[hate_romania]

Motul 8100 Eco energy 5w-30
Mobil1 5w-30 (the normal one and maybe the extended perfomrmance)
German Castrol (green one) in 5w-30 or 5w-20 i know that the castol is a bit thick in comparation with mobil one.
amsoil xlm 5w-30

so any oil guru what oil will work better in the 2.3 engine

 

[HouRman]

May I ask why 5w-20 is only available in German Castrol from your choices?

I'm no Oil Guru, but I'd go with whatever is the least expensive and readily available. hehe

 

[raitchison]

Depends on your driving conditions and climate really. For all that Mazda tries to convince you to use 5w20 only if you read the owners maual it tells you that the only requirement is that the oil is API SL rated, which almost all oil made today is. You could in theory run a 0w15 or a 15w50 but I wouldn't recommend anything thinner than a 0w20 or thicker than 10w30.

I'm guessing Montreal gets pretty cold in the winter, so you probably want to run a thinner oil like an 0w20, 5w20 or maybe a 0w30 or 5w30. In the summer you may want to go to a thicker oil like a 5w30 but if it doesn't get too hot a 5w20 should be fine, especially if you are not an aggressive driver.

For me, driving in Southern California, I run Mobil1 5w30 in the winter and 10w30 in the summer.

I like Mobil1 because it's the only true synthetic thats relatively inexpensive and easy to find.

 

[mshu7]

[quote author=hate_romania link=topic=67592.msg1162992#msg1162992 date=1169505296]
Motul 8100 Eco energy 5w-30
Mobil1 5w-30 (the normal one and maybe the extended perfomrmance)
German Castrol (green one) in 5w-30 or 5w-20 i know that the castol is a bit thick in comparation with mobil one.
amsoil xlm 5w-30

so any oil guru what oil will work better in the 2.3 engine
[/quote]

German Castrol is only available in 0w30 so mark 5w30/5w20 off that. Even though GC is a great oil, it's not a good match for our engines.

Mobil1 is a good oil, but after all the controversy lately, I wouldn't spend money on it.

My suggestion would be to take advantage of the super deals on Pennzoil Platinum synthetic. This oil has got to be the best bang for the buck on the market right now ($1.99 after rebate, some places as low as .99/qt.). I ran it for 7500K miles on my 2.3L and the UOA came back flawlessly. I am such a backer of Platinum that I stocked up 60+ qts. of it back in February. My 3 is going to be treated great by some Platinum over the next few years.

BTW, here's my UOA on Platinum in our engine: http://www.mazda3forums.com/index.php?topic=59430.0

 

[edrection]

Before I went FI I just got regular pennzoil 5-20. I will run anything that is API SL or better rated. To meet the ever stricter requirements, oil must have the correct amounts of additives and meet the standards to have the API seal. I will buy the Autozone or Walmart brand as long as it has the API seal. Usually only synthetics exceed the current standard. If you want the best oil IMO go with the Pennzoil Platinum. Best oil foor any money, and its usually cheap.

 

[hate_romania]

[quote author=raitchison link=topic=67592.msg1163612#msg1163612 date=1169522156]
Depends on your driving conditions and climate really. For all that Mazda tries to convince you to use 5w20 only if you read the owners maual it tells you that the only requirement is that the oil is API SL rated, which almost all oil made today is. You could in theory run a 0w15 or a 15w50 but I wouldn't recommend anything thinner than a 0w20 or thicker than 10w30.

I'm guessing Montreal gets pretty cold in the winter, so you probably want to run a thinner oil like an 0w20, 5w20 or maybe a 0w30 or 5w30. In the summer you may want to go to a thicker oil like a 5w30 but if it doesn't get too hot a 5w20 should be fine, especially if you are not an aggressive driver.

For me, driving in Southern California, I run Mobil1 5w30 in the winter and 10w30 in the summer.

I like Mobil1 because it's the only true synthetic thats relatively inexpensive and easy to find.
[/quote]

curently i run motul 5w30 but honeslty it to damn expensive like 60$ cad for 4.4l and i was thinking to switch back to mobil1 5w20 or 5w30
what do yo think will be better for the winter to run the 20 and in the summer 30 weight and yes i drive very hard

penzoil platinum arhh don't know why but i don't trust it

 

[raitchison]

[quote author=hate_romania link=topic=67592.msg1163691#msg1163691 date=1169524521]
curently i run motul 5w30 but honeslty it to damn expensive like 60$ cad for 4.4l and i was thinking to switch back to mobil1 5w20 or 5w30
what do yo think will be better for the winter to run the 20 and in the summer 30 weight and yes i drive very hard

penzoil platinum arhh don't know why but i don't trust it[/quote]

Sounds reasonable.

As for the Penzoil, they have a well earned reputation of selling crap oil for decades, while I've heard good things about Penziol Platinum I highly doubt that I'll ever put any kind of Penziol in one of my cars.

 

[alecshawn]

Why not just use what it recommends...5w20? Ive used conventional oil in all my vehicles and logged LOTS of miles 100,000 plus....NO oil related problems at all. I use Kendall. The whole oil issue is kinda silly really. Conventional oil serviced when it is supposed to be will work just as good as the $$ stuff..PERIOD. I change mine at 3k, I know some will change conventional oil at 5k. Either way if you do that your engine WILL be just fine.

 

[mshu7]

[quote author=raitchison link=topic=67592.msg1163724#msg1163724 date=1169525794]
As for the Penzoil, they have a well earned reputation of selling crap oil for decades, while I've heard good things about Penziol Platinum I highly doubt that I'll ever put any kind of Penziol in one of my cars.
[/quote]

That's unfortunate because even their conventional oil is pretty good now days. It's amazing how 30 year-old stories keep people from realizing that things change.

 

[biped]

i usually run mobil1 5w30 in the summer here in NB, hate_romania. and then i switch to 5w20 for the fall / winter.

been meaning to try out the penz platinum. looks pretty good.

this last change i ran about 3 litres of mobil 1 5w20 and the rest was topped off with lucas oil synthetic oil stabilizer. my mileage has gone up ever so slightly. i plan to run it every second change or so.

 

[GimmeA3s]

Pennzoil garnered itself a bad reputation for sludging in the late 70s - early 80s and I got to see real evidence of this, even in one of my own cars. BUT....so many improvements have been made, and there is NOTHING comparable between their old dino oil and their new synthetic. After all I've read about Mobil1 on BITOG, I won't be throwing any more money down that black hole. I just bought my 2nd 6-quart case of Penzoil Platinum at Pep Boys for $1.99 / qt and have switched both my trucks over to it. PP is returning excellent used oil analyses, so I have complete confidence in it now that the proof is out there. I'm also switching my sister and her 01 Tacoma off their long-time Mobil1 habit, as there's no sense in paying that much money for what is essentially a good group-3 oil, which is also what PP is. Use with confidence.

 

[HouRman]

Actually, I found Mobil 1 5w20 in 5 quart jugs at Wal Mart for $23ea.

That's $4.60 a quart compared to PP which is $4 a quart. (not on sale)

When it comes down to it... We can't always find an oil on sale so I figure I could pay $10 for cheap oil, or like $23 for synthetic.

Only another $10 or so for synthetic is worth it since it gives me confidence to run a 5,000 mile oil change interval.

 

[john_in_the_lbc]

didn't i read recently that penzoil change the base in the platinum product to a cheaper grade?

in any case, I am staying with Mobil1...particularly since the dealer offers it and I am too lazy to change my own oil.

 

[mshu7]

It started out as EOP but later changed to what it is now which is Group III. Both formulations seem to do a more than adequate job.

 

[maudi3]

[quote author=John_in_the_LBC link=topic=67592.msg1165173#msg1165173 date=1169592407]
didn't i read recently that penzoil change the base in the platinum product to a cheaper grade?

[/quote]

yes. Pennzoil did the exact same thing that people are busting on Mobil for.

 

[mshu7]

[quote author=maudi3 link=topic=67592.msg1165623#msg1165623 date=1169604485]
[quote author=John_in_the_LBC link=topic=67592.msg1165173#msg1165173 date=1169592407]
didn't i read recently that penzoil change the base in the platinum product to a cheaper grade?

[/quote]

yes. Pennzoil did the exact same thing that people are busting on Mobil for.

[/quote]

People aren't mad because Mobil1 changed their formulation. People are mad b/c Mobil1 is trying to hide the formulation change. On top of that, they are charging more than ever for what is a cheaper oil formulation. This is why people are busting on Mobil1!

Pennzoil changed their formulation but they didn't hide it and they aren't raising their prices for a "cheaper" formulation of oil.

 

[boardumb]

Is there anyway to recognize the difference between the older PP and the newer PP by looking at the bottle?

 

[mshu7]

On the old EOP bottle, it will say "NEW" on the top left of the label. On the new Group III bottle, it says "NEW Improved Formulation".

 

[maudi3]

[quote author=boardumb link=topic=67592.msg1165785#msg1165785 date=1169607343]
Is there anyway to recognize the difference between the older PP and the newer PP by looking at the bottle?
[/quote]

it says new with "adaptive molecules".

[quote author=mshu7 link=topic=67592.msg1165782#msg1165782 date=1169607262]
Pennzoil changed their formulation but they didn't hide it and they aren't raising their prices for a "cheaper" formulation of oil.
[/quote]

they didn't advertise that they had downgraded the base-stock, therefore they did hide it. it's more or less a half-truth. If you look at their packaging you would believe that they made it better.
In a nutshell , Exxon Mobil and Shell both suck!

 

[mshu7]

While they have downgraded in base stock, the UOA's are showing just as good as results as the old formulation so I don't see any reason to hold a grudge about it. It's obviously still a great oil at a great price, especially when you can find it on sale or get it w/a rebate ($1.99/qt. or even .99/qt. is a hell of a deal for even Group III synthetic).

I'll give credit to Shell for not raping people on a synthetic oil that performs as well as it does. The same can't be said for Mobil1.