[Zoku]

I *know* this has been discussed 500 million billion trillion times. I did a search but didn't come up with any specifics. Here goes:

My IS has approx. 3,400 miles on it. My 5,000 mile service appointment will probably be scheduled for the end of next month... possibly the beginning of June. Or I may end up changing the oil sooner altogether. I'd like to know the real deal about synthetic oil.

1. I don't race my IS300. I probably won't *ever* race my IS300. I don't go to the drag strip or raceway. And I ignore the losers in their little Hondas with the fake altezza tail lights. I do mostly highway driving in it. Is my car going to benefit from the use of synthetic oil? If so...

2. Where can I buy it online? How much does it cost and how much do I need?

3. What weight of oil has everyone pretty much decided to go with? I live in Minnesota. And by the time I change my oil, we'll be at/near the beginning of summer. For those in the midwest, or other climates with four seasons, what do you use in the summer? And then, do you change the weight of your oil again in the winter? If so, again, what do you use?

4. If synthetic oil isn't going to benefit my IS in the least bit and those that decided to *not* go with synethetic... what kind of oil have you decided to use in your IS? Brand/type/weight?

As always, thanks for your help...

Scott.

 

[vlad_a]

I use Mobil1 Synthetic oil and Mobil1 filter.
Recommended grade is 5W30, unless you go into warm climate, where 10W30 would be suitable.
Using Synthetic oil is supposed to decrease engine wear. Most damage is done when you start the car. Conventional oil drains to the bottom of the engine, so it takes a few secs to get around, whereas synthetic doesn't. When you drain oil, conventional just flows out in a matter of minutes. Synthetic will keep dripping for days.
I haven't shoped online for oil, so can't help you there. I just go to the local AutoZone and pick my 6qt (5.7 is needed w/ filter) and filer.

Hope it helps.

 

[HIBBoyScott]

synthetic oil is supposed to be better than dino oil in every way except price. i know there has been some controversey between the companies that make oils as some have started using dino oil to make synth oil. whether or not that actually affects the performance of the end product, i'm not sure...although some say why pay the $$$ for full synth when the base product isn't...this of course gets technical w/ the term "synthetic" also...what do you consider synthetic, blah blah blah. you might wanna check into that if you are interested.

 

[El Chino]

Zoku

I use AMSOIL Synthetic 5W30 every 2500miles..
http://www.amsoil.com

 

[markd]

I just use the Castrol GTX, but I don't really know the difference between the others.

 

[RotaryBzzz]

my personal perferance is Redline Synthetic. You can get it from a distributor off their website www.redlineoil.com (find a local phone #).

Call them with your requirements. I've already speced out 02' Is300 oil requirements for the 5spd transmission, engine rear end and power steering pump. I don't have them offhand though. Send them an email. There has been some controversy regarding synthetic in the auto-tranny however. Be careful with that. I believe someone said Redline wrote back "use the factory recommended weight and type".

Some on-line places with a good price are RacerWholesale aka: www.racerpartswholesale.com. Good price, based in Georgia, about 6-7 dollars a quart for it. Redlines recommended change duration is 12-15k miles or 1 year btw.

I agree, using a good filter is important. For Rx7's, the best flowing filter was the factor filter but i think a standard quality FRAM should be fine for non-race applications.

The reason why i like and recommend redline is dyno proven power. I think this topic related to one of my very first posts here regarding OBDII. Basically put, putting redline oil into the tranny, engine, rear end and power steering box netted 6 extra HP to the wheels on a 97 BMW 318ti that was dynoed by Grassrootmotorsports on a dynojet dyno. It was a whole buildup article that they featured dynoing with each mod and each step. More power is good.

Bottom line as to why i dig one redline: 1) avalible locally. 2) fair price per quart (some oils are rather pricey (royal purple??) per quart. 3) refiner-recommended increased oil-change durations. 4) Race proven and used extensively in SCCA/Others. 5) good reputable company based in the USA with a wide distributorship (aka there not going to go away anytime soon). 6) They make their own sh!t (unlike Nology oils - private labeled) 7) More power to the ground. 8) No gimmicks...just power on the paper...no BS.

.02

 

[gebo]

I changed to Amsoil 0-30W at 5000 miles (I had changed w/Castrol 5-30 dino at 2500). I am convinced that this oil will protect my engine enough to pay the extra. I also changed the rear end to Amsoil 75-90W at the same time. I use Amsoil filter, the higher capacity one. I'm gonna change the synthetic every 10,000 miles.

 

[LexusIS886]

Mobil1 Tri-Synthetic 5W-30!

 

[RotaryBzzz]

thought i resurrect this topic.... i guess i'm a voice from the past...passing in the night...

 

[NickG]

I know this is an old thread which probably has come up again since, but I wanted to make a suggestion regarding RedLine oil.

This oil has a history of impeccable performance, from what I hear. I just want to warn people who plan to use it in their trannys. Several MKIV Supra owners who put this in their 6-spd trannys suffered swelled bushings causing the shifter not to return to center.
The obvious difference here is that Supra 6-spd trannys are produced by Getrag; and I don't know the origin of the IS300's 5-spd tranny. The crucial piece of information is that Redline specifically stated that its product was safe for the Getrag tranny. Only until people started having problems did they do further analysis and realize the problem.

Personally, I've been using Mobil1 in my last past and present 5 cars without any problems.

 

[mickey513]

Zoku, you will not benefit from synthetic oil if you do everyday normal driving, it's a waste of money in your case. Synthetic oil is suppose to offer better protection and so forth, but hey, the engine is made by Toyota. It's not going to die out on you just because you use regular motor oil. For the way you drive, I say stay with the regular oil. If you were to like gas the hell out of your car every otherb block and race every person who comes up to you, then yeah, I recommend synthetic.

 

[Naperguy]

my .02. I used Castrol Syntec in my Maxima and after 160,000 miles the power seemed better, the gas milage was better and I never added oil between changes. The advantages of synthetic, IMO are better cold weather starting, better protection, and extended change intervals. I usually changed my oil every 6000 miles.

If you are going to trade in your car after 3 years Synthetic is not really worth it but if you are going to keep it more than 100,000 it is a good choice for minimal cost.

 

[Risk3233]

I use Mobil 1 5W-30 every 5k miles.

I'm going to use Royal Purple for the rear diff and Genuine Toyota for the ATF.

 

[jmess]

Use dino oil and change it according to the 7500 miles interval and spend the money on something else. Ask yourself how long you will keep your car. If you are looking at well beyond 100K then you might at somepoint benifit from Synthetic oil. I say might because I am not aware of any independant studies that have proved this.

There is nothing wrong with using magic oil but on pure cost vs return on investiment it doesn't deliver for normal street driving. There is some improved flow at lower temps, it probably does reduce internal friction some very miniscule amount, it does have more resistance to heat. Does anyone have their own independant dyno results comparing dino oil in our cars with synthetic? I don't trust the magic oil companies.

I think real value of synthetic is in the rear diffrential and manual gear box. They don't have any additional cooling and the ambient air temp impacts their operating temp. So on a real hot day at 80 MPH on the freeway your rearend is going to run a lot higher temp than on a cool day. With your engine you have a radiator to help disapate the heat.

 

[eortiz]

<!-- BBCode Quote Start --><TABLE BORDER=0 CELLPADDING=0 CELLSPACING=0 ALIGN=CENTER WIDTH=85%><TR><TD COLSPAN=2><font size=-1>Quote:</font><HR></td></tr><TR><TD> </td><TD><FONT SIZE=-1>
On 2001-04-23 10:57, Zoku wrote:
I *know* this has been discussed 500 million billion trillion times. I did a search but didn't come up with any specifics. Here goes:<P>My IS has approx. 3,400 miles on it. My 5,000 mile service appointment will probably be scheduled for the end of next month... possibly the beginning of June. Or I may end up changing the oil sooner altogether. I'd like to know the real deal about synthetic oil.<P>
1. I don't race my IS300. I probably won't *ever* race my IS300. I don't go to the drag strip or raceway. And I ignore the losers in their little Hondas with the fake altezza tail lights. I do mostly highway driving in it. Is my car going to benefit from the use of synthetic oil? If so...

NO, JUST STICK TO REGULAR OIL AND USE LIGHTER WEIGHT FOR WINTER TIME SINCE YOU LIVE IN MN AND A STEP ABOVE THE LIGHTER WEIGHT OIL WHEN YOU HIT SUMMER TIME

<P>2. Where can I buy it online? How much does it cost and how much do I need? <P>3. What weight of oil has everyone pretty much decided to go with? I live in Minnesota. And by the time I change my oil, we'll be at/near the beginning of summer. For those in the midwest, or other climates with four seasons, what do you use in the summer? And then, do you change the weight of your oil again in the winter? If so, again, what do you use?<P>4. If synthetic oil isn't going to benefit my IS in the least bit and those that decided to *not* go with synethetic... what kind of oil have you decided to use in your IS? Brand/type/weight?<P>As always, thanks for your help... <P>Scott.
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<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: eortiz on 2002-02-13 14:41 ]</font>

 

[GCM]

Here's an article from the same person that wrote the oil filter comparison that's been floating around alot of forums. I switched over to synthetics in my SUV after reading this a few years ago because of it's definite benefits over dino oil. I'll probably switch over to synthetic in my IS at my next oil change (10k).

http://minimopar.net/oil.html



BTW, Costco sells a case (6 qts) of 10W-30 (same viscosity the dealer used @ my 5k service) Mobil 1 for about $22 which is a pretty good price for synth.

 

[solarIS]

For my previous car I always use Mobil1. The best oil you can get almost anywhere..and if I'm not mistaken a recommended brand for Porsche (Ruf) and BMW.

One day I decided to try redline and I never switched back..not that I'm saying Mobil1 is bad but I can actually feel the difference with redline.

A little bit expensive but well worth it.

 

[98Cobra]

The debate between syn. and regular oil will also come down to personal preference. For every arguement for Syn you get on for regular. Personally I believe Syn is a better oil in all respects. But that does not mean for your application regular oil will suffice.

I use Syn. in both the IS and Cobra. I change the oil every 3000 miles at Walmart using Mobil one. The cost is less than $30 for the cobra (6 qts) and less than $25 for the IS. You can't beat that cost. I do not let Lexus change the oil since I do it every 3000.

In fact I changed the oil at 1000 miles in the Lexus.

Bottom line, you can't go wrong with the oil you run. Just change it regularly or at least according to the manuf. recommendations.

 

[Tycoon]

<TABLE BORDER=0 CELLPADDING=0 CELLSPACING=0 ALIGN=CENTER WIDTH=85%><TR><TD COLSPAN=2><font size=-1>Quote:</font><HR></TD></TR><TR><TD> </TD><TD><FONT SIZE=-1>
On 2002-02-13 17:45, 98Cobra wrote:
The debate between syn. and regular oil will also come down to personal preference. For every arguement for Syn you get on for regular. Personally I believe Syn is a better oil in all respects. But that does not mean for your application regular oil will suffice.

I use Syn. in both the IS and Cobra. I change the oil every 3000 miles at Walmart using Mobil one. The cost is less than $30 for the cobra (6 qts) and less than $25 for the IS. You can't beat that cost. I do not let Lexus change the oil since I do it every 3000.

In fact I changed the oil at 1000 miles in the Lexus.

Bottom line, you can't go wrong with the oil you run. Just change it regularly or at least according to the manuf. recommendations.

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98Cobra,

How do you get your oil change for less than $25? The Mobil 1 at Costco is listed as $22. Do you do the oil change yourself?