Best synthetic oil for colder weather

I live in the Sierras near Lake Tahoe and my personal choice is>

Castrol SYNTEC European blend 0-30.

Nothing like the USA version of syntec (which actually has a small % of dino 'oil in it's makeup despite being labeled as a 'synthetic'). I've run it in everything I've owned and plan to put it in my 2017 for the winter. My car will be stored near Santa Cruz and I'll be popping down there occasionally to get in some brisk cruising.

Don't let the 30 rating fool you. As tested it's very close to 40 weight. The 0 rating throws alotta' folks off. You need that for cold starts.

There's only one place to buy it>

'Vatozone' (Autozone)

and not every Autozone carries it but most do (and they run out all the time cause' folks hoard the stuff). Every time I see it on the shelves I grab as much as I can. 

This is a popular oil amongst those in the know. Google the 'Bob the Oil Guy' website. You'll learn all you'll ever need to know about this oil AND about most oil + lubrication in general. This is one of the sites favorite oils..for good reasons. The site will open your eyes to everything greasy'

Another I like is Penzoil Platinum.

One I don't like is Royal Purple. Overated.

Another is Mobil 1. Again overated hype

Thanks a million for the advice.  I am going with the castrol syntec 0-30!

don't forget to get one of those Vatozone' cards. I think you get a 20 dollar credit after so many purchases. I just saved 20 somethin' bucks last case I bought

I just ordered a case of Brad Penn 10W40 for winter use.  $60.00 + freight---not bad.

helluva' price Jack

Jack,

   I ordered a case of Brad Penn today also, same source, thanks for the tip and advice.

Chuck

Anyone ever ordered from "The Oil Warehouse" ? Here's a link. Their Brad Penn Racing oil price seems low, no ($48/case)?

PS - flat rate $25 shipping / that may be the difference

You have to add the shipping to the price to see that a $48.00 price is a come on.

$48 + 25 = $73.00

I paid $60 + $13 shipping = $73.

For the same price I'd rather deal with the less "clever" merchant.

I got my BP 10W40 from Euro Synthetic Oils --I believe they are located near Detroit and the number right to the owner is 419/308-5448.  Curteous and easy to deal with.  Norm, the owner will answer the phone and take your order.

Hummm--the guy selling for $48---wonder if he allows cash and carry for $48?  NOT!

Chuck---nice airplane with floats!  I recently sold my Cutlass. $6.00 a gallon fuel sorta did me in!  Flew it up to Detroit and sold it to the head of engine development at Ford for a complex trainer ( he had no ticket at all!) and got $115k for it---has to be a record but it was loaded and pristine.  Just cleaned out 4 large cardboard filing boxes of flying stuff and sent them to the dump.  Bittersweet.

Back to ordering engine oil for Speedsters--------

My local speed-shop sells Brad Penn "Green Oil" (20/50 and 10/30) for $5/qt, cash and carry.

Peoria's not that big. Every town with a decent population is bound to have a speed-shop for the aging hot-rod guys. They use Penn oil as well.

Any benefit to running the Brad Penn oil in my Subaru? The builder said to run regular oil for the first 10K

VatoZone, bwaaaaaaaa, that's a good one Moose! I'm going to use that.

I totally agree with you and many thanks for sharing !

Hey Marty---you can google Brad Penn and speak to the tech support people there.  The reason Brad Penn is used by the Type I and Type IV engine owners is that ZDPP, the zinc ingredient was removed from almost all oils thanks to our wonderful EPA folks---same bunch that has caused gas to be $5.00 out on the left coast.

Unlike modern engines like yours, VW air cooled engines have flat tappets and as long as certain levels of Zinc are in the oil everything is fine---but removing the zinc (and phosphorus, I think) causes increased engine wear.  Brad Penn has the right goodies in it and our aircooled engines work happily because we're feeding them an oil they like.

Brad Penn also comes in a "regular" formula without the additives --- the right BP oil is labeled either as "racing oil" or Performance oil and those are the ones we need for air cooled engines.

You probably could use any high quality oil in your Suby.

Others may chime in with additional info but this is the basic drill, I believe.

I was tought to use BP racing oil (the green stuff) 20W50 in summer and 10W40 in winter.

The engine "thinks" it's getting the same wt of oil winter or summer with these wts.

Regards.

Marty:

Brad Penn is great oil, but you don't need it.

The short answer is; you do NOT have an older technology engine, nor do you need the stuff that's needed by ancient technology air cooled engines.  The best thing you can do for that Suby is get a decent, 2010 Suby owner's manual and do what it tells you to do for that engine.  It will specify the oil grades (they are letter grades) that should be used with your engine.  Those are readily available everywhere, even at WalMart.

In fact, most of the people on here running 20W-50 oil don't need it and it may be worse for them than running 10W-40 as VW always recommended.

Jack:  Is a "Complex Trainer" kinda like a 4-place "sky coupe"?

Beetown:  You have an aircooled Volkswagen engine.  The old Volkswagen air cooled owner's manual says to use 10W-30 between 20F and 50F, and then switch to 10W-40 above 50F.  It never mentions anything about synthetic oils.

gn

Marty I've had a few subies (16) including some turbos. I'm on all the Subaru forums..and paid some dues.

That's where I got the tip for the Euro formula 0-30 Castrol Syntec. Awesome stuff..I even run it in the summer. Don't let the 0 rating throw you..or the 30. It's rated very close to 40 weight. Google it and that oil web site I mentioned earlier..

Gordon I completely agree. 20-50 is not that good of an idea...It's actually a really dumb idea to cram that thick oil in vw's

Well then you are calling Jake Raby dumb, and that is clearly not the case. I run 20w50 in the summer as instructed, for the last 26 almost 27K miles in my highly non-stock Raby type1. I think I'll continue   

Gordon---I don't know anything about a 4 place coupe but usually the definition of a complex aircraft is that it has both retractable landing gear and variable pitch prop / manifold pressure.

Maybe I missed what you were driving at?

I originally tried to use the book recommendations, didn't like how quickly the oil seemed to break down and get dirty.  I used the purple synthetic and was happier, it seemed to stay pretty "clean" thru the 3k cycle.

This last change I went with Mooses idea on the Castrol European blend (much cheaper) so we'll see how it goes.

Thanks everyone for all the ideas about oil, very educational.

I use the German made Castrol Syntec 0-30 in my Impreza, and Brad Penn 20-50 in my Speedster. 

As for using 20-50, that is what IM recommends for summer driving, and I was told by Henry to choose an oil that has zinc.

i'm gonna back off on my 20/50 opinion and say why not. That last thing I want is Jake Raby mad at me...heh

Personally I'd go with Brad Penn 10/40. Now if I was running a bit higher temps then I'd stuff that 20/50 in there. Zinc oils 4 sure though

 Still in love with that german castrol for most of my cars. It's good on burgers too