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FA20DIT Engine Oil

39952 Views 23 Replies 16 Participants Last post by  ghamiltonphoto
For those that are doing their own oil changes I was curious which oil they are using for the FA20DIT.

I am still using Subaru SYN 5-30w as per manufactures warranty requirements. I live in Texas so the first 2 years of maintenance are included in the price. I am taking my car in for the normally scheduled oil changes and changing it myself in between. I had used Castrol Edge for my previous 2 cars and am considering going back to that after the 2 years is up. Thoughts?

Also would the Subaru or Castrol oil hold up well with a stage 1 or 2 tune?
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I would stick with the Subaru oil. Tune or not.

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Everyone has their own preference, but when you get down to it as long as it's synthetic, meets manufacturer recommendations, and you check and change it, you're not going to see much (if any) difference. Not that it matters, but I use Castrol Edge and WIX filters in all of our cars (except for my WRX, but it's far from stock and not a daily at all).


For some reason Mobil 1 5w-30 seems to have shear issues in turbo applications for some people.. and the standard Royal Purple generally has poor performance and is over priced.
I had the Subaru 5/30 oil tested by blackstone. I'll post the PDF later if I can.
I use Subaru's oil too, but I've heard of a lot of folks using Amsoil.
For some reason Mobil 1 5w-30 seems to have shear issues in turbo applications for some people..
i was aware of that, i have read that can also be an issue with the Subaru Syn oil. Then again i have also read that Subaru oil is repackaged Castrol Edge.

I had the Subaru 5/30 oil tested by blackstone. I'll post the PDF later if I can.
that would be great!
The only way you can determine what's best for your car is to have it all tested by a uoa and pick the one with the best results. I would have a uoa done on your factory oil, if they say your good to go run with it.

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Penzoil Synthetic . . . and the OEM oil filter.
I have been using the wal-mart oil since first change. Oh and I change at 8-10K intervals. 39k now. We'll see how it goes. Don't do what I do, though, until i get to 200k.
Here is my UOA on the factory oil.
Bought the car new with 98 miles on it. The car had 12,400 miles on it at the change and the oil itself had 5200.
The oil had been changed twice previously at 2400 and 7200 miles
Car is daily driven 215 miles a day with most of that high speed highway with almost all of it between 2500-3500 RPMs.
I anticipated better numbers. Will be going with Penzoil Ultra platinum 5/30 next to see how that does.




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That's a pretty good analysis. When they are telling you to expand your oci that's good

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https://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2714154

i went for Mobil 1 ESP Formula 5W-30 Motor Oil
thats a informative link, i had read through it before.

I have been using the wal-mart oil since first change. Oh and I change at 8-10K intervals. 39k now. We'll see how it goes. Don't do what I do, though, until i get to 200k.
are you attempting to test the limits of your engine or warranty?

That's a pretty good analysis. When they are telling you to expand your oci that's good

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i was thinking the same thing, im not sure what numbers he could improve upon.
are you attempting to test the limits of your engine or warranty?
.
No, just think oem intervals are conservative. Especially for the way I drive. So far on all my cars i've been right. I guess I have no reason to think wrx is any different.
A lot of people are enjoying the Pennzoil Ultra Platinum on the FA, but I'm sure Subaru oil is great too :)

I run Eneos 5w-30 in my STi.
Everyone keeps referencing "Subaru oil," but who is the actual oil manufacturer? It's not Subaru. FWIW, my dealer uses Penzoil.

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my comments on my UOA were not necessarily related.

I expected better/lower numbers in the metals in that I assumed the break-in residual metals would have been washed out by now. Best case this shows they arent. Worst case (if they are) something is causing the elevated aluminum levels.

I like to see the viscosity numbers within range. These are a bit low.

Im trying the penzoil ultra platinum because thats what I have on the shelf right now, it has been good oil for my other cars and I drive enough to get results within a relatively short amount of time.
Everyone keeps referencing "Subaru oil," but who is the actual oil manufacturer? It's not Subaru. FWIW, my dealer uses Penzoil.

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Not sure if it changed, but subaru oil used to be produced by castrol.
In my previous Corollas which were from a Toyota dealer I went with OEM based oil. Found out it is actually Mobil 1 mfg for Toyota. It would be interesting to find out about OEM Subbie oil.

I was going to go with the OEM Subbie oil but after seeing that the ‘gallon’ they offered was a 4 qt gallon, I decided to go back to Castrol Edge. I used the gold Extended Performance with GDI Turbo due to the ‘17 being an oil cooled turbo. My plan is to stick with Castrol.

On top of that my Toyota dealership said they’d use my oil and my filter and for $20 change my oil. Can’t really get better than that.
I noticed that there hasn’t been much talk about Motul. My tuning shop swears by it and I’ve been using 8100 X-Clean EFE 5W30 for my last 3 oil changes. Seems to work just fine, operating temperatures for daily driving look about the same. I change every 5000 miles almost on the dot.

I used to use Mobil 1 full synthetic, but after seeing a number of reviews about how it doesn’t play well with TGDI engines I decided to switch. I’ve also stopped using their filters and switched to OEM Subaru filter.

Some people have talked about how Motul isn’t an engine oil that prevents pre-ignition, but when you ask why they normally give an asshole response and don’t really explain anything. If anyone has more info on this I would interested to learn.
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