best oil

[raziel630]

Hey guys, i'm new to the forum and new to chevy. I'm looking for the best oil for the 1.4lt. I'm looking at either penzoil pure platinum, amzoil signature series, and liqui moly top tec 4600. Any reviews or personal experiences would be greatly appreciated. This is my first turbo car and want to take care of it.

Thanks in advance.........

 

[JesusTheAgnostic]

I used full synthetic valvoline on my first oil change, and am going to use mobil 1 I figure it really shouldn't matter too much as to which oil I use as long as it's the right weight and fully synthetic. I figure if it's good enough for my high mileage Mustang then it should be good enough for this car which appears to supposed to be pretty low maintenance. I'd say look up the things you're supposed to do to take care of your turbo. I hear the biggest one is to let the car idle for a bit before turning it off to let the turbo cool down. There's other stuff I think, I'm just not sure the oil brand makes a difference.

Also, welcome friend! These cars are amazing and you will fall in love with yours more and more every day.

 

[nickalltogether]

I run Mobil 1. I have run it in many cars with no problems. Rotella synthetic is also good for the money, but not available in many weights.

If you really want to lose some time, check out bobistheoilguy.com . You will find more comprehensive information than you'll ever get on this site.

 

[Natesriv]

Mobil One.... nuff said.

 

[MORTIS]

Mobil One.... nuff said.

Agreed, so I'll say no more.

 

[eggsalad]

The cheapest oil that meets Dexos 1 is about $18 for a 5 quart jug at Wally World. Mobil1 is about $25 for the same size.

Assuming 2 oil changes a year, why not spend the extra $14 for the good stuff?

 

[raziel630]

thanks for all the info guys. Now about this cool down, is it after every drive or after spirited driving, and about how long should i let it idle?

 

[MORTIS]

thanks for all the info guys. Now about this cool down, is it after every drive or after spirited driving, and about how long should i let it idle?

You might get different opinions on that, but only if you've been pushing it fairly hard shortly before ending your drive, I'd suggest idling it for about 30 seconds before shutting off.
The opposite holds true when setting off with a cold engine, but in this case drive about 10 minutes before pushing it.

 

[JesusTheAgnostic]

I don't know about the cool down. I'd say if you're pushing it hard let it idle for at least a few minutes before turning it off if you're driving lightly and for not long then just a minute or less, that's how I do it.

 

[Stew]

I usually don't comment on oil question threads but I'll give my two cents. Meet or exceed the minimum oil specification and don't wait too long to change and you'll be fine. I have been using Mobil 1 5-30 and changing every 5k miles, which is usually around 33% to 35% on the OLM and I have no doubts an oil related problem will be the last thing I need to worry about.

Think about all the cars you've had over the years, how many miles do you normally keep them? Often we don't keep them as long as we think when we first get them and so all the fussing about oil brand, viscosity, etc is for naught. As long as you meet the minimum oil spec and don't go 10k miles between changes you'll be fine, really.

Like most (all?) modern turbo cars, our turbo is water cooled. Cool down isn't really something you have to worry about as long as you weren't boosting to 22 psi down your street before you pull into your driveway. Take it easy the last mile or two before you park and you'll be fine.

This is my opinion and I'm sticking to it! opcorn:

 

[raziel630]

best oil...now lets talk oil filters

what brand of filters are you guy's running. I'm looking at k&n, mann, wix or mobil 1....any suggestions.

and i'm asking all these questions because i just purchased my sonic 2 wks ago with 30,00 miles on it.

Thanks

 

[5.0]

what brand of filters are you guy's running. I'm looking at k&n, mann, wix or mobil 1....any suggestions.

And i'm asking all these questions because i just purchased my sonic 2 wks ago with 30,00 miles on it.

Thanks

ac delco

 

[sonic daddy]

I use Napa full synthetic 5w30 in our sonic 1.8 liter Napa oil filter made by wix napa oil is made by Valvoline

 

[The Champ]

I use Napa full synthetic 5w30 in our sonic 1.8 liter Napa oil filter made by wix napa oil is made by Valvoline

NAPA synthetic is not Dexos certified.

NAPA "says" it exceeds Dexos specs.

If you have an oil related problem, GM could deny you warranty coverage.

Do you want to see if NAPA will buy you a new engine?

There are plenty of Dexos certified oils available. I would use them first before an oil that "claims" to exceed the spec.

 

[spacedout]

NAPA synthetic is not Dexos certified.

NAPA "says" it exceeds Dexos specs.

If you have an oil related problem, GM could deny you warranty coverage.

Don't say this in front of the Amsoil guys, Amsoil oil uses the same deceptive wording. To me this is false advertising, you can claim all you want your oil meets/exceeds dexos specs, but until they pony up for the certification it is NOT DEXOS CERTIFIED OIL, PERIOD.

 

[mightysonic]

I will agree with most here that Mobil 1 is what I use as well. I will also add that since I've been having a long commute of 400-500 miles per week, I've been getting the higher interval stuff. I've been using the Mobil 1 15,000 mile oil along with a Bosch 15,000 mile oil filter in my Nissan SE-R for the last 6 years and it still runs like the day I bought it new. It has 150k on it.

For the Sonic, I have yet to change the oil but in a few weeks I'll be using the same Mobil 1 and since I couldn't find an extended life oil filter made by Bosch for the Sonic, I found an STP 10,000-mile cartridge oil filter. So I'll be changing the Sonic's oil every 10k instead of every 15k, until I can find a longer interval filter.

The way I see it doing it this way serves two benefits. It's actually cheaper to use Synthetic with a longer interval than conventional with a shorter interval, not to mention the time saved by changing the oil half or a third as many times. Also, I feel I'm being a bit greener than the average driver getting more use of the oil changes.

 

[sonic daddy]

Don't say this in front of the Amsoil guys, Amsoil oil uses the same deceptive wording. To me this is false advertising, you can claim all you want your oil meets/exceeds dexos specs, but until they pony up for the certification it is NOT DEXOS CERTIFIED OIL, PERIOD.

So what is the warranty gm has this car has over 60 thousand miles on it?

 

[sonic daddy]

NAPA synthetic is not Dexos certified.

NAPA "says" it exceeds Dexos specs.

If you have an oil related problem, GM could deny you warranty coverage.

Do you want to see if NAPA will buy you a new engine?

There are plenty of Dexos certified oils available. I would use them first before an oil that "claims" to exceed the spec.

How can Valvoline/napa claim it exceeds dexos specs sounds like false advertisement to me.

 

[The Champ]

How can Valvoline/napa claim it exceeds dexos specs sounds like false advertisement to me.

Anybody can claim anything.

Doesn't mean it's true.

NAPA's "claim":

A real Dexos certified oil:

 

[trollbait]

How can Valvoline/napa claim it exceeds dexos specs sounds like false advertisement to me.

The specs for Dexos are likely out there, like the the 'open source' and industry standards ones are. So they know if their oil meets or exceeds them or not. Getting the actual Dexos certification though, involves making a payment to GM.

They likely aren't lying. There are repercussions to being caught with false advertising. That said, NAPA isn't naming Dexos specifically on their label. So they can get weasalie if caught.