Hey guys, I recently bought a 2008 Honda Civic Si Sedan (Great Car! I might add) and on Oil Life I'm at 60% now. I was just wondering what would be the best oil to use when it's time for the oil change. Thanks

 

honda oil not sure of manufacturer.. kendall. or bmw oil... wich is made by castrol. are what i have used.. there was a thread like 2 days ago on the same subject tho. id look that up... i use k&n gold filters personally on top of the oil

 

There are no bad brands of oil that are SAE approved/certified.

I recommend you stay away from overpriced oils like Red Line that haven't proven to be worth the extra expense ... as well as silly bling-bling stuff like Royal Purple.

I change mine when the oil minder drops below 40%.

 

I use Motul 300v. The best oil ever imho. My car ran 1000 times smoother with Motul.

Cheers,

 

i agree, i haven't found a SAE Certified to be bad. Don't swing towards the grocery store brand but you don't have to pay through the nose for a good motor oil.

 

Isn't the recommended weight 5W-20 or am I misremembering? Mobil1 has that. That's all I've used in my SE-R and after 50+ track weekends, leakdown was 4% max. Plan to do Mobil1 on my Si forever and ever amen...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by MaddMatt &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Isn't the recommended weight 5W-20 or am I misremembering? </TD></TR></TABLE>

5W-20 for the DX,LX,EX (R18)
5W-30 for the Si

 

Personally I use Mobil1 5w-30 fully synthetic, they usually go on sale here and there at my local Pep Boys or Auto Zone. The last sale they had, including the Mobil1 Extra Performance, was 25.99 for 5qt's and 1 mobil 1 EP filter

 

yea..mobil1 and you really can't go wrong. hell.. I ran my xB on that. it was the extended mileage though..

either way mobil1 ..

 

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5W-20 for the DX,LX,EX (R18)
5W-30 for the Si</TD></TR></TABLE>

Gotcha. I misremembered.

FYI, Advance Auto has a Mobil1 sale right now. 5 quarts + a Mobil 1 filter for $27. Sale ends 6/28.

Giddyup...

 

Alright! thanks guys!

 

Mobil 1 or Pennzoil Platinum best oils for the price

 

mobil1 3 years ago Ive used royal purple and dont have any complaints

 

Eneos 5W-30 or Quaker State HP Fully Synthetic 5W-30

 

how do you like the eneos over the quaker state, I rane qp in one of my old cars and didnt see any difference over another synthetic

 

OP: sorry to jack the thread for second but maybe the answers to this will help you as well...

I've been using Royal Purple ever since i got my ride in Oct. That Mobil1 deal sounds pretty f-in sweet to me. Would i have to flush the rest of the Purp out, or just drain it as best i can and throw the Mobil1 in?

 

I agree with many of the other guys on here that mobil 1 has been the go to oil for me and all the hondas I have owned. I havent had any complaints while using mobil 1 its a great oil and its not too expensive.

 

I'm a BITOGian and have seen PROBABLY A THOUSAND UOAs (lab tests of oil).

I have not found an oil that is consistently and significantly better than all the rest but I've noticed some trends over the years:

Mobil Drive Clean (their base oil) isn't that great. Pick something else.

Mobil 1's additive package in their regular/normal synthetic is not that great (not as good as it used to be). Pennzoil Platinum is better at dealing with fuel dilution that plagues our cars after short trips or in the cold.

The Chevron/Texaco oils are consistently good and inexpensive. Moderate oil intervals using these are hard to beat (don't let OLM dip below 25% without testing). I'd love to try Delo 0W-30 in the winter and have it tested afterwards ... but I just can't get it around here.

The high-mileage oils (all brands) have higher levels of additives and are formulated to be a bit thicker than other oils in the same grade. If you are **** about monitoring fuel eceonomy, you might notice a slight drop.

Heavy-Duty oils (dual gas/diesel rated) are good for cleaning out engines gently/safely). The 5W-40 synthetics are good ... albeit a bit thicker than what is recommended for our cars. I like this stuff (and the 15W-40 mineral counterparts) for outdoor power equipment.

I can't see paying extra for an oil like Royal Purple that has mixed results (no better or worse than any other synthetic oil). You are paying for advertising (i.e: "Iron Man") and the bling-bling kewl purple color. Thanks, but I'll pass.

Red Line Oil doesn't seem to make sense in a street driven application (even their 'street' oils) ... many theories as to why this might be.

Schaeffer makes excellent oils, albeit no bling if that's what you're into. Can't go wrong with Schaeffer ... if you can get it in your area, that is. If I had to pick a personal favorite brand, it'd be this one.

Lubrication Engineers is another high-quality, un-sung hero among oils (similar to Schaeffer). Real pro stuff for the few that know the real deal.

Motul is good stuff ... but over-priced in this country compared to the benefits you might see. Again, there are many very good alternatives at much lower cost.

Amsoil is generally good stuff ... but many of their sales people are creeps. Fortunately, I know a couple who are decent guys if I want to use this brand of product ... like the MTF for our manual trannies. I'm switching to that this fall.

Lucas Oil - it's like Royal Purple without the bling. This stuff is just 'average' with a lot of marketing and sponsorships promoting it. I'd skip it.

Hmmm ... did I miss anyone?

 

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Hmmm ... did I miss anyone? </TD></TR></TABLE>


How about when switching brands. Do you need to flush the engine out or does everything work itself out?

 

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How about when switching brands. Do you need to flush the engine out or does everything work itself out?</TD></TR></TABLE>

it would be safe to do so imo. my dad has always told me when i was a kid, either way, just flush all the oil out just to make it safe. never mix blends or brands, you just never know. so i would flush it out just to be safe, as that's a habit of mine. i've been using mobile1 and i'm fine with it. everytime i change oil i always buy another quart just to pour in there while the nut is off, well i mean, when i change a brand [edit] lol. it might be wasting oil i guess, but it's a little habit of mine.

 

Guys, mixing brands is safe.

Now, there are different types of additive packages that don't necessarily work perfectly together so if you think you are improving a formula by mixing, you are kidding yourself.

However, I've seen the lab results where people have mixed 2-5 different brands of oil in one fill ... wear was low to normal after a moderate oil use interval. I've seen at least a handful of these tests.

No one wants to make an 'oddball' oil that is not compatible with others ... then get blamed when the clash causes a failure. The only thing you might run into is "PAG" oils ... Poly Alkaline Glycol. These are a weird type of synthetic used in refridgerators and this glycol-oil is NOT to be mixed with petroleum or any kind of synthetic automotive oil. However, they are rare and (usually) well labeled with warnings.

Oh, and to add to the data I posted a couple days ago, I'm not a particular fan of Valvoline All-Climate ... it generally/historically has one of the weakest additive packages of all the major brands. Not exactly bad, but for the $$, you can do better.

 

It seems like the consensus is strongly in favor of synthetic oil for the '08 si.

Does anyone use non-synthetic oil for their si?

modman

 

I have commented on similar threads, here on this site and others. The main benefit of synthetic oil on street cars is slight increase and fuel economy and I mean slight and extended drain intervals. If you are changing synthetic oil at 3000-5000 miles you are wasting your money.

I have had mine analyzed and change the filter regularly, on another vehicle I owned I changed the oil at 5000 miles sent it off to be analyzed and microfiltered to be put back in on the next interval. I have done this on a class 8 commercial vehicle I owned as well.

Amsoil all the way.

 

I'll add to what KidnKorner said. Synthetic oil often gives you the slightest edge in economy ... but it's not because of magic, it is due to weight (viscosity) Mobil 1 (the most popular synthetic) is formulated to be a bit thinner right out of the bottle than other oils in the same weight. You could think of their 5W-30 as a 5W-25. Difference is that these synthetics are a bit more stable over time so after 3,000-5,000 miles, a 5W-30 conventional oil is often close to a 5W-20 and the Mobil 1 is still pretty close to its original viscosity.

To track any significant fuel economy changes, you'll need to divide miles by gallons used over several tankfuls. Looking at your gas gauge and odometer is far too imprecise.

Years ago, I went from Red Line Oil 5W-30 to Schaeffer synthetic blend 5W-30 and my mileage picked up 5% or more. It was immediate and consistent ... like I threw a switch.

Oh, and I like synthetics for winter morning start-up.