[is2scooby]

I know there's no real consensus when it comes to dino vs. synthetic - but if I've made the decision not to switch to synthetic yet (this will be my first oil change @ 3k miles) who likes which dino brand?

 

[AE2RSM]

I have always used Castrol GTX as a conventional oil. I love that stuff. Never had any problems with it. I do plan on switching over to synthetic after 6000 miles though. But back to the question, on all of the engines I have used conventional oil, it has always been GTX.

 

[dark_rex]

if you are religious about changing your oil every 3K miles, they are all the same. you are paying for the name on the bottle.

get some Wolf's Head. it's made by Pennzoil, but doesn't carry their name.

it's all the same shi+. i would still switch to syn eventualy, as the turbo runs real hot, and will cook down dino oil quicker.

dR

 

[is2scooby]

Gotcha... Think 3k is too early to switch to the man-made stuff?

 

[Carlo]

If this is your first oil change at 3K (over due for the first), you DO NOT want to go synth yet. Actually you should have changed the oil at 1000 miles the first time. Subaru uses special oil that helps break the engine in. It is supposed to be changed out at 1000.

Anyway, what I would suggest is to change the oil to any high grade non synth oil at least one more time. Then at 6K go to synth if you want to.

For the record, many, many people say you should wait until 10K to go synth but at 6K you are "all-right". Personally since you have been running the "break-in" oil I wouldn't do the radical switch for atleast one more change of oil.

If it were my car I would go high grade non synth and change it out at 5.5K miles. I'd then do the exact same again for another 2.5K miles. Then at 8K I'd switch to Synth oil.

Don't forget to always change the filter with every oil change!

Carlo

 

[is2scooby]

Doh! Carlo thanks for the heads up! My local service guys told me to change the oil at 3k. They never mentioned anything about a 1,000 mile service. What a trip!

I bought some Subie filters today and will get a dino oil injection into the car this weekend.

Mahalo!

 

[jimb]

There is no service interval at 1000 miles on the my02 wrx. Check the manual or the subaru website. However, most of us just went ahead and changed the oil at 1000 or 1500 anyway. There is no special break in oil either.

jb

 

[GV27]

I went ahead and changed it at 1500 to synth, but there is no 1000 mile service interval.

 

[Yungimoto]

I did my first oil change at 1k miles and switched to synth at that time.

You'll be fine to switch now if you want. I can't recommend a dino oil brand, though.

 

[BozzWRX]

Castrol GTX is good stuff. Spoon Sports (JDM Honda tuner) uses it exclusively in all their track cars, including the Spoon S2000. If it can take a motor that revs to 12,000RPM it's good stuff.

 

[Silver04Sti]

synthetic

Hi, new guy here, thought I would reply to this post on oils. I do not believe you have to wait any specific interval before changing to synthetic oil as some have suggested. There are a bunch of cars out there (Porsches, Vettes, Vipers, etc) that come off the assembly lines with synthetic oil already in them.
I changed out my break in oil at 1K and again at 3K (both times using synthetic) and have continued to run synthetic (at 10K now). I run amsoil but there are a bunch of good oils out there. I am not a mechanic but I don't see a negative to swapping from conventional to synthetic (other than a cash one).