I'm about to do my first oil change myself, I purchased Amsoil synthetic oil and filter that will be here Monday. But got something in the mail today to sign up so I just did just to see what has been done recall wise and found this weird they recommend Non synthetic oil for 2012-2014 evos. Any reasoning behind this or is it just one of those "dealer recommended" things to save them money?

 

IMO its just Mitsu being cheap.

You have also been running with conventional oil in your Evo. They come with conventional from the factory.

 

No reason for them to reccomend petroleum oil. .. wow have we come long ways and the debate as to which oil protects, last and provides the best reliability has been long ago settled... therefore for Mitsu to reccomend a petro oil is ridiculous.

Second for them to say 3,000 miles drain interval is pathetic, well they don't have a choice because of the petro oil they recommend. While this is a diservice to any vehicle and worst to a turbocharged vehicle. !we are in the 21st century.

Porshe, VW, Volvo, and many other European turbocharged vehicles can run 30,000 miles on an oil change it is very typical... meanwhile in the US there are only a hand full of people who dare to take their drain interval that long... of course the auto makers here in US haven't told the consumer to run long drain Intervals .

 

We also know that petroleum oil evaporates at a faster rate than synthetic under heat cycles. Turbocharged engines experience higher temps than N/A cars. Petroleum oil also shears faster under high loads this is due to the molecular structure of it is not as structured as a synthetic.

Even though I know Mitsu is not an oil chemistry company at least I would have expected their mechanical engineering team to do their diligence.

 

Yeah I found it REALLY odd that they said this, even with my minor knowledge of oil and working with turbo cars for 10+ years I know that's something I wouldn't even recommend. I'm around 2k miles and want to change ASAP that's why I went ahead and ordered Amsoil after all the reviews and own research I feel confident with using it and will also feel more confident with that in my car over other brands. Another reason why I never listen to car companies/dealers 98% of the time haha.

 

When I bought my first X, I had the first oil change done at the dealer. I was able to get mobile 1 synthetic, but i had to pay the difference in price.

I now use AMS oil myself. You can become a distributor for like $20 bucks and then you are able to purchase it directly from AMS

 

It's a big mystery why they changed from recommending synthetic in the early years of the X to now recommending conventional.

Synthetic is preferred and beneficial as it'll stand up better to the extreme heat from F/I.

Also, Amsoil and AMS are different companies. :P

 

this issue has been reviewed locked and load. Evo's requires synthetic oil.

 

That *is* a bit odd.

The EVO VIII specified Mo-1 synthetic.

I was glad to see that the Mo-1 filters I bought for the VIII will also fit the X.
(I actually called Champ Labs to talk filters for the EVO VIII. )

So why would they not specify synth for the X? I didn't even look -- I just assumed that synthetic would be specified.

I learned, back on the Celica GT-Four, that you really do need synthetic oil if the turbo uses engine oil (instead of having it's own oil system).

Dead Dino just can't stand turbo temps.

But if they're not demanding Mobil-1 for the X, then I can look at using Valvoline Synth.
(Although Mo-1 is still probably easier to get around here, where most national brands stay away.)

-- Edit: I just checked the owner's manual on my 2014 (MR), and it does say (pg 9-6):
"To better protect your engine and turbocharger, use fully synthetic motor oil."

 

Yep, the manual says that. But Mitsu sees it as not being required. I think most agree to go synthetic and most Evo owners put in synthetic. But what sucks is a lot of new Evo owners (2012+) do not realize that when they buy their car new, they are driving around with conventional from the factory.

I didn't realize this when I bought my 2012 X. I drove around for about 3k miles with conventional. When I bought my 2013 X, I bought it out of town and drove it back. I switched to synthetic at around 400 miles.

 

Right and when a new car is pulled out of the dealer you are most likely breaking the motor in therefore a non synthetic is good to help with the seating of the rings to the cylinder walls... The extra friction is needed at break in.

 

But the 08-11's came with synthetic from factory. So you think their seals are not going to seat as well?

 

Right I agree with you. When I purchased my IX in late 2006 I assume it came with Mobil 1 I ran that oil 500 miles and switched it with fresh oil.. thereafter it always ran Signature Series AMSOIL 10w30.

Break in normally takes a couple thousand miles, before metals have weared into each other.
Synthetic is to slippery for breaking in an engine. Extra friction is needed to seat the rings against the cylinders. so is the theorie...

 

I did a compression test on my Evo a few weeks ago. I switched to synthetic at around 400 miles and am now over 9k. It was 140, 150, 150, 150. I believe that is good? I was worried about the 140 but people seem to say that is ok?

I never ran a compression test on my previous X that had conventional for the first 3k miles or so. Kind of wish I did so I could compare the two.

 

It's okay, +/- 10% is the consensus IIRC.