I really liked Valvoline, good quality, reasonble price.
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.
Valvoline Restore & Protect or Pennzoil Ultra Platinum are also great oils to run and clear up and baked on sludge.
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.
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.
Engine does become a bit quieter with 5w-30.
Buy Valvoline oil, and maybe it's a good time to switch to 5w-30 in it.
I only run Valvoline VR-1 40-wt in my air-cooled VWs
My last [Blackstone-labs.com](http://Blackstone-labs.com) report came back with 1.8% fuel dilution. 2021 1.5T at 23kmiles, 6800 miles on the oil (0w20 Valvoline R&P).
I use that Valvoline, sometimes throw in random fully synthetic oils I get in bulk from an auction. I feel like it contributed to a rear main seal leak. Thinking of switching to a 5w40
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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:
In March 2026 on PartReview, engine oil VALVOLINE were overall better than OEM Subaru.
In March 2026 on PartReview, engine oil VALVOLINE were overall more popular than OEM Subaru.
By vote balance, engine oil VALVOLINE surpassed OEM Subaru:
By number of reviews, engine oil VALVOLINE surpassed OEM Subaru:
In March 2026, according to PartReview, engine oil VALVOLINE led more car-specific ratings than OEM Subaru:
VALVOLINE are chosen by owners of cars such as: Ford Fusion, Hyundai Elantra, Kia Soul, Toyota Prius, Toyota Yaris, and others.
OEM Subaru are chosen by owners of cars such as: Subaru Forester, Subaru Impreza, and others.
If this comparison didn’t fully answer your question, there are many others on PartReview.
For example, comparisons of engine oil VALVOLINE with: Mobil, Castrol, LIQUI MOLY, MOTUL, Shell, AMSOIL, PENNZOIL, RED LINE, OEM Toyota, Mannol.
Also available: comparisons of engine oil OEM Subaru with: Mobil, Castrol, LIQUI MOLY, MOTUL, Shell, AMSOIL, PENNZOIL, RED LINE, OEM Toyota, Mannol.
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.
