Engine oil Shell or OEM Subaru

Right now I run 15w-40 Shell Rotella Diesel engine oil in my bug. You can see below the Zinc & Phosphorus PPM (the higher the better). So you can see that Shell Rottela & Napa Diesel oil has fantastic for wear protection for the aircooled flat tappet cams.

I use Shell Helix 10W-30 for my Sciroccos. No probs! :thumbup: I always have a 60 litres barrel in my garage for my cars.

From what I've seen, the t6 holds up well, doesn't shear quickly, does well with fuel dilution, protects surfaces well, since the metal readings go down, etc. I don't see any negatives, regardless of what that article says

Rotella T6 is great oil (lots of STI guys run it) and I wouldn't hesitate running it in my R... except that it isn't VW 502 approved... so warranty is at risk if I had a failure in the engine.

The biggest advantage is that it's CHEAP and works well. I don't run it in my R...yet. I am still under maintenance free. I do run it in my Stage 3 B5 S4 and in my 1991 Audi 200 though. Haven't sent the oil to Blackstone for analysis, but haven't had any issues either.

The extra fuel is indeed from my mainly DD of the R, but using Rotella is just fine.

Rotella T6 5w40 in my R is running great

Just did the oil change last week... the 5w-40 didn't seem to like the unusually cold temps we had here over the winter... now that it's warming up outside the Rotella seems to keep a lot of the mechanical clatter of the engine down and it runs like butter.

After break in, I started using Rotella 5w40 synthetic, as I got better mileage with it. It's looking like a 5w may be way too thin for these old motors, and perhaps I should have stuck with a 15w40!

I would highly recommend the Shell Rotella 5-40 full synthetic. You can get it at Walmart, $22 for 1gallon. It is designed for diesel engines and meets or exceeds the recommendation by VW.