and found that the stated interval was something like 7500 miles. So am I just being over enthusiastic with my servicing ??

Your thoughts would be greatly received, thanks...

Matt.

 

Depends on teh oil and how hard your drive the car, How much BHP over standard or if you do short journeys.

Semi-synthetic: 3month/3K if used very hard with high BHP or going to the shops with lots of sub 30minute journeys. If not and its mostly cruising, 6months/6K would suffice.

Fully synthetic oil lasts longer so doesn't need to be changed so frequently. So that has to be factored in too.

 

So do they need to be serviced *more* often if used for shorter journeys?? That's interesting and something I will have to bear in mind...

 

Yes - short journeys in some context can be much worse than hard driving, due to the sludge it causes.

 

I service mine the same 3 month or 3k whichever comes first, At least if the engine lets go you know you couldnt have done anymore to prevent it.

 

I do the same. Every 3-4k miles for peace of mind.

 

A good oil and originall filter should 100% not need changing every 12 weeks its crazy but hey if you have the time and spare cash wont hurt it..

7k miles i say is spot on in generall driving terms.As long as you dont do 4 sprint days and 12 laps of the ring then hey you dont need a degree to tell ya to change it sooner .Hope this helps.

Also if it is sitting there months on end also twice a year no matter what the miles would be good.Ie my 22b's would get done 2-3 times a year as they was sitting for months at a time.

 

maybe you are being "over the top". my mate has stuck to the subaru service intervals which is every 10,000 or 12 months on a newage. so 70,000 miles later without any issues whatsoever.
oils are so much better these days. some car service intervals are 30,000 or 24 months these days

 

Serviced every 7500 oil changed every 3000 fully synthetic running 380/380 extra £120 a year for peace of mind worth it

 

I always use Millers Motorsport Fully Synthetic 10/40 oil with a HKS filter. BHP figures are below. My car only ever comes out at the weekends (if it's dry), I probably use it for no more than a couple of hours at a time so am probably only clocking up 500/700 miles each month in it.
I do drive it quite hard though as it's more of a toy for me than a car that I need but it never sees the track and when I say 'drive it hard', I don't mean on the limit constantly for two hours.
From reading the above posts I think I'll carry on doing the services every 3000 miles as I've been doing. Like someone said above, it's not doing any harm.

 

I have always changed my oil more frequently than recommended in every car I've owned for the past 25 years. Touch wood I've never had an engine problem. These days I change my oil every 6 months with Millers 10/50, car covers 5k a year. Wife's Zafira has 24k service intervals, that gets Castrol Edge 0/30 or a Fully synthetic oils every 6 months too. It's the lifeblood of an engine, so worth spending on in my opinion

 

Quite right s70rjw...you should see the gunk that drains out the average Zafira/Vectra/Astra on 24K services. It cannot be good for the engine's longevity.

My R32 is currently on 6month changes...but only because it tells me by playing funny buggers: The variable valve timing starts to play up when the oil starts to degrade...change the oil, it runs fine again

I'm using a different oil now, so maybe it'll last a bit longer

 

The hatch service interval is every 10k, oil was not too bad when it came out, compared to my other cars I owned

 

Thank you

 

I get mine services every 9-10k however now I do more short journeys due to changing jobs I'm going to start booking in for an interim oil change which would be every 4.5-5k which seems fair. Hopefully this will keep the engine in tip top condition

 

Once a year or 6k miles. Unless Im doing a trackday etc

 

Seems fair to say frequent short journeys can reduce effective oil life by up to 50% according some of these posts.

It's something which has sharpened me up to changing more often. My commute is 5 miles although this is done 4 times a day - short, I think so?

What distance would stop being an issue being considered short?

 

On top of the 12 month / 10k mile service on the RB, I do an oil & filter change with Silkolene 5w 40 Pro S fully synthetic.
Thats an oil & filter change about every 4k miles.

 

I have an oil change every six months regardless. But then I only cover about 4-5k a year.

Motul 300v 15/50 on a forged 2.35 (ej22t) running c. 450..

 

One hour run once a week should be enough to boil off the nasties that build up in the sump.