Hi all,

I have been reading the posts about using synthetic oil.
I contacted Redline directly and they said they did not have any specific information on using their oil in this motor, but their oil has always performed well in rotary engines.

I mentioned this to the sales manager where I am getting my RX-8.
He told me they just recently had someone who went to synthetic oil and it ruined their motor. He said they were forced to fix it because the manual does not say synthetic oil cannot be used in this motor.

I find this hard to believe. I pick my car up in about 2 weeks. (hopefully)
I am going to talk to the service manager when I do and ask him about the above case and see exactly what he says. I will post back then.

-B

 

I'm switching to royal purple syntheic 5W-20 this weekend. Given my reasearch I feel good about the decision, I'm going to run it for a few thousand miles and see what I think of the idle, mileage, power etc...., if I don't feel any real diff, I might go back, but I figured it couldn't hurt. All the rx7 folks rave about purple.

 

Your service manager was just talking smack..

Regular crude oil is good for initial break in for your engine b/c it helps initially helps the seal for approx the first few thousand. Afterwards you should be using synthetic by ANY MEANS necessary. And full synthetic, not synthetic brands like Castrol, Mobil 1, etc.....which are not 100% synthetic..they are only 5-10% ADDITIVES.

I've spoken to the person who BUILT the RX8 for Mazda for Targa racing and completely agrees and follows this himself with their RX8. He feels that the ONLY reason Mazda recommends staying with crude oil is because of the initial break in and does not want to confuse the mass market with switching oils within certain periods of time with also the risk of customers jumping STRAIGHT into synthetic in the get go without doing a break in, which we all know is VERY common.

 

What brand of synthetic do they use?

 

Interesting, to me, there ae two types of oil, Royal Purple and Amsoil, and everyone else. Royal Purple is made here in Houston and one of the engineers is a memeber of our RX club and also races rotaries. For me, thats good enough.

 

I have been using Redline in all my cars for years now..
so that is my plan after break-in.
I do want to hear what the service manager says. It should be interesting if nothing else..
-B

 

about how many miles do u guys consider the engine to be "broken in" cuz... i have 2,400 miles on my car which i had exactly a month.. and i was thinking about getting an oil change with synthetic.... is this bad?

 

Click on Royal Purple's website for your final answer.

18K miles and not one problem. Good gas mileage, smooth idle and easy to clean smoot. I use RP in the diff and gearbox as well.

 

They use MOTUL.. Their 300V Line....

Motul is 100% Ester based ...Fully Synthetic... it is the same stuff that is used by the by the Subaru Rally Team, and MANY Manufacturer raced vehicles JGTC (Japanese Grand Touring Championship.... Japan's most popular production vehicle based race series)...

In a OPTIONS magazine I read before... They did a test with an STI flushing all it's fluids anre replacing it with MOTUL making an astronomical 15.0 HP @ the wheel..granted it was a boosted vehicle....

I currently use this oil too as well for the past 5 months with no problem..with a quieter idle and notice I maintain oil pressure better....

The funny thing is that the oil is charged with negative polarity meaning it will BOND itself to anything... So many first time users who bring it to a day on the track.. after a few laps they wonder why the stuff is crap cus their oil already went slightly down when really the OIL actually had REMAINED in the engine because of the negative polarity instead of seaping back into the oil pain so quickly.....

I agree too as well..Redline..AMSOIL...Royal Purple.. all respectively good "TRUE" synthetic oils... my personal choice is just MOTUL for track proven purposes and personal experience...

 

Great info guys. I didn't know what I should do with mine. It has 22oo miles on it. When is a good milage to switch?

 

Does anybody have any experience with Idemitsu? They are advertising in RX Tuner, claiming to have 100% synthetics formulated specifically for rotaries. Apparently, they provided the oil used in the 1991 Le Mans winning rotary.

So far, they don't list a rotatry specific 5W-20, but I'm wondering if they have a good reputation in the '7 crowd.

Web site: http://www.idemitsu-usa.com/

 

Per the Royal Purple website's FAQ's

Can I put Royal Purple® into my brand new car?

Yes. Royal Purple® currently offers many viscosity grades of API Licensed Motor Oils. (See the Royal Purple® Motor Oil Product Page or visit the API Engine Oil Licensing and Certification Website for more information). To allow for proper breakin of the engine, Royal Purple® recommends waiting until the manufacturer's first scheduled oil change or a minimum of 2,000 miles in new gasoline engines. Allow 8,000 to 10,000 miles before using Royal Purple® in diesel engines.