Hi guys,
What engine oil do you guys use?I have a non-turbo Impreza 1500cc & I once read in the car manual that the recommended engine oil was 5W-30.
My mechanic however always puts in Shell Helix HX5 (15W-40).
My question;
Does it really matter? What do you guys use?Also is this synthetic or natural?Whats the diff?

Toyota kenya nowadays sells engine oil,fully synthetic n does 10,000kms. i think it's 5W-30. Usually in a yellowish can. Price is around 2,500/=

Checked with toyota kenya. Their synthetic oil goes for 2200. 4 litres and recommended service interval is 5,000. In my opinion it is a good deal.

Avoid synthetic oil for cars with over 150k km. Its too light and will not be completely scraped off by the wearing out cylinder rings. Your engine could knock.

The price different is 1K...Will give it a try.

Those who are driving European cars, manufactures recommend service after 12 months ..which oil is available locally to last this long ?

Kimamyoko or not, wewe jaribu. Ikinock usinilaumu. That oil is just too light.
Do your research, the manufacturers recommend it for high perfomance cars of low mileage.

@Kamundu,
When you say light,what is light?Oil grading is done in relation to type and viscosity......In a layman's term,viscosity is the resistance to flow.....The higher the number,the "thicker"(More resistant it is to flow).It follows therefore that any liquid/oil rated 30 has the same flow resistance

What i am trying to explain is that a Guiness of 30W,convetional oil of 30W and a synthetic oil of 30W have the same viscosity.The difference in the three will be in other properties and the purposes they are intended for.Let's eliminate Guiness since we know that it is a preserve of throats.I will not dwell on the superiority of synthetic but it is a simple scientic fact.

@Mlefu,
There is no known car manufacturer who recommends servicing of cars basing on days/months/years and the reason is simple.Suppose you service your car and keep it in a garage for the entire 12 months,would you require another service despite not using the car thereafter?.Most equipments are serviced based on hours/mileage and thus your oil is rated in Kms.

As for European cars,different models and where they were sold have their own parameters.If you import a Merc from Japan,you would find that for it to conform to the recommended 8K Kms service,DT Dobie would need to do some reconfigurations on your service memory....and Yep,most Mercs are sericed every 8K kms (Minor service) and 30K kms (Major service).The same should apply to BMW,VW and Audi.

I normally ask them to put ile ya 5000km but was asking about the SAE details.

Many Total stations I think buy the oil in bulk (in drums) and then dispense it that way, and I bet you must have seen it. I have trusted Total for so many years, maybe coz i have a few shares there but i don't want to believe they could be conning us.

I thought Engine oil should be changed after the recommended mileage OR SIX MONTHS. Whichever comes first. in other words, suitability of oil in an engine diminishes considerably after 6 months (Expiry), even if the recommended mileage has not been attained. Its everywhere in the net