gwoody27

Sandra the service manager at St. Catharines Mazda told me that Mazda Canada recommends Petrocanada 5W20 synthetic oil for the RX-8. In fact I was very skeptical and questioned her so she called 3 other service amanagers who all agreed. Apparently the oil sold in Mazda labelled liter bottles is this oil.
Has anyone had a similar conversation with their Canadian dealers? I am still concerned about using synthetic oil after reading a lot of posts in this forum

MyRxBad

iTrader: (1)

When in doubt always listen to the owners manual.

From a personal standpoint: I wouldn't put anything near my car that said Petro-Canada! But that's another story.

hobbes

Call Mazda Canada if that makes you feel more confident. I know, putting crap into your own car is one thing, the other is voiding warrnty. Follow the Manual too, they gave it to you for a reason.
________
Honda Rincon

MrJynx

I use castrol 5w20 NON-synthetic oil. don't use synthetic, it screws up the engine apparently, do a search.. also . . . read the manual


MrJynx

Hybrid-RX8

You can use SYNTHETICS......... PetroCan being a crappy low end brand....

If you choose to use a synthetic, do not use anything like Castrol, Valvoline, Mobil 1... etc.. All of them are made out of Jersey in the states.

You would want use fully synthetic oils following European standards for quality. I'd say MOTUL. They have a few various lines avaliable for race (300V which I use) and one consumer level one that will literally blow away Mobil 1 and all the Canadian Tire competition brands. If you need a listing of where to pick it up, let me know, I have a list of all Toronto distributors.

Murray16

I use Castrol none syntehtic as well. Its not that I think that synthetics will foul the engine, I just want to syick to what the manual says.

Gwoody, where abouts are you from? I bought my 8 from St. Catharines Mazda and always go there for servicing. Sandra is great... whenever I ask for something she does her absolute best to keep me satisfied. I would probably trust her on something like this.

gwoody27

Yes Sandra seems very trsutworthy but there are so many contrary opinions in this forum that I am concerned. I live in etobicoke but bought in St. Catharines as it was the best deal.

TiRX8

My dealer told me they use Petro Can 5w20 here in Alberta as well but not synthetic.

mr.zoom

Did you by any chance bought the red Demo they have?

gwoody27

Yes, I bought the red demo from St. Catharine's Mazda, do you have any info about it?

By the way to all, I checked with PetroCan and the 5W20 oil that Mazda and the dealers uses is in fact a mineral oil. The lebel says "synthetic performance" but it is a mineral oil, so is OK to use and consistent with the Mazda concerns about using synthetics in a rotary. Sorry for any confusion.

Hybrid-RX8

You guys have to understand that the use of mineral oils are recommended by Mazda through your initial break in because crude oils provide good sealing for the APEX seals for say the first 8-10,000 KM. After that, you should be using full synethetic oils. Mazda does not tell you this because they can't tell you switch from these oils that oil for this reason and that. It makes it confusing for consumers and if they say they allow synthetics people will NOT use crude oils in the beginning to help ensure proper sealing. Don't believe it? I've already spoken to the person who built the Mazdaspeed RX8 for Targa racing in Canada and have confirmed the information. He has been racing rotarys for over a decade. Synthetic oils do NOT include brands such as MOBIL 1, VALVOLINE, CASTROL or anything of the sort that is found in Canadian Tire. None of those brands are synthetic oils. Because North America has no sanctioning body regulating the oil industry, they are simply ALL the same crude oils mined within the states with 5-10% synthetic additives.

mr.zoom

gwoody:

I saw the day you were taking delivery. I know it was a good deal (price wise) at the time and actually considered trading in my FD. Plus its red.
Just couldn't let go of the FD.

As far as oil goes, this has been a never ending debate.

What has worked for me is just following the owner's manual when it comes to fluid types and change intervals. (Under severe conditions)

I've had an 87 and 90 rx7s with original motor. Put on 66k and 89k respectively. All bought used and had 198k and 162k when I sold it. Used nothing but regular oil (10w-40)

My current FD tried using syn (Mobil 1) and caused a leak on my front cover. Fixed that and back to dino oil.

In the end, syn or not. It will be contaminated by fuel. So I just change my oil every 3k.

Spyder99

The only reason not to use syntech is because it is hard on the wallet, not on the engine. I bought a litre of 5W20 Amsoil (best syntech on the market, the originators) for $9, retail. If a car uses a litre or two between changes than running regular oil at $4/litre instead of syntech can save money. Syntech is just as good if not better for your engine because it is less viscous yet still protects the engine.

01Racing

Just to add some oil to the fire so to speak, I race a RX-7 with a J-port 13B

I have run Motul 15W-50 synthetic and have had no problems, however, I will be switching back to my favorite Redline synthetic which I have used for the last 10 years in other vehicles. A very educated rotary engine builder who used to be Mazda Canada's authorized rebuilder to me RUN SYNTHETIC IN YOUR ROTARY after break in!
I am the G.M. at Scarboro Mazda and we do sell both Motul and Redline in our parts departments.

Enzolor

Just brought my car in for it's first oil change (4000km)

They put in Petro 5w30. Before, I was topping it off with Castro GTX 5w20.

Car seems slower and power seems reduced a tad. Does it take time for the oil to seed?

I also spoke with the tech.. he says there are no problems with using synthetic, although there's very little gain. When the car and engine gets a little older, then it may be worthwhile.