Since there is so much (mis)information on the RX8 oil, here is some information gleaned for various web sites..... heavy racing oils (are too high a viscosity for daily use unless you race your car and tear the engine down and rebuild it after every race.), paraffin based oil (all regular oils are), synthetic (is a marketing term, not a legal one) AND there is a lot of "common" but wrong "knowledge" circulating ...these are some web sites explaining various points of view on motor oil..... especially important to RX8 users, BUT not as fatal as we are led to believe. Basically change your oil reasonably often about 5000/7000 miles or so depending on severity of usage, stop and go driving etc. For RX8's ( but you really ought to know your own cars usage) check it every 500/1000 miles (till you do understand your usage) and top it off. No two of us will be exactly the same... but... you don't need to carry a qt. of oil in your trunk if you use common sense and maintain your car. Heavy weight oils like 50w can ruin a non-racing engine, a multi weight like 5w/20w is needed because of the differences between starting a cold engine and driving temps.

It seems as though even the pros don't always agree so it isn't unusual that ordinary owners get confused or get various "facts" to back up our opinions. I'm amazed at the misinformed "facts" I read on forums about oil usage, especially Pennsylvania grade oils like Pennzoil, Quaker State or Wolfs Head oil (if they still make it). Some of these "facts and rumors" are repeated from 55 years ago. I've said it before..... I go with Mazda's recommendation on engine weight, and my own favorite brand, and I don't have any problems. One piece of advice...there are no miracles in a can, if you ignore maintenance.

http://mrmazda.no-ip.com/cfaqtext.html#OILCHOICE (especially good one for rotarys, and it backs up what I usually say about oil in the RX8 )



http://www.calsci.com/motorcycleinfo/Oils1.html

http://forums.anandtech.com/messagev...readid=2174876 (this forum is especially funny with all its misinformation and unintended silly comments)

http://www.citgo.com/ConsumerProduct...neOilMyths.jsp

http://www.upmpg.com/tech_articles/motoroil_viscosity/

http://www.xs11.com/stories/croil96.htm