I just bought it tonite at AutoZone for $9.99 in addition with 10W-30 Mobil 1 Synthetic Oil...

 

Changed from Mobil 1 to Leading Edge 10W30 is a Synthetic Blend, liked it so well put it in the transmission as well. Car seems to have better performance in both areas. You can get info at the following web site: http://www.atomicperformance.com

 

After considering the Mobil vs. Castrol vs. Valvoline vs. Redline debates, I have concluded that the BEST oil for your car is CLEAN oil. It's very difficult to separate the marketing hype from clear data. But one thing IS clear, oil quality is so high now, that any premium brand should work just fine. IMO, synthetic oil lubricates best and is more resistant to heat induced break-down, but not by any substantial margin. Keep it clean and your car will be happy.

 

For those of you using Castrol Syntec, Road and Track did an article several months ago reviewing synthetic oils. The base stock in the Castrol is not truly synthetic and they use a much cheaper process than Mobil one.

 

I'm using the Mobil 1 10w/30 and have 14k on the odo. When I change the oil at 3000 it still looks new.

 

Given that you let any two oils run in an engine for 3 thousand miles and use identical filters, one drains out dirty looking and the other drains out clean looking.....

Which one is the better oil?

The one that drains out dirty looking.

It is able to keep the contaminants that the filter is unable to filter out in suspension long enough to drain out of the engine. The one that drains out clean is leaving it in the engine.

Think about it.


BTW the single best reason that synthetics should be in your engine is that they FLOW AT VERY COLD TEMPS. During a cold start condition you get almost instant oil pressure. Natural oils take much longer to heat up enough to thin out and flow.

 

I agree with most of this statement--best oil is fresh oil. Virtually any name brand should be fine ("Fine" means AS good as anything else.) Better than good enough doesn't really mean better.

I am not convinced there is any benefit of one brand over another, other than perceived benefits--and those are always derived from marketing.

I personally don't even see the value of going to synthetics. Companies tout characteristics of their brand or composition to differentiate their product from others, only in order to make you chose theirs. Because they say it is better, and because they pay other people to say it is better doesn't make it better. I laugh every time I hear, "Independent studies show blah blah blah" or "Certified independent laboratory calibrated digital university testing proves..." It reminds me of all the Slick 50 claims!

The best oil for this particular car is stated right there in the manual. Particular brands/synthetics need not apply. My $0.04.

 

So what is the best oil??????

 

What about Amsoil? I used that when I had my 92' AWD Talon. I put over 150,000 on the engine before a rebuild was needed... I also beat the shit outta the car on the 1320 & roadracing it. It also had a Big16g Turbo, 3 in turbo back exhaust, etc..

 

I still haven't had THE DEFINITIVE answer to my question: how often? Dealer sticker said every 3k mi. Dealer sm (@JCH) says every 3750. Owners Manual says 7500, and can't believe factory wouldn't err on the side of caution.

Also, several different "suggestions" for when to change to synthetic. Most of what I've seen say at 20k but some recent posts say at 6k.

Are there definitive answers to these questions?