Where To Find 5w - 30 Oil???
 

Realizing my car needed a top up of oil , i went to 3 pretrol stations and rang several auto parts shops none carried the 5w - 30 grade of oil that is recommended for the rx8 .
Apart from the local MAZDA dealer no one seems to carry this grade of oil , as i like to top up every 1000km or so this is a small inconvenience that we may have to go back to dealer every time we need a top up .???

ISthe correct grade of oil 5w -20 0r 5w -30 ???

hello
 

its 5w 20 if theres a strous auto or pep boys they carry it i just bought a case casthrol gtx drive hard 5w 20. For 20 bottles it was like 30 bucks for them.

I think that's about a 12,000km drive with a couple of VERY LARGE puddles.

KEV YOUR RIGHT ON ITS A LONG WAY TO GO FOR OIL.

Funny enough i finally managed to get castrol 5w- 30 from supercheap , didnt think that they would stock this partircular type, but they do.

Synthetic or "dino"?

Edit: Looks like it is synthetic.

That is good info - Thanks!

And it is probably the same stuff the dealer uses at service time.

BTW - Who didn't know the oil doesn't get changed at the first service (unless you ask and pay for it?)

Cheers,
Hymee.

Alternative good engine oil to consider, very expensive though!!!
1. Mobil 1 10W-30 http://www.mobil.com.au/mobil/mn_mob...bil1.asp#10W30
2. Castrol Formula R 5W-30 http://www.castrol.com.au/products/formular/index.html
3. Fuchs Titan Super GTO 5W-30 http://www.fuchs.com.au/html/passeng...ngine_oil.html

I am personally a Mobil 1 fan, so I will try Mobil 1 first.

Re: hello
 

5W-20 is for the US of A, for Australian climate they recommend 5W-30. Anyway, it is very hard to find 5W-20 in Australia, almost impossible. The only one I know is Fuchs Titan GT 0W-20.

Do we need to change it ourself??
Or they will change it as we bring it in for service??

Thanks WINNING great info , much appreciated.

Thklam youre not actually changing the oil youre merely tooping it up , rotary engines use up oil especially for the first 15000km until the rotary seals are well lubricated ,you should chek youre oil levels every 2weeks and top up if required , this is a simple procedure you dont need your dealer to do it.The oil also helps in cooling the rotaryengine.

BTW - How much was the Castrol R 5W-30 at supercheap?

HYMEE THE COST WAS $45.90 FOR 5 LITERS , and i bought a funnel on special 99cents you need one otherwise you are going to make a mess topping the rx8.
Reading the oil guage is not so easy tried to scrape oil stick with brush to be able to read easier , maybe i will put some markings on it.

Filled up with BP ULTIMATE for first time , will let you know if there is any difference from SHELL OPTIMAX.

5w-20
 

I picked up a couple quarts of Castrol 5W-20 from Discount Auto parts. Did you know that two quart bottles of 5W-20 fit perfectly in the storage bin located between the backs of the rear seats (aka trunk pass through cover)? Makes a handy storage spot....those bottles would fly all over my trunk the way I drive...LOL!

Anybody got any 1.8927059 litre bottles so I can give this a try :p

I bought some Castrol synthetic 5-30W this morning on special for $44.95/5L, saved $5!

I've always used a graduated plastic kitchen jug for adding oil (mine, not the kitchen's!), so I know how much I'm putting in. For the 8 I'm using a little 250mL jug.

From a point of view of the engine, going through a little oil keeps the engine in good shape. Say you're using 250mL/1000km, that's 2.5L between 10,000km services. I think the sump holds 4L, so that means the oil is on average a lot fresher than a reciprocating motor that burns much less oil.

My wife has a Nissan NXR, and her oil is like tar after 5000km, which is when we change it.

Labrat , you are definetely spending tooo much time in the lab , hey i like your system of measurement very scientific.

I remember them teling us a the Sydney drive day to NOT use synthetic oil. Something about the apex seals!!!

Does anyone else remember this ?!?

Umph!!!

Just got some 5W-30 Castrol Synthetic myself (as a topper upper).

I hadn't heard anything negative about synthetic oils in the rotary, in fact I thought most with that sort of viscosity would be synthetic.

Keep in mind - I can't provide adequate maintenance for a gate hinge :(

I brought this up with my wife, who was also at the drive day. She also remembers them telling us to not use synthetic oil.

They said that some synthetic oils had been shown to corrode the apex seals... this is part of the reason Mazda will be importing and selling oil.

OK, I hope I have this down right, as it could be the definitive answer to which oil we should be using for topping up.

I rang up my dealer's service dept. this morning - Grand Prix Mazda, Aspley, Brisneyland. They said it is Castrol TXT Softec 5W-30. They also said it was especially formulated for Mazda. Being at heart a sceptic (I am a technologist - it comes with the territory), this made me think that oil companies don't make special products for niche market cars.

Yesterday, I had purchased some Castrol Synthetic type R at SuperCheap Auto. I went back this morning, and was told by the store manager that the TXT Softec had been replaced by the Synthetic R. He said it is not a full synthetic, but has some mineral component.

Next step was to ring the Castrol technical help line (1300 557 998). The guy checked his manual, and said that the difference was merely a naming re-alignment to reduce the number of brands in their range. TXT Softec 5W-30 and Synthetic R 5W-30 are exactly the same formulation. He also said that TXT Softec 5W-30 was specified also by BMW (so much for exclusive manufacture for Mazda!).

One of my colleagues here used to race RX-7's in kiwi-land and said that full synthetics aren't so good, because they don't burn well. He actually used to put oil in his petrol!

Apparently Synthetic R 5W-30 isn't a fll synthetic and has a mineral oil component.

OK, I hope I have this down right, as it could be the definitive answer to which oil we should be using for topping up.

I rang up my dealer's service dept. this morning - Grand Prix Mazda, Aspley, Brisneyland. They said it is Castrol TXT Softec 5W-30. They also said it was especially formulated for Mazda. Being at heart a sceptic (I am a technologist - it comes with the territory), this made me think that oil companies don't make special products for niche market cars.

Yesterday, I had purchased some Castrol Synthetic type R at SuperCheap Auto. I went back this morning, and was told by the store manager that the TXT Softec had been replaced by the Synthetic R. He said it is not a full synthetic, but has some mineral component.

Next step was to ring the Castrol technical help line (1300 557 998). The guy checked his manual, and said that the difference was merely a naming re-alignment to reduce the number of brands in their range. TXT Softec 5W-30 and Synthetic R 5W-30 are exactly the same formulation. He also said that TXT Softec 5W-30 was specified also by BMW (so much for exclusive manufacture for Mazda!).

One of my colleagues here used to race RX-7's in kiwi-land and said that full synthetics aren't so good, because they don't burn well. He actually used to put oil in his petrol!

Labrat i spoke to the mazda tecknical department in melbourne and castrol 5w- 30 synthetick oil is the right one to use apparently on ly the earlier rotaries had to usemineral oils but not the new renesis rotaries .

MAZDA is also bringing their own oil for the rotary from JAPAN which will be available for purchase for the rx8s, hopefully it will get here soon , but if its priced like their accessories i will be telling them to keep it .

This oil will only be available at mazda dealers .

Hang on - I thought Labrat already established that the "special" Mazda oil and the Castrol R 15W-30 are one and the same.

Cheers,
Hymee.

It would not surprise me if the Japanese RX-8 oil was an OEM ("badge engineered") product, ie., a suitable grade from an oil refiner in a special Mazda pack. It hapens all the time. Yesterday I bought some ISO400 film at Coles. Agfa film was $4.00. Polaroid (made by Agfa in Germany) was $2.88 on special. The pricing all depends on how the brand is perceived in the market place, or in Mazda's case, how they want the brand to be perceived.

BTW, sorry about the double post. The forum went crook just as I tried to post the first time.

Thanks for the hard work...I've just had a call from my dealer that my new oil sump has arrived, and I'll be going in next week to get it fitted (part of the Oil light problem dealt with in another thread).

So, I'll see if I can find out anything about the Mazda oil - availability and price...and get an opinion on the Castrol product... but the off the shelf Castrol alternative sounds like the way to go...