Who Runs Amsoil or Rotella T6?

freelife04239 said:
What would you guys run for new short block and turbo brake in???
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I believe factory fills are high in moly, but honestly I would go with a decent oil for 1-2k miles then swap out for your oil of choice. I personally would not run amsoil or rotella just due to the cost. Could even go to the dealer and get Subaru bottled oil.

 
Cost is not a factor, really it is more proper break in. I've been told no sinthetic oils first 1000 miles from some.Then others say run sinthetic only.

 
Proper break in has become a very undefined term in the past 15-20 years. I drove my BRZ to the break in standards, others beat on them. No difference has been really noticed. The Jetta my mom had was driven hard from the moment it left the dealer, and ran perfect 3 years later when it was traded in.

To me synthetic is fine for break in, half on the equipment I work on comes with synthetic from the factory. Most of this equipment works at higher pressures, heat, and dynamically changing loads then 99% of cars on the road will ever see.

 
on my new car, done the 1k oci, syn only, typical break-in recommendations. Switched to T6 on 3rd oil change, and then back to oem subaru . Been doing oil analysis since I got the car at regular intervals. no difference! I have varied (purposefully at times) oci from the recommneded 3.5k, all the way to 7.5k (only once), and still no issue with oem oil breakdown. According to oil analysis, motor is very healthy. Like CoupedUpSubie said, cost/availability of t6 did not outweigh oem oil cost/reliability thus far. obviously, take it with a grain of sale, all motors (rebuilds or stock) are different to some extent.  

 
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i've been running t6 and a puralotor pure one filter for the past 10k with my new engine build. Grantie State recommended t6. you can get it for like $20 for a gallon at Tractor supply or walmart. It's cheaper there than at my work advance auto(WITH MY DISCOUNT!)

 
Cheap oil and change it often. First 20 miles, 500, 1500, switch to T6 at 3k. Change my T6 at 3500mi. That's what I did. I have 10k on my rebuild and zero oil loss between changes. Could probably stretch the oci, but oil is cheap enough.

 
There are those that say your rings don't seat properly with synthetic oil, that's why I said cheap oil. Ask rob why no T6 and that will likely be the reason.

 
i have 0 oil consumption with the t6, but consumption is all how the motor was broken in. I'm fortunate that the forged pistons in my car don't sip the oil. 

 
On a new motor I do 100mi on regular 5w30. Then change again at 1000mi with synthetic 5w30, and then resume normal intervals at the synthetic viscosity I want. We're not talking about 80s inline 6 jeep or mustang v8 clearances, we're dealing with very tight clearances and manufacturing tolerances from the factory. The motor will break in no matter what oil you use, as it's designed to. If you have a motor built and it blows up promptly or burns oil later, I think anyone would have a hard time proving that synthetic as break-in oil was the cause.

I tend to want to break in engines to the driving behavior they will experience over their life. For daily drivers, a few quick highway ramp romps works as a good break-in when the engine is fresh. Most of the break-in is going to happen in the first 30min of the engine running, so don't idle the crap out of it new.

Both t6 and amsoil are good oils. T6 is cheaper at walmart, so I have been running that lately. I also use it in the cummins, so it's just easy to keep stock of one oil.

I should mention that the first 100mi non'syn oil change is strictly to save $ , otherwise I would just use syn with costs being equal. I've never put together a motor that has had oil consumption issues.

Also, don't use Mobil1 5w30 ever. Terrible watery stuff. Burns off/up when the turbo heats up.

 
I'll ask rob tomorrow but I think he said something about how its designed for diesel not gas motors. Not sure what that meant but I'll ask. Rob is great at kinetic and he is very helpful.

 
freelife04239 said:
I'll ask rob tomorrow but I think he said something about how its designed for diesel not gas motors. Not sure what that meant but I'll ask. Rob is great at kinetic and he is very helpful.
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Biggest difference between oil for a diesel and gas engine is an oil designed for a diesel can withstand more heat, pressure and absorbs more acids.

 
Filter quality or its ability to filter oil can and will have an effect on the oil.  If the filter loses its filtering capability for you guys changing oil over 7k, your oil could be going unfiltered to a certain extent.  Im trying hard to do my oil on my STi somewhere between 3.5-4k. I use Rotella T6 with the Napa Gold or pure one filters.  Those match the oem required bypass valve pressure in the filter.  Filters from K&N, Fram, etc do not match the valve pressure.

After looking at all the oil analysis that has been done and posted on Nasioc, I decided T6 is best for me.  Amsoil is the BEST for everything but its much more pricey.  For cars that ghet put through their paces, autox, Boost a lot, w/e, an oil like T6 held up a ton better than something like mobil 1 in these cars.  5w/30 mobil one turned into a 5w/20 in no time in some of the analysis I saw.

 
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Excellent point about filter life.  Use factory filters.  They're *almost* always the best built.  Napa flters are ok-ish, FRAM is by FAR the worst.  Bosch makes a good filter as well.

source: I used to have to cut every filter open before scrapping them at the last shop I worked in.

As far as Amsoil is concerned, SSO and their race oils are excellent.  Otherwise, you're sort of paying for the brand.  XL is basically rebranded Amsoil-OE and is not truly capable of more than 3-4k intervals if the car is beat on at all.

My issue with T6 is that it is too thick for Maine winters/cold starts, but I do run it the other 3 seasons.  I run Mobil 1 0w-40 european in the winter which is a much thinner oil, as it still protects like a 40 weight, and does not burn off/up like Mobil's terrible 5w30 product.

 
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I have seen a cut open oem and pure one filter comparison online.  Wish I could find the post.  Pureone is made by the same manufacturer except it has better quality internal parts over oem.  Also maintains the stock bypass pressure like I stated.  I read that Fram sucks because it filters too good.  It actually clogs up too quickly so you run into non filtered oil much earlier...  Although you can't believe everything you read on the net.

I never worried about oil much in my other car... N/A 4 banger.  I run mobil 1.  But with my STi, I did a ton of research and found the info out there quite fascinating.  I think we all can attest to the turbo boxers being quite finicky.  I think oil/filter choice is critical.

 
My biggest issue with the FRAM is the fiberglass mat filter.  They seem to fall apart, and glass is not something I'd want squeezing through bearings.  Can't really speak about them "filtering too well."  They also have the least surface area I've seen of any filter, and the smallest drain holes.

Mobil1 5w30 is probably fine in a non-turbo application.  I wouldn't waste synthetic/$$$ on an N/A motor unless it was high strung or towed heavy or something.  Modern dino-oil is pretty decent.  Just my opinion.

 
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