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Amsoil synthetic sig series overkill for 1.4t?

12K views 38 replies 16 participants last post by  iggy 
#1 ·
Hey guys, before you read. Just know i am a big amsoil fan and use the full syn sig series in my 2014 1.4t auto

i buy my amsoil from a friendly reputable napa repair center i'll leave anonymous. However everytime i go in to buy the 5w-30 full syn, the manager continually tries to downsell me to a lower grade amsoil. It is a similar product but not the sig series, why is this? Also, i go about 6000 miles on an oil change with this oil and he tells me i can go double that. I always change my oil when i get below 10% olm. Am i ok or can i actaully wait longer let alone use a lower grade oil??
 
#2 ·
Run it the 6,000 miles that you've been doing and get an oil/tbn analysis done and see how much life it's got left in it. People will jump in saying you're an idiot for changing it sooner than 10-15k, if you want to change it sooner then do it. I ran Amsoil Sig Series for 5k and dumped it, why you ask, because i wanted to. Good luck.
 
#3 ·
Signature Series is arguably the finest motor oil available on the market.

It may be overkill in your usage. But it will definetly be no harm.
 
#4 ·
I am truly confident that signature series will extend our turbo life if not eliminate turbo wear altogether. The deposit formation resistance is much better, the volatility much lower, and the usable life much longer. I don't think it's overkill at all. In fact, since it is a turbocharged engine, I think it is quite appropriate.

Sent from my LG-D850 using Tapatalk
 
#6 ·
Oil isn't overkill, premium gas in 2014 or newer is debatable, I had 14 Eco and it ran just fine on regular. With premium gas in Indy being 50 cents more a gallon, at 2.00 for regular and 2.50 for premium that's 25% more, I think that's a lot. I run diesel now so isn't an issue for me.
 
#9 ·
The issue you have in my opinion is if the car is still under power train warranty and you do 15k oil changes and there is an engine issue it may not be the easiest road to get gm to cover warranty, so the oil may last that long but does the filter and are you opening yourself up to possible warranty issues?
 
#12 ·
#15 ·
Thanks for your response extreme, the oil receipt since I haven't had issues with any engine under warranty, I assumed the dealer could request proof of maintenance performed. It's not the oil per say but the engine replacement could be thousands of dollars. I will keep receipts if I decide to change my own oil. I will probably let my dealer change the oil while under warranty then there is never ANY question of was it serviced. My Diesel engine might exceed the value of the car towards the end of my warranty.
 
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#16 ·
I keep all receipts for a car.
 
#22 ·
Correct. Since the 2013 model year all GM engines are capped at 7,500 miles (except volt).
 
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#25 ·
I just recently provided my latest oil sample results to Cruzetalk last week. Two oil changes in a row 24000 Km per oil change with a filter change every 12000. The results are comparable between both samples. The CAT dealer provides lab testing for 27 dollars and I just bought a sample kit from Amsoil for 53.... ( disappointing considering that a postage paid shipping bottle was not included (compared to CAT), but I hope to gain more thorough report)
 
#26 ·
Yikes, that's steep. I forgot you're in Canada; I pay $30 USD for a kit, which I consider to be normal.

When you send in the analysis, fill out the form and indicate that the oil was not changed. That way, they will tell you if they recommend a longer interval or when you can resample.
 
#31 ·
Thanks for the explanation tomko. The military makes sense, this may not be fair but not every country can be a super power and why spend the money when you have a neighbor and big brother that will spend the money and defend your country.

As for healthcare, we spend an enormous amount of money on research and drugs, the world benefits from that in my view. I can personally say I am on Obama care and it sucks, very expensive and is loaded with stuff I don't need and I pay for one person over $10k a year before my insurance pays for most of anything. I do have access to good healthcare. I have had friends and clients have cancer and they got very good care and had the freedom to keep getting treated even when there was little hope. My health insurance premium is more than my house payment.

Taxes here are and will go up.
 
#32 ·
Thanks for the explanation tomko. The military makes sense, this may not be fair but not every country can be a super power and why spend the money when you have a neighbor and big brother that will spend the money and defend your country.

As for healthcare, we spend an enormous amount of money on research and drugs, the world benefits from that in my view.
I agree.

Almost 50 years ago the then Canadian prime minister said this about the pluses and minuses of living next door to the USA: "Living next to you is in some ways like sleeping with an elephant. No matter how friendly and even-tempered is the beast, if I can call it that, one is affected by every twitch and grunt."
 
#33 ·
Getting back on topic, I've used AmsOil Signature series for my last few cars. (I've used AmsOil off and on since the 1980's based on availability. I used Mobil 1 during periods when there was no local AmsOil rep in the area.)

I used the 0W30 on my last car (N.A.), but with the turbo, I stick with 5W30. The main reason I use AmsOil is better cold start protection. Minus 10-20 degrees Celsius winter starts are not uncommon in my area, so why cheap out on engine oil?

The oil and filter (both every time,) are changed based on the OLM. (I also have AmsOil synchromesh in the trans.)
 
#34 ·
There seems to be a lot of FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt) around this topic. Based on the stats provided, it seems clear that Amsoil is better. But, are Pennzoil Ultra or Mobil 1 good enough to keep my car as trouble free as possible for the next 200K miles if I change it when the OLM says? If they are, then Amsoil might be overkill since it is twice the cost and last much longer then the recommended intervals. I don't want to buy Amsoil purely out of fear that Pennzoil or Mobile 1 aren't as good. I would like more info that clearly helps me make a decision. I am never going to do 15k oil changes, and I don't want to do an oil analysis every time. I would prefer to just go back to 3k oil changes instead.
 
#35 ·
My $0.02 worth...

If you doubled your oil change interval, the amsoil sig stuff works out to about the same price ( at least by my calculations and prices near me for oil ). However, if your only going 3000 miles on a oil change, it probably doesn't matter anyway, even if you went 6,000 with the Amsoil stuff... Heck you could probably uses any SAE oil on the market and go 3000 miles on a oil change.

For me, the reason I won't seriously consider Amsoil, is convenience and the fact that I do think it's overkill. 90% of my driving is on trips over 15 miles, highway miles. Other then there being a small turbo on my car, there's nothing extreme about my driving habits or automobile use. I am considering going to a 5000 mile oil change interval, even though my OLM says I can go 7500 miles and have in the past gone by OLM.

I too find the whole idea of feeling a need to do oil analysis on my car to be not very appealing. I've seen other cruze owners who've done analysis on Mobil 1 that's gone 7500 miles without any major/excessive deterioration in the oil, this leads me to believe that Mobil 1 is very likely to be good enough for me... as is my 7500 mile oil change interval. And I can walk into any Walmart in the USA and buy it at a decent price, or at my local Costco, etc...
 
#36 ·
The biggest benefit with these oils is in turbo engines that tend to cause lesser oils to create deposits around the turbo bearings and seals. Unless you're a courier or drive exclusively highway driving, you have a very high change of the turbo failing by 100k miles, and that's based on the countless reports we get in over on the FB group. At that point, the cost oil becomes totally negligible. You have to remember, there's more to oil than what shows up in an oil analysis. I made a thread last month on the TEOST 33C results of 3 oils, and Mobil 1 EP came in as the worst. That's supposed to be their better oil, but for deposit prevention in turbocharger simulated conditions, it barely passes API SN specifications. This has been the single biggest reason I've recommended AMSOIL to Cruze owners. Drain intervals are secondary to that.

You don't *need* to do oil analysis. Some people simply prefer to, or do so because of the benefits of oil analysis outside simply evaluating the performance of the oil. For one of my Cruze customers, that involved identifying a botched repair job from GM that had coolant leaking into the oil that allowed him to remedy the situation. Within a 15,000 mile drain, oil analysis is totally unnecessary. I think most people do so because they have a hard time wrapping their heads around such a long drain interval when they were used to 3,000 or 5,000 miles with previous cars.

I can't even tell you how many turbos I've seen fail on Mobil 1; I stopped counting. I've attached some of the pictures from the last one, which was driven on Mobil 1 for nearly its entire life. Take a guess what oil he's using now, and whether he thinks the cost savings every 7,500 miles was worth the price of that rebuild.
 

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