If you are a veteran reader on this blog, you would have realized I've written about oil changes many times already. Although this is the first oil change for the STI, the basic concepts are still the same. With safe practice, drain out the oil, change the filter, and fill your car with new oil.
When I first started playing with cars, the oil change was the thing that got me confident enough to work on everything else. If you are a person willing to do stuff yourself, but just haven't gotten the time or courage to do so, please take my advice, follow my video, and try this out for yourself. This euphoria is developed with a combination of dirt on your hands, the smell of oil, and just hearing the clicks of your socket wrench.
As promised, I was going to review how the German Castrol Syntec differs from the oil that was in my car previously. On start up, the Castrol Syntec definitely makes the engine purr. It feels smooth, and quiet on the road, but when you put your foot down, it feels like the clean oil unlocked some of those missing horses. However, this is not conclusive, since I did not do any speed tests to compare, but my butt dyno was happy. You can argue that a clean filter with clean oil, regardless of brand, will always make the car feel faster. Yes, that is correct. However, hearing nothing but good things about German Castrol, I couldn't help but give it a try. It's relatively cheap in price, and it's available locally, so why not?
I will see how this oil performs over time, and I will write about it if anything comes up. For those of you looking for the part numbers used in this video, here they are:
Oil Filter 15208AA100
Drain Plug crush washer 11126AA000
Magnetic Oil drain plug 32103KA000
One last note about the oil change: If you don't feel like re-installing the skid plate, that is completely fine. Many Subaru drivers don't bother placing it back. I do it because it's quite rainy where I live, so I don't want my undercarriage getting all dirty and rusty for no good reason. It really only takes five minutes of your time to install and re-install.
More than anything, the basic oil change is a great way to connect with your vehicle and take some control over its maintenance. The time you spend under the hood and under the car affords you an excellent opportunity to look around and see if anything else needs attention.
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