Hello all,
New to the site.I have a Mazda 6 Gran Touring wagon with 37,000 miles. It has the 3.0L, V6 and 6 spd. auto. I have always used Mobile 1 synthetic and have no reason to change other than trying a different brand. But before doing so, I wanted to ask what you use, why you use it and what you recommend. I have averaged 25-26 mpg on the highway at 70-80 mph. I run 19" tire combo in the summer and will be putting them on soon. I look forward to your input, JD

 

I believe in AMS oil. I use their 5w-20 Oil in my 2.3 Liter, auto 4 speed. I get 28-29 mpg in the city during the summer. I am around 23-25 mpg right now in these 30 degree temperatures. .I usually get 32-34 mpg on the highway. Those 19" tires will help your mileage even more. Also the 6 speed also helps that mileage. BTW, I have 36,215 miles on mine with no problems. I have changed the oil 5 times so far.

 

In all reality any quality synthetic oil is going to suit the needs fo a daily driver just fine. In my every day cars i use Schaeffer's oil. I believe they are a reigonal manufacturer and don't yet have a nationwide market. It's quality stuff. I use a 5w30, change oil every 5K and use a quality filter. In my race car I use Royal Purple 20w50 and change it in varying intervals depending whether I have snuck it out on the street or only at the track. If you ask 1000 people you will probably get 1000 different answers, none of whic is wrong. Unless of course they tell you to change the filter every 5K and the oil every 10K which is a theory I myself cannot subscribe to.

 

Thanks for the response. I spoke to several people over the weekend and all had a different opinion. Not only on brands but weights. One guy told me he uses 20-50w Wolf's Head and his oil changes are 7,500 miles apart, even though his owner's manual states to use 10-30w. I decided to go with Royal Purple, 5-20w and a WIX oil filter. I'll let everyone know how it does. Thanks, JD

 

M1 has been said to be using a cheaper base in recent years. I used it successfully for +/-20 yrs, but have gone to the Castrol Syntec and run it for 10k, 5k for the filter. As my daily driver I didn't want to spend an arm and leg on oil that the car didn't need under those conditions, so I feel an off-the-shelf brand is asgood as anything, and I had used Castrol conventional before w/good results.

 

I'm a Valvoline man myself (conventional, not synthetic.). Ran a few experiments back in college that convinced me.

 

Valvoline seems to be good stuff too. How do you feel about Kendall, SST? I used that exclusively for some time too, though you'd probablybe hard pressed toeven find it now.At the time they were one of the few to meet the highest SAE standards... which IIRC was SE at the time.

 

Never used Kendall. I'll stick with the Valvoline for my daily drivers, but I'll probably go the Amsoil or Royal Purple route with the fluids in my Bronco (high strung 302 @ 500hp)

 

I used Kendall in my old '83 Porsche 911, at the recommendation of my mechanic. I was happy with it. This was back in the mid-90s, though. I now use Castrol conventional oil in all of my cars, and have no regrets about doing so. I change oil every 3k miles religiously.

David

 

I haven't even seen Kendall in years. I wonder if it's still produced?

edit: Well, there's my answer... as easy as googling, and 125 yrs old too.

http://www.kendallmotoroil.com/index.htm

Most name-brand conventional oils are good, imo. Castrol, Valvoline, etc...if they haven't gotten it right by now, they never will, right?