amsoil
- Thread starter oldpunk
- Start date
I'm an Amsoil dealer (I really should just be a preferred customer since I don't sell much) and run their Signature Series 5W-20 in our cars. Their 25K oil change is only if you use their filter and I, personally, like to change the filter and top off the oil at 12.5k miles.
With that said, I typically change the oil on our Mazdas at 10-15k intervals.
With that said, I typically change the oil on our Mazdas at 10-15k intervals.
You're leaving quite a bit out of that 25k mile claim...
So if you drive anywhere less than 10 miles on a regular basis, you're limited to 15k miles on the oil.
The filter for the 3 is an EA15K51 which is limited to 15k miles no matter what, but you'd have to have a spin on filter or do the conversion to use it.
I am using in it both My 5 and 3 and am impressed with it. Even if you buy it from a dealer it is around the same price as Mobile 1's top tier synthetic that is only good for 15,000 miles, and seeing how I have been putting 18 to 20,000 miles on the 5 in the last couple years, it does pay off for me. Nice not having to change oil every 3-5k. At the 6 month mark, I just changed the filter on the 5 last weekend, and topped it off. I would rather only have to get under there twice a year, instead of every 3 to 5k. People make a bigger deal about brands of oil than needs be, in a economy car like ours, many oils on the market are adequate, it isn't like we have high output racing engines in or vehicles where a certain type of oil can make such a big difference. At the end of the day it is a commuter car designed for daily driving on public roads, not a highly tuned sports car designed for a track.
Tell that to people that autocross and race their 3 (same engine as the 5) and while light duty, meeting spec, and factory drains can and do give engines a long life, entry-level isn't exactly a one-size-fits-all.
Why are you getting under the car every 3-5k?
Do you fall into the normal or severe service category?
Why are you getting under the car every 3-5k?
Do you fall into the normal or severe service category?
The 5's manual recommends oil changes every 3 to 5 thousand miles with 5W-20 grade oil. Of course that is with standard 5W-20 motor oil, seeing as how the MZR motor was designed for normal 5W-20 oil, not for fully synthetic 0W-20 like the new Skyactiv engines are designed for, many choose to stick with standard 5W-20.The only point I was trying to make was that converting over to the Amsoil and not having to change your oil but every 25,000 or 1 year is nice in comparison to going the normal route of using regular 5W-20 oil and changing it every 3 to 5 thousands miles. Seeing as I averaged around 20,000 miles a year for the last two years since I have had the 5, Amsoil saves me 4 to 6 oil changes that I have to do. With the Amsoil, if you don't go with their filter, you have to get under your car twice in a year, once to change the filter and oil, and then again after 6 months to change the filter. It beats the 4 to 6 times I was getting under my cars before I decided to go with the 1 year or 25,000 mile 0W-20 Amsoil. And just to clarify, clearly running top tier oils is better for your engine than bottom of the pack oil. My point I was trying to make was that everyone gets hung up on name brands of oil, and for me that really wasn't the reason I went with Amsoil. I went with it because it was the best bang for the buck, and because I am lazy and like only having to mess with my oil twice a year. I just hear guys arguing over which oil is the best: Mobil 1, Castrol Edge, Pennzoil Platinum, Valvoline SynPower, or Royal Purple, the list goes on. From what I read and it does seem that the consensus is that Amsoil is the best fully synthetic oil on the market, but for a daily driver or even a autocrosser with the stock 2.3 or 2.5 MZR motor, I don't think you could go wrong and see that much of a difference with the Mobil 1, Pennzoil or any one of the other 15,000 mile top tier fully synthetic oils on the market. Porsche's, Mercedes AMG's, and the Nissan GT-R all come from the factory filled with Mobil 1 Synthetic oil. Nominal differences which for our engines is really just splitting hairs.
Ah I read that part of your previous post oddly. Makes sense to split the filter into 6-month rather than running it to the 15k mark. With how much you drive, you should look into the remote filter and bypass combo. Would allow you to run the 25k mile filter and add bypass filtration to boot, as well as increase oil capacity.
A man after my own heart. (humpleg)
There is only one 15,000 mile oil and that's Mobil 1 Extended Protection, none of the other oils warranty use beyond factory drains, and some stipulate their own change intervals for engine protection (Valvoline). AMSOIL is the only other one that extends drains and covers your engine. Even with Penzoil's top oil (Ultra) the terms are: "As long as you're within the owner's manual guidelines, you're good." So $9 a quart at factory drain intervals? Pass.
True, but the key thing to remember with that is the engineering and fit & finish in those engines is MUCH greater than ours. Metal quality and surface finish is UNREAL and their oil change intervals are much shorter and those engines hold sometimes double the amount of oil our MZR does. If we had 8 quart sumps, a generic API-SN rated oil could easily go 15,000 miles. Also note that MB (Ex MB 229.5 spec), Porsche (a40 spec) sets MUCH more stringent oil specs and requirements, such that they use a drastically different oil than our MZR. Setting the bar higher nets them a guaranteed level of performance to expect from the oil, which translates into holding up to increased strain those engines put on the oil.
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- 2008 Mazda5 Touring
The manual states to replace the oil/filter every 7.5k for schedule 1 (normal duty) and 5k for schedule 2 (rough duty). If you were running 20k per year, there's no way you were doing so and needing to change every 3-5k.
Well, city driving and short driving distances constitutes rough duty.
So every 5k is the recommended distance for stock oil/filter.
I don't mind just using stock stuff as it gives me the chance 2-3 times a year to look under the car and see whats happening.
Sorry but not many places on earth have these conditions to even constitute following Service 1. Especially driving in the summer in Florida, working downtown where with 15 to 20 minutes of stop and go traffic, with constant braking during that time, and living 30 miles away from work. Schedule 1 has been already shoot to pieces. I live in one of the largest cities land mass wise in the country, everything is very spread out, but it has grown so much over the last 20 years that there is constant stop and go traffic across the city, and 5:00 traffic isn't fun either. It is easy to put 20,000 city/highway miles on a vehicle living in Jacksonville, unless you choose to be a home body. Only time I see these idyllic conditions that Schedule 1 warrants, is on long vacation trips, which we do twice a year, but it is't enough to off set all the other mixed city/ highway driving I do during the rest of the year. Who can actually follow Schedule 1, give me a break, I don't even know why Mazda put it in the service schedule.
Follow Schedule 1 if the vehicle is operated mainly where none of the following conditions
apply.
l Repeated short-distance driving
l Driving in dusty conditions
l Driving with extended use of brakes
l Driving in areas where salt or other corrosive materials are used
l Driving on rough or muddy roads
l Extended periods of idling or low-speed operation
l Driving for long periods in cold temperatures or extremely humid climates
l Driving in extremely hot conditions
l Driving in mountainous conditions continually
If any do apply, follow Schedule 2 (Canada and Puerto Rico residents follow Schedule 2)
Follow Schedule 1 if the vehicle is operated mainly where none of the following conditions
apply.
l Repeated short-distance driving
l Driving in dusty conditions
l Driving with extended use of brakes
l Driving in areas where salt or other corrosive materials are used
l Driving on rough or muddy roads
l Extended periods of idling or low-speed operation
l Driving for long periods in cold temperatures or extremely humid climates
l Driving in extremely hot conditions
l Driving in mountainous conditions continually
If any do apply, follow Schedule 2 (Canada and Puerto Rico residents follow Schedule 2)
Maybe there is one person lives in the middle of USA in a small town and drive to another small town 50 miles away for work every day and they have no traffic to speak off. (rofl2)
They do it so this way they can advertise long service intervals on TV or during sales pitch.
Yup. Same for transmission.
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- 2008 Mazda5 Touring
And where does the manual say change the oil at 3-5k again?
I drive 20k per year too with mixed city/highway, replace filter every 5k and oil/filter every 10k using full-synthetic 0W-20. This is in my 15 yo daily driver with 286+k miles, but the 5 follows the same interval less frequently.
I drive 20k per year too with mixed city/highway, replace filter every 5k and oil/filter every 10k using full-synthetic 0W-20. This is in my 15 yo daily driver with 286+k miles, but the 5 follows the same interval less frequently.
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- 2008 Mazda5 Touring
Not mine. You're throwing away money and wasting oil if you do it every 3k.
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- 2008 Mazda5 Touring
I just don't want people reading something and saying to themselves "Gee, since I drive on a dirt road for 1/2 mile in Florida (I do), then I should either change my oil every 3k miles or switch to the magical AMSOIL and not even think about it for about 5 times longer."
So for sanity's sake, I just wanted to clarify what the manufacturer's actual service intervals are not 3k miles - ANYWHERE.
So for sanity's sake, I just wanted to clarify what the manufacturer's actual service intervals are not 3k miles - ANYWHERE.
More fuel to the fire: I just checked my user manual and it clearly states, if you drive in the city, change oil every 8000km or 5000 miles.
This is true for the 2012+ Mazda 5, I'm not sure what 2008 has in the manual.
Attachments
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- 2008 Mazda5 Touring
You've confirmed my point - https://www.mymazda.com/MusaWeb/pdf/manuals/2012_MZ5_OM.pdf#page=321
