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What brand of oil do you guys like and why

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"German Castrol Syntec" EUROPEAN FORMULA - OW30 (the one that says made in germany on the back). It's a full synthethic, using group 4 base stocks, instead of group 3 like the other so-called synthetics like Mobil-1.

Currently on sale at Autozone for 25$ (5 quarts + oil filter).
 
Originally posted by: Vetterin
Super Tech oil and filters - Walmart.
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I used that extensively on my 99 Ford Contour V6 from when it was bought new till I sold it in 2004 with 140K miles. Worked wonderfully and never had any issues even when I went 10,000 miles between oil changes (on multiple occasions).

On my Toyota Tacoma V6, I use only Castrol GTX and Purolator PureOne filters. Primarily because I'm worried about sludge issues with the Toyota engines (so far so good at 50K miles).
 
I run Amsoil in my 99 Wrangler, I beat the living hell out of it and it needs all the help it can get to stay running smooth. I just ordered $400 worth of various oils (motor, atf, manual tranny gear oil, heavy duty/diff gear) today. If I had to buy something at your average local PepBoys/Autozone/etc it would probably be Royal Purple. I still buy the cheap stuff, need something to flush when I get water in the differential.
 
Royal Purple in my 97 Honda civic. Overkill yes, but its like Orbit gum for your motor 😛 Dirty engine?
 
Looks like I need to look into Castrol some more. Called BMW, and they recommended 5w30 fully synthetic, Castrol, Mobile 1, or Valvoline.
 
Mobil 1 synthetic or Castrol Syntec for my cars .. they run about the same
in price, but sometimes one of them is on sale.
 
Originally posted by: Ns1
Originally posted by: ViviTheMage
Mobil 1 full Synthetic european blend 0w-40 in my 1.8t jetta

I got it on sale for 24.99 with a mobil 1 filter and 5 quarts...pretty sweet!
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WTF? the filter alone is 15 bucks for my car!
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The big box warehouses are bringing down the pricing on Mobil 1.
 
Originally posted by: Elstupido
Looks like I need to look into Castrol some more. Called BMW, and they recommended 5w30 fully synthetic, Castrol, Mobile 1, or Valvoline.
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Just run the cheapest Syn oil you can find, you and your car will not be able to tell the difference.

Your car is not turbo, supercharged, towing large weight, etc... So just the cheapest syn you can find will be fine.

Also check out rockauto.com for parts

They have oil fiters for your car for either $7.68 or $8.84 depending on which oil filter your car takes, there were 2 different ones that year.
 
Whatever they have at the oil change place, but I'm going to switch to synthetic Royal Purple with a Wix filter and still have them do it because I live in an apartment
 
Originally posted by: Elstupido
Thanks Marlin1975 that is some sound advise, from what I have heard here and from BMW.
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Walmart Supertech Synthetic gets good reviews from BITOG also.
 
Unless you're running a high performance motor (supercharged, turbocharged, or high-po NA motor), it won't matter. What matters is proper viscosity for your driving conditions & your oil change interval. Regular dino oils are good to at least 3K. If you want to know how far they are good for - do a used oil analysis (Blackstone Labs offers a good test for a good price). If you want a longer change interval, use a good filter and a synthetic oil. Run it till at least 5K; again if you want to know how far to run it, do a used oil analysis.

On my 97 Subbie, I run regular ol Castrol GTX 5W-30 and change it at 3-4K miles. Overkill? Yes. But she's got 214K and I need to keep her around for a while.

On my 06 GTO, I ran full synthetic that met the standard GM specified for the LS motor and changed it every 5K.

On the Legacy GT I will be getting, I will be running a full synthetic and likely a 40 weight oil; probably 5W-40 or 10W-40. From what I'm reading, a 40 weight oil should handle the high amounts of heat oil is subjected to in a turbocharged engine. It is also interesting to note that Subaru sells "Street motor oil" in 40W for the STi. Subaru recently revised their maintenance schedules retroactively for all turbo motors to change every 3.5 months or 3750 miles; I will be doing that.

Filters are also of course important. There is a filter teardown test somewhere and the results showed Fram and some other mfr's were quite subpar. IMO, OEM is always a safe way to go. My friend and experienced mechanic has started running K&N oil filters on his Evo IX after he tried one & saw a 5 or 10 psi (don't remember which) increase in oil pressure. I may run K&N on the new Legacy, or I will stick to OEM.
 
I run Rotella diesel synthetic in both my cars because I like to say Rotella and Walmart sells it in the big jugs for cheap.
 
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