[naz]

Mike,Mar 14 2008, 02:31 PM Wrote:I used 5 w 50 castrol and changed every 5 000 km , i could have gone longer , but why ?  I believe oil is the life blood of my engine and frankly its the cheapest form of insurance for the car. If i went over 5000 km then its ok , the oil and filter supposedly go to 10 000 km but why test it lol .....
Im interested to know what the standard viscosity of oil is for your car from the factory and if running a thicker oil in a turbo car is a good idea ? i've been slightly shy to mess around with viscosity numbers in oil on my new car since im worried about the oiling system being designed for one type of oil and changing viscosity might affect flow rates to the turbo and such .... i dont want to fry the snail :)
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mike, i have a '02 WRX.. from the factory it had 5W30 but the owner's manual specified a range of acceptable viscosities based on ambient temp and usage. ie.. 10w30, 10w40, all the way up to 20w50 were acceptable oils as well

general consensus among people in the WRX world who get their oil analyzed is that most xW30 oils shear down to a 20 weight too fast and result in very elevated wear metal levels, and 5W30 was put in from the factory in the US market for fuel economy reasons and not engine protection reasons (ie 15w50 is supposed the OE oil viscosity in JDM world)

you should check your owners manual or factory service manual for acceptable oil types. i'm almost certain is it ok (and desirable) to run a thick oil in your turbo car