Oil is cheap, I go 3k even on synthetic.

 

Excessively and 100% sure unnecessary soon. 8252mi on it right now. Got changed at 80, 1000, 3000ish (edit - 2434mi), and at least 3 more times that I can’t recall off the top of my head in between. Part of my post track day inspection I ask my local 86 specialty shop to do alignment when they inspect all the aftermarket parts prior to tech sign-off. Sometimes I forget to ask them and have my tech at dealer sign off. Then it goes to dealer for oil change and tyre rotation. I have absolutely no doubt Blackstone would tell me I’m being silly but it makes me feel warm and fuzzy Lots of free oil changes + relatively cheap insurance plus I take track inspections pretty seriously. I do not want to be responsible for causing an accident due to negligence on my part.

Edit: Duh, I forgot most of these are in the app, does not register work done by my local 86 shop so this is not 100% complete and accurate, I've slept since then

10 Feb - 2mi off truck; check in, left dealer with 6mi on odometer
26 Feb - 569 mi; first registered oil change at dealership '80mi oil change was at local 86 shop if i recall correctly so not in recorded in app', radio disconnect 'CarPlay' issue initially brought up if I recall, I may have brought this up sooner
03 Mar - 746 mi; radio issue 'CarPlay' escalated to Toyota corporate via service manager due to no improvement, spoiler install, few other msc items; received HomeKit long life battery mirror and installed myself (date may be off on mirror by a few weeks)
~2ish week of Mar - 1K oil change done by third party since falls outside of my free oil change agreement
7 Apr - 2434 mi; oil change and rotation , rear diff fluid change; could have swore I did rear diff sooner than this 'app does not appear to be 100% accurate'; in between this and next visit had almost 100% of all aftermarket parts installed 'rim/tyre installationat dealer' and camber adjustment at said 86 tuning shop 'they do superb work btw, kudos to my dealer as well they have been phenomenal'; tech inspection and sign-off by mechanic
20 Apr - 3,069 mi; oil change and rotation due to already being at dealer for DOT4 Castrol flush and swap prior to free Toyota track day
30 Apr - Free Toyota track day at CMP in Easley, SC, ran on PS4S
1-2nd weekend of May - Forget mileage; Oil change and post track inspection prior to NCM HPDE - not in Toyota app record since performed by local 86 shop 'hope this is accurate, this is from memory'
1 May - 27 May; Tech inspection prior to NCM by either dealer or 86 shop, I cannot remember which one
28-29 May - NCM HPDE weekend, had to cancel 29 due to ER visit; ran on PS4S; mid-day secondary track inspection prior to pro driver driving my car 'was a BLAST!'
1st week of June (forget miles currently) - Post track inspection at local 86 shop to verify aftermarket parts were in-spec
9 Jun - 5,009 mi; oil change and rotation but notes only list tyre/wheel fitment test
10 Jun - 6360mi; manual transmission fluid finally in stock at local dealer, had wheels rotated, oil changed
1-2 week of Jul - forget mileage; had damage from 2 wheel lift inspected; pre and post camber with insane toe misadjustments posted in some thread on here
24 Jun - 6875mi; RT660s fitted to second set of rims by dealer

There's definitely a few items missing but this is the bulk of it without spending time going through emails after email. When zits are fixed on front bumper and prior/post surgery will have another oil change prior to Sept trip. ~5K trip overall so planning on oil change once I'm there then another one when I return home.

These records above are just what shows up in my app, not 100% of all work maintenance and inspections done so far. Just what is easily accessible.

Going forward, I plan on sticking with oil changes approx. 2500mi since this falls within severe duty and tyre rotation/balance every other oil change. Had to postpone having the 4 zits on the front fixed 1 Aug due to cheque running behind from insurance and juggling surgery and other misc fun things happening. Was supposed to have at minimum 2 additional HPDEs but have cancelled remainder for this year. Not sure how recovery time will be and do not want to occupy a novice spot in HPDE that someone can use.

Tl;dr, I'm kind of a maintenance nut and do not want Toyota corporate to point to me neglecting oil changes and frequent oil level checks as a source of engine failure should the worst happen. This car has every single record of every single thing ever done to it as of 6mi of ownership.

 

My maintenance screen says 6k miles to change.
I changed mine just before 1k like 955 or something.
I'll do it again at 6k . I'll also do more if I do the hpde or anything else classified as severe driving.

 

I still do mine every 5K or 6 months, which ever comes first.

 

After my first oil change at 1,000 this will be my route from now on.

 

Just want to make sure, since I am new to car ownership. Should I track my own oil changes on the Subaru app? So far I put entries for everything I do including installing exhaust and oil change, and I put "Self" as the service provider. Am I making a mistake by doing this?

I did my first oil change at around 2k miles because I went on a 1.6k mile road trip before completing my break-in.

 

Every 5k. That is with normal\hard street driving. Track use will break it down and require more frequent changes. Without track use anything more often than 5k is excessive and not really helping anything.

 

Are you running 0w20? My mind says go 5w30 for hot summers (95-100F afternoons here) and revert to the 0w20 for the winter months (though I’ll mostly be driving other vehicles in winter in Denver).

May be best to just go with a good quality at the owners manual specified weight. I’ll probably try fur a couple track days here this fall once break in is done (forever taking!)

 

I just posted about this! I think early on in the life of the vehicle, more frequent = better. Then, ill go the route @TRU-BOOST said and just every 5k.

This is why you change your oil after break-in period (pics)

As soon as I got the car, I added redlines break-in oil, bought a magnetic drain plug, and bought replacement oil. I added the break-in oil and babied it for the 1st 1,000 miles (the argument of whether or not you should baby or WOT notwithstanding) Right after the 1k hit, I immediately changed...

www.gr86.org

 

I thought oil was good enough now to go up to 7k miles, is it just better to do it at 5k?

 

Definitely do it at 5k. I’d do it every 3k, but I wouldn’t go more than 5k without a change.

 

Twice a year. June and December - fresh oil for summer and winter. Usually ends up being between 4000-5000 miles.

 

Do whatever makes you feel good. I've had cars that only got oil changes every 10 -25k miles and still went 230k miles. And were sold running with no issues.

 

For me it depends on the car. My taurus with twin turbos is hard on oil. I change that every 5k. Same with my speed 3. My regular mazda 3 only gets oil changes every 10k, but thats because its just my beater commute car. I dont think your average street driven BRZ\86 would have any issues with 7k changes. I drive the car hard pretty much at all times so I personally will stick to 5k. 3k in all honesty is excessive for any vehicle produced in the last 15 years, even with conventional oil.

 

Do black stone oil analysis every oil change and see how well your choice of oil is genuinely holding up

Most would be surprised how long modern day synthetics hold additives and lubrication properties.

10-15k intervals for cars that see no hard driving is very common.

start off following manual’s recommended or slightly sooner (5k is a nice easy number to remember and catch)

send in a sample to blackstone labs and by the time your warranty period is over, you’ll have a solid idea of well your engine is doing and if you should continue 5k intervals or extend them out

If you track your car at all, change your oil both before and after the track day. You want fresh oil going in because it’s gonna be a day of hard driving that will break down oils. You want as much lubrication as possible. You want fresh oil afterwards too… you don’t wanna be driving on oil that saw rpm and heat for an extended period of time

 

Given the extra opportunities for oil contamination due to cold starts in Midwest winters, I like to have fresh oil in the fall (November) and then fresh oil again in the spring (May). That typically works out to every 5,000-6,000 miles.

 

I just had my first service at 7800 KM (4846 miles). Every 6 months or 8000 KM (5000 miles) will be my oil change schedule.
I was looking into maybe using a better oil next time. I’ve read the Toyota oil isn’t as good as the other aftermarket oils. Is this true? I’m a oil rookie.

 

I just had my first service at 7800 KM (4846 miles). Every 6 months or 8000 KM (5000 miles) will be my oil change schedule.
I was looking into maybe using a better oil next time. I’ve read the Toyota oil isn’t as good as the other aftermarket oils. Is this true? I’m a oil rookie.

I'm sure it's perfectly good oil, but it probably isn't as good a value for your money. I've never been sucked into the idea that I need to buy branded fluids at high markup from the carmaker.

 

Going for 1k then every 5k. Listened to an older Carmudgeon podcast with Jason Cammisa and Derek Tam-Scott, and both stated basically doing oil change between 20-100 miles, not even severe, and then regular oil changes afterward.

 

Toyota branded oil is made by exxon mobil. As far is manufacturer branded oil its about as good as they come. It is very close in quality to the brands mobile 1 oil line. The additives are slightly different. If taking the car to toyota for oil changes I would not bither bringing my own stuff or asking for something "better" its good stuff. However is buying your own supplies and doing the change yourself I would not spend the extra money for toyota labeled oil. There are better options for less money.

 

👆 So is the Toyota oil different than what's in the engines from the factory? Wondering because there has been a lot of comments about the "break in oil" being low quality.

 

Yes it is. The factory fill oil is a crappy blend made by idemitsu. Its perfect for 1000 miles on a new engine and no longer. The regular idemitsu oil subaru uses in dealerships is not the same blend and is much better quality. But the toyota branded stuff from exxon mobil is still better.

 

I think you hit the nail on the head when you said "if the engines are not designed for it". The FA series of engines being the newest in the subaru lineup are certainly designed for it. Everything these days in the auto industry revolves around fuel economy. Engineers are fully aware that the heavier your oil the more efficiency you lose. I have no doubt the engines were made to operate on xW20 oils. Hot climates and track use will still benefit from something heavier like a 5w30. It will not hurt anything but MPG will suffer. I stand by 5w20. Its the sweet spot right in the middle. It is good in almost all climates all year round. It offers better protection than 0w20 at elevated temps, and will not make a noticeable change in MPG. There is also less viscosity breakdown over time.
Just my 2 cents. I have been running 5w20 in cars that call for 0w20 for many years.

 

It offers better protection than 0w20 at elevated temps, and will not make a noticeable change in MPG. There is also less viscosity breakdown over time.

Got some questions:

How is 5w20 better at temp than 0w20 since they are both supposedly 20w when heated? Shouldn't the only difference between the two be the cold viscosity?

Less viscosity breakdown over time?

 

They will be similar but the difference is in the base stock oil. There is a "range" to be considered a certain oil weight. It varys from brand to brand and even within the same brand based on what tier of product. But if you compare the same exact oils in 0w20 vs 5w20 the 5w will carry 5-9% higher viscosity through almost all operating temps. The reason is because the base oil will typically carry a higher visc to begin with and uses less modifiers and chemicals to adjust to temp changes. So while the 0w will cover a wider range of temps its viscosity has to fluctuate much more to cover all ends of the spectrum. The 5w loses a very small amount of cold range operation so it can carry a slightly higher viscosity in the mid to higher temps.

 

Was thinking after I posted above, the less viscosity breakdown, due to less modifiers in the 5w20?

 

Every 10k. Mobil 1 only. Every car for the last 20 years. No engine problems with any of them.

 

Woofff please don't wait to change your oil every 10k guys. We have a service manual for reason, follow it. 5-7.5k miles on full synthetic. If you drive like an arse, change every 5k, if not you could go up to 7.5k, I wouldn't in this car...lol

 

If you drive like an arse, change every 5k,

5k it is...!! 😂

 

As many times as I can afford. Usually find myself changing oil after 3000 klm lol

 

Every 6 months for me even though I barely put 3K miles on my car in 6 months