Royal Purple

turbooWRX

New member
so my first oil change is coming up and i have heard a lot of arguments over Royal Purple oil i want to try it out but i hear both thats its either very good or very bad ,does anyone here have experience with it?use it or know of how good it is or is it just like any normal oil?? its a 2015 wrx that i want to try this on please let me know any info and thanks in advance!
 

Alin

Diehard Car Enthusiast!
[MENTION=4577]TK-421[/MENTION]
 

TK-421

New member
Royal purple will void your warranty.

It has additives in it that Subaru deems as damaging, whether it actually is or not is moot. But if Subaru sees that you use royal purple in your engine, and you make a warranty claim, you will be denied and warranty will be here on out void. I would stick to either Valvoline Syn Power or equivalent store shelf oils or you can always buy the OEM Subaru oil, it's no more expensive than Valvoline or Pennzoil.

You have a brand new car, don't even chance it with going outside the realm of Subaru's guidelines until your out of warranty. You should just learn the car, drive the car and enjoy it for what it is right now.

Research it, learn it, and just soak in as much knowledge as you can, instead of just asking what everyone else runs. Most of the people who will want to keep the warranty intact will go by the guidelines of what Subaru says, everything is stated in the warranty manual, 80% of new car owners will never ever read the warranty manual, I highly suggest that you do, very important info in there.

My professional opinion being an engine builder, mechanic, and tuner is: Use a OEM Oil filter, and OEM Subaru oil, that way if something happens, your not liable for shit.

I hope this helps you make an informative decision.

And I hope your enjoying your new car.
 
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@TK-421 And what about the Amsoil from here during the warranty period? Just curious since I'll be having my new STi on the way here next month. Was considering replacing the oil early during the initial break in just to clear out the junk before waiting for the next change from the maintenance schedule. If not then I'll grab some extra Subaru filters n oil :) Thanks for your wisdom!
 

turbooWRX

New member
Thank you that was very informative and I'm sticking to the subaru filter and you did help on my thinking of this thank you so much I am also a technician but fairly new to performance and want to change up things to better the car and the oil was just something i heard about but not sure about it but thank you again for your feedback
 

TK-421

New member
[MENTION=4577]TK-421[/MENTION] And what about the Amsoil from here during the warranty period? Just curious since I'll be having my new STi on the way here next month. Was considering replacing the oil early during the initial break in just to clear out the junk before waiting for the next change from the maintenance schedule.

Absolutely not! Especially during the break in period, leave that oil in there till a minimum of 1000 to 1500 miles. The factory fill is a special break in oil same with the filter.

Amsoil will void your warranty just as fast as royal purple, it maybe a bit harder for your dealer to see that you run Amsoil over royal purple. But run factory filters and a shelf oil rated for whatever the owners manual and oil cap says. NEVER change a weight of oil on a stock bearing clearanced engine.

Another thing to keep in mind is change your oil EVERY 3,750 miles do NOT go buy the recommended interval of 7,500 miles as Subaru says. The service manual states a completely different story, EVERY 3,750 miles. Now yes you can change it earlier, but DO NOT go to 5,000 miles just because the oil is synthetic. A big issue with the ringland problem is lack of lubrication in the cylinders due to oil shear and that happens when long intervals like a asshat rating of 7,500 miles is told to the customer.

If you get on top of your basic engine maintenance early on in the game, you'll have an engine that lasts years and years
 

TK-421

New member
Thank you that was very informative and I'm sticking to the subaru filter and you did help on my thinking of this thank you so much I am also a technician but fairly new to performance and want to change up things to better the car and the oil was just something i heard about but not sure about it but thank you again for your feedback

Your quite welcome sir, I've been doing this for oh god feels like forever now, and one of the biggest issues I had being a dealership technician was warranty claims and warranty work. Being a dealer tech has it's advantages and disadvantages as well, but I do enjoy working in the performance field and answering and helping folks like you from making bad decisions.

As I always tell everyone, there is no such thing as a stupid question. If you have one ask away, I'm not going to bite anyone's head off or judge them because all they want is an honest answer and information.
 
From my experience my sti drank royal purple like crazy.
My buddy had a 06, it too appeared it drank royal purple too lols. He didn't stay on it for that long, maybe 2-3 times and switched out.
 

HolyCrapItsFast

Drinks beer!
I'm not saying it was the oil, but I tried it once in my 06 and spun a bearing. All of the analysis came back as "major oil starvation". The oil level was full, the oil pump was good, there were no internal leaks and the bearing was getting oil, every thing else was in order.

My personal conclusion is the RP is nothing more than piss.

To add, my friend use to be a dealer for this stuff. After several trying month of using it, he is no longer a dealer. :tup:
 

Alin

Diehard Car Enthusiast!
[MENTION=4577]TK-421[/MENTION] ive been using amsoil dominator for the past 4 oil changes now. It only comes in 10w-30. Ive had no issues! Are there exceptions to the rule of sticking to the factory specs?
 

HolyCrapItsFast

Drinks beer!
@TK-421 ive been using amsoil dominator for the past 4 oil changes now. It only comes in 10w-30. Ive had no issues! Are there exceptions to the rule of sticking to the factory specs?


I don't think you need Dominator... and 10w30 is not good for your region of the country regarding cold starts.

A regular Amsoil should be fine with 5W30 weight. If you are looking for extra protection then you can use their high zinc formula.
 

Alin

Diehard Car Enthusiast!
Hmmm ok. I suppose ill try the zinc out. The car doesnt see anything under 40 degrees anymore.

Will there be any bullshit between the transition from 10w to 5w?
 

IGOTASTi

System Operator
Staff member
We run Amsoil Dominator 10W-30 cause it already has the Zinc in it. Keep in mind this oil is super good for cold starts as it has the properties of 5W-30, but we also don't run the STi in the winter.

After 10,000 miles this is all we have ever run. We also we have many customers running this oil with high HP cars and trucks and have never had an issue in 5 years with it.
 

turbooWRX

New member
Nice how long did you work as a dealer tech? i want to also be a dealer tech not to sound too cliche id love to work for subaru one day and thank you theres not too much people like you now a days that'll answer questions and gov e good information back
 

WesternSTi

The Music Man
I've been told by several friends who are Subaru Tech's that it's good for engines that are always running full-tilt. For most of us, that's not our cars. When Royal Purple sits, it starts to solidify, IIRC. That's no bueno for the engine. My advice is go with either Subaru OEM Oil or Shell Rotella T-6 and a Subaru OEM Filter.
 

HolyCrapItsFast

Drinks beer!
We run Amsoil Dominator 10W-30 cause it already has the Zinc in it. Keep in mind this oil is super good for cold starts as it has the properties of 5W-30, but we also don't run the STi in the winter.

After 10,000 miles this is all we have ever run. We also we have many customers running this oil with high HP cars and trucks and have never had an issue in 5 years with it.

But you are ignoring bearing clearances and manufacturer specific recommendations. Just because it has worked in your case does not make it right. Not saying you would, but if you ever had problems and you told Subaru that you were running 10W30 when 5W30 is specified, they will tel you to go scratch.

Dominator should be used in hard racing application and you should be using the weight oil specific to your bearing clearances. Otherwise it is a waste of money. The standard Amsoil is way more than sufficient in a daily driver and the high zinc formula is better than dominator for that application IMO.

Bottom line is it really shouldn't matter what oil brand you use a s long as they are 1) API certified (which Subaru will accept) and 2) They are the appropriate weight according to manufacturer specs.
 

Alter3go

New member
Stay with OEM it does the trick and will not void your warranty and I do agree to change it out every 3-5k depending on your driving habits and what you use your car for. It is synthetic and will last longer and there are potential ways to try to avoid ring land failures but you cannot prevent an engineering issue in your car that comes with some STIs from the factory. I say to stay safe run the OEM and ran great for me with stage 2+ with daily driving changing oil every 3.5k and the oil barely changed color. I also had an AOS. It's great an underrated and as you upgrade your vehicle makes sure you have a good balance of safety with the power you add and the more parts you add that aren't close to stock make sure you are willing to pay to compensate. Such as a tune or a catch can etc. whatever you decide to do remember these engines don't handle lots of power reliably unless you are willing to pay quite a bit of money to do so even then no guarantees. It breaks my heart to see a sti on the side of the road. I do know you will engine the heck out of that thing in any condition.
 
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