mx5cartalk.com

Just bought a 1998 NB with 167XXX Kilometers.

Which synthetic oil would you recommend. This car is my daily driver.

Also how often would I need to change the synthetic oil?

For the engine...
Castrol 5-30 Titanium Edge
Every 5000kms

Pernrite HPR10 10W-50 full synthetic.
Every 7,000 km of daily driving,
5,000 km of hard driving
When it goes totally black.
Whichever happens first.

You can use a list of oils as long as your arm. It will not make a jot of difference for a car that has already done 160,000 kms. There is no magic about one oil over another equivalent - none at all. You dont even need a synthetic or semi synth but the issue is changing the oil in line with service recommendations- distance or time. Oil co's much prefer you buy the more expensive oils and using full synthetic oils is not necessary if its not specified but its a choice . It is an absolute certainty car service businesses never use expensive oils unless a customer insists or supplies the product. Again oil change interval- look at the owners manual.

The only advantage you will have with full synthetic is if the engine gets dríven real hard. all oils are designed to run at the rated viscosity at operating temperature.
When you race, that operating temp is usually higher, and fossil oils will break down much quicker as well as dropping with viscosset at that temprature.. While synthetic will cope a lot longer at higher operating temps.

If you change your oil religiously on your daily ride with non synthetic oil if you don't race. yoyu will reap the benefits in the long term. Synthetic wil do the same job. You'll just have bragging rights with those who don't realize this.

there is a great thread on this. see if you can find it.

Ended up buying Valvoline Synthetic Blend 10w-40 as it was only $20 for 5L from Repco,

Will this be ok for daily driving if I change every 5000KM?

No problem at all. At 5000km changes with filter will keep everything clean.
Keep an eye out for specials at auto stores and keep a stock.
I personally use Penrite 5w40 full synth. at 5000km changes.

5w40 Castrol Magnatec for the first 10,000km when I got my 2001 8B at ~150,000km .

Then Shell Helix Ultra 5w40 for the next 10,000km.

Then Valvoline 5w40 SynPower for the next 10,000km.

No difference in daily use. Only bought them because on sale @ $30 per 5l bottle.

I always change the oil filter at 10,000km intervals.

5000km oil changes for super/turbo charged engines I thought? Slightly overkill for daily NA use, like using half a roll of toilet paper then flushing the roll down the pipes for a new roll?

Oils that have more zinc than less. Good for wear but bad for the cat in the long term. Penrite oils have higher zinc content than many of the others.