I was feeling lazy, so wandered down to the Mobil service station a few hundred metres from my work, and saw the huge stand for the new Mobil 1 5w-50 oil they are touting. No 5w-30 anywhere. So, also feeling lazy, I rang my Mazda Dealership's service department and said that I was going to be Driving to Sydney/Lismore from Adelaide, and was 5w-50 ok? Mazda tech guy said 5w-50 was fine, probably better than 5w-30 for highway driving.

So, what does everyone think? Is a 5w-50 fully synthetic oil going to be ok? Or will I cause rotors to go flying out of the engine casing?

 

MC STATES THAT ONLY MINERAL BASED OILS SHOULD BE USED AS OIL CONTROL SEALS MAY HAVE REDUCED LIFE BY USING SYNTHETIC OILS. GUESS THE MAKERS WOULD KNOW BEST!

 

Wow, that was loud... please turn off your CAPS LOCK before posting next time.

 

Still can't locate any Castrol Magnatec 5W-30 anywhere. i called my Mazda dealer as to whether they had any of their RX-8 oil. They said they would have stocks till November.

Donald

 

So what's the issue with Pennzoil 5w30 mineral based oil. It's mineral and it's the right visc???

 

Service Manager at Slaven Mazda in Canberra said they would be using Mobil1 in Rx-8s.

Have followed most threads on this, and am just becoming more confused

Timbo

 

ok, so :

(1) City Mazda Adelaide says Mobil 1 5w-50 is ok, probably better than ok for highway driving through centre of Australia.
(2) Renesis13 says synthetic oils are bad, mmmkay.
(3) Mobil1 FAQ does not have the rx8 on it's site yet, but for RX7 says that synthetic oils are not good for rotaries.
(4) Slaven Manager in Canberra will be (and probably already are) using Mobil 1 (synthetic) oil.

This is ambigious at best. I am going to get in my Madza Rx8 now, and drive the thing (because I often need an excuse) down to my Mazda Dealership, and ask their certified rx8 tech what the story is.

 

I'm back from my exploration mission - I even managed to solve a problem with one of my customer's software systems on the way.

Anyway, the Mazda tech who told me I could use 5w-50 said that the official line is : no synthetic oil. City Mazda Adelaide are using the oil that came in the drum with the first shipment of RX8s. They are hoping that the rx8 branded oil will arrive soon - or they will run out.

Then I went to Rotary Heaven. This is a rotary specialised garage that only works on rotaries - for track and road use. All of their track rotaries use synthetic (Amzoil?) 0w-30 or 5w50 oils. Rotaries that have been racing on these for years have been pulled apart and put back together with no ill effects.

Their opinion is that SOME synthetic oils do no burn properly and leave deposits which can damage a rotary engine. The good ones (Fuchs, Amzoil, Mobil 1 etc) are not affected by this. Because some have a problem, Mazda have declared that it is safer to say that all have a problem.

As a side note, they had two disassembled RX8 engines in their workshop. It was great to see the engine in pieces so I could look inside. One was a prototype from Japan, the other was from a customer who wants his car to go faster.

 

I've always used Penrite HPR40 in my rotors. The rotary engine burns oil with the fuel and the mineral based oils leave less carbon/waste.

I'm still not sure what to use in the rx8, never changed the oil so far.

 

do you really think he wants it to go faster? or is it broke? I'm my experiance with the car, i'm allowed to ask that question =)

 

If it's at a race tuners I'd guess ... she aint broke!

 

Sounds like no issue to me... have you got a link to a datasheet? www.pennzoil.com.au is useless at the moment.

Edit: Found the link Kev posted previously: http://www.pzlqs.com/Tech/Pdsheet/In...Multigrade.pdf

 

I will ask City Mazda Melbourne today... I will be surprise if they know anything

 

In an act of sheer stupid futility, I got some of the Pennzoil and thought I'd try and compare it to the RX8 oil I got from the magic drum at the mazda service centre....

...about now I feel like breaking into a Cheech and Chong skit