Engine oil OEM Subaru or ROWE

PartReview Score

Rank #21 in ranking

3.9

Engine noise

3.5

Exhaust smoke

3.3

Owners' choice:

PR Score

Ranking

Votes

Reviews

Average rating

Properties

Car

PartReview Score

Rank #26 in ranking

4.3

Engine noise

4.7

Exhaust smoke

5.0

Warning light

5.0

No data

Reviews

All

OEM Subaru

ROWE

OEM Subaru › Engine oil

Expensive_Community2 24 Jan 2026, 04:13

Exhaust smoke:

Rating 4.0

My mom's impreza will loose oil between oil changes with 0w-20 and will be fine with 5w-30. It burns the thinner oil.

Pros: fine with 5w-30

Cons: burns thinner oil

Vehicle: Subaru Impreza

OEM Subaru › Engine oil

CRYPTIC_SUNSET 24 Jan 2026, 01:03

Exhaust smoke:

Rating 4.0

My wife\u2019s 2012 Impreza is at 195k miles and I switched it to 0w-30 and then 5w-30 due to oil consumption. Was burning a quart every 1K miles on 0w-20, burns half that on 5w-30. I\u2019m actually considering going thicker.

Pros: burns half that

Cons: oil consumption

Vehicle: Subaru Impreza

Mileage: 195000 km

OEM Subaru › Engine oil

ajuscojohn 23 Jan 2026, 15:36

Rating 4.0

The dealership here itself was using 5w-30 as the default for oil changes even though 0w-20 is stamped on the filler cap. After checking myself that Subaru said that would be OK, I started using it too for my own changes just to avoid flipping back and forth -- though I have no idea if that would be a problem. In any case, the Forester seems happy, even if the mileage may have dipped slightly.

Pros: Forester seems happy

Cons: mileage may have dipped

Vehicle: Subaru Forester

OEM Subaru › Engine oil

Silver-Neckbeard 23 Jan 2026, 15:25

Engine noise:

Rating 4.0

Engine does become a bit quieter with 5w-30.

Pros: engine becomes quieter

OEM Subaru › Engine oil

FaintColt 1 Jan 2026, 19:58

Rating 5.0

Doesn\u2019t hurt so why not. I feel like that\u2019s the main answer and what pushes me to do it.

Pros: doesn't hurt

Vehicle: Subaru

OEM Subaru › Engine oil

HelpfulArachnid8177 1 Jan 2026, 14:18

Rating 5.0

I bought a new limited, last week. I did my first oil change yesterday and the amount of shit in it was crazy. Definitely do it.

Pros: crazy amount of shit

Vehicle: Subaru

Mileage: 482 km

OEM Subaru › Engine oil

Bai13579 21 Dec 2025, 13:56

Rating 4.5

I had a 2017 Forester with 175k miles on it and only used factor oil and never had any issues. I did not do any off road stuff and it was only a premium model, not a wilderness model. I don’t think it matters as long as you change it regularly.

Pros: no issues, engine longevity

Vehicle: Subaru Forester

Mileage: 175000 km

ROWE › Engine oil

Asleep-Current-5284 20 Aug 2025, 15:43

Rating 3.0

Got these Rowe bottles. Fully Synthetic. German. Lets see how it performs.

OEM Subaru › Engine oil

1234golf1234 6 May 2025, 14:25

Exhaust smoke:

Rating 3.0

Yeah? I’ve been using Subaru oem oil in my 260kmile 2015 forester. It only burns a little.

Pros: burns a little

Vehicle: Subaru Forester

Mileage: 260000 km

OEM Subaru › Engine oil

Tyesokay 23 Aug 2025, 02:57

Engine noise:

Rating 1.0

Do not listen to them. I have a 2015 forester non turbo I used 5w30 and had all kinds of problems id get codes for over advanced timing on one bank and under advanced on the other, I was getting power loss going uphill, weird chattering noise.

Cons: power loss, weird noise

Vehicle: Subaru Forester

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Which engine oil to choose — OEM Subaru or ROWE?

If choosing engine oil across many manufacturers, check the part ranking. If your choice is down to two brands, the PartReview part comparisons help.

We compare engine oil across these categories:

Comparison of engine oil OEM Subaru and ROWE

PR Score.
Overall ranking.
Vote balance.
Average rating.
Number of reviews.
Feature ratings.
Car owners’ choice.

Which engine oil are better — ROWE or OEM Subaru?

In March 2026 on PartReview, engine oil OEM Subaru were overall better than ROWE.

OEM Subaru received a PR Score of 81 out of 100, and ROWE scored 90 points.
OEM Subaru ranked 21 in the overall ranking, and ROWE ranked 26.
The average rating is higher for ROWE (4.3) than for OEM Subaru (3.9).
Engine oil ROWE have better feature ratings than OEM Subaru:
- Exhaust smoke - owners believe, that this property for ROWE is better than OEM Subaru.
- Engine noise - drivers claim, that this property for ROWE is outperforms OEM Subaru.
- Warning light - reviews suggest, that this property for ROWE is preferred to OEM Subaru.

Which engine oil are more popular — OEM Subaru or ROWE?

In March 2026 on PartReview, engine oil OEM Subaru were overall more popular than ROWE.

By vote balance, engine oil OEM Subaru surpassed ROWE:

For OEM Subaru, the ratio of positive (77) to negative (17) votes is 60 votes.
For ROWE, the ratio of positive (37) to negative (4) votes is 33 votes.

By number of reviews, engine oil OEM Subaru surpassed ROWE:

For engine oil OEM Subaru there are 30 reviews: 23 positive, 4 neutral, 3 negative.
For engine oil ROWE there are 13 reviews: 11 positive, 2 neutral, 0 negative.

Which engine oil do car owners prefer — OEM Subaru or ROWE?

In March 2026, according to PartReview, engine oil OEM Subaru led more car-specific ratings than ROWE:

OEM Subaru are chosen by owners of cars such as: Subaru Forester, Subaru Impreza, and others.

Engine oil ROWE have not yet taken leading positions in car-specific ratings. You can help by adding a review and specifying your car.

Other comparisons of engine oil

If this comparison didn’t fully answer your question, there are many others on PartReview.

For example, comparisons of engine oil OEM Subaru with: Mobil, Castrol, LIQUI MOLY, MOTUL, Shell, AMSOIL, VALVOLINE, PENNZOIL, RED LINE, OEM Toyota.

Also available: comparisons of engine oil ROWE with: Mobil, Castrol, LIQUI MOLY, MOTUL, Shell, AMSOIL, VALVOLINE, PENNZOIL, RED LINE, OEM Toyota.

You can also see who is better among other engine oil manufacturers: Mobil or Castrol, Mobil or LIQUI MOLY, Mobil or MOTUL, Mobil or Shell, LIQUI MOLY or Castrol.