Welcome to the forum! Nice car btw...
There have been a number of threads about oil on here, so if you type "OIL" in the box and hit Search, you'll see them.
The only recommendation is to be sure the lubricant meets all of KIA's specifications, and that you document each change, and save all pertinent receipts.
If you can, I'd scan the receipts and digitize them. I am finding that the ink these days fades over time.
Again, congrats on the choice of car and color
Gary

 

Thanks...I like the color as well.

 

Congratulations!

Yes, if you can get 5W40...use it.

 

I've always thought you should run conventional oil in an engine for a period of time before switching to synthetic. Gives everything a chance to seal properly. But...

then again I could just be nuts. lol

 

You're not nuts...there are different opinions but I'll share with you the correct one

Run your engine for 1000-1500 miles. Today's engines break in before 1000 miles. Some owners manuals will tell you 600 but I like to give it at least 1000. I changed mine out at 1300...just ended up that way due to timing.

Then change over to 100% synthetic. Remember, some cars come with 100% syn. from the factory so changing out dino oil to soon is really an issue of the past and does not affect todays modern engines that have very tight manufacturing tolerances.

Enjoy your car

 

Thanks for the info. And out of pure paranoia I'll probably do two more oil changes with dino before switching to Synth. But I won't likely wait the full 5,000, only about 3,000. That's just how I roll. lol



Also....I generally double the oil change interval when I switch to Synthetic and go 6-10k miles. I've never had a problem. I know the oil itself will handle it since the diesel guys regularly go 20k plus on an oil change. Granted, diesels have a better filtration system usually. But still...

 

This is my 1st post on this forum. I just recently bought a '12 Optima SX w/ the SX Premium Package. I am looking ahead to my 1st oil change in about 4 or 5 months. I change my own oil in all of my other vehicles. I used to run Mobil 1 Full Synthetic in everything. I just switched to Royal Purple in my '09 Dodge Ram w/ the 5.7L HEMI. I live in northeast NY where we are approaching winter. Should I run the Royal Purple in a 5w-40 if I can get it? I love the site!

Thanks! I never thought I would drive a Kia until now.

OGS .... Also a recent convert. We picked up our SX last Monday, 10/31. Bought it in your neck of the woods, in Queensbury. Good luck with your ride, we love ours.

Ray

 

You bought your car @ Garvey Kia? I was there on the 31st checking them out. Where do you live? I am in South Glens Falls, NY...

 

Just did my first change and went with M1 0w30 since its starting to get cold here in the Mountains. Around 2900 miles on mine.

 

Heelz - what model Optima are you driving that you put 0W30 in it?

 

heelz - what model optima are you driving that you put 0w30 in it?

2011 ex

 

Just my two thoughts. I know tolerance levels are much better now, however I still believe in running for about tow full oil changes before moving to synthetic..

 

To each their own camaro but that's an "old world" thought process...it's your car but 2 full oil change intervals is waaaaaaaay longer than necessary. Just about all moden engines break in in 600-1000 miles. Worst case, make the change at 3000 when you do your first oil change. Your money...your car

In the end, it's not like the car will blow up if you don't use synthetic but it will thank you in the end if you plan to keep it a long time

 

I think you can switch to synthetic as soon as the rings seat and there is no oil consumption. My car has used no oil so I could go ahead and change to synthetic. I have a BMW motorcycle that wasn't broken in until after 30,000 miles.

 

I just switched to Penzoil Platinum synthetic 5/20 at 1400 miles on my hybrid.

It was a little spendy on the install, but I am old enough that I don't do my own oil changes any longer. Nor do I have the garage space to do so.

I watched the install like a hawk. I brought the filter that I purchased from KIA with the washer. I handed them both to the greeter and told him that the washer must be installed. "No problem he says."

So the installer puts on the oil filter and climbs back up to ground level and I asked if he had installed the washer. "What washer?" he says. "The one I gave the greeter."

Guess the company that did the install.

 

Jiffy Lube

 

Give that man a free oil change!

 

Double - not sure what kind of car you're driving as you have no signature but if it's a turbo, anything over 5k is pushing it with this engine.

I agree with SX above. I had a VW Jetta TDI and recommended oil change was 10k. You could go more but why take the risk and be denied warranty coverage for a few thousand miles

 

double - not sure what kind of car you're driving as you have no signature but if it's a turbo, anything over 5k is pushing it with this engine.

I agree with sx above. I had a vw jetta tdi and recommended oil change was 10k. You could go more but why take the risk and be denied warranty coverage for a few thousand miles

lx 2.4

 

I had Used Oil Analyses (UOA) done for each change during 40K on my Audi 2.0T. I was using Mobil 1 0W-40 throughout (generally considered the "premier" Mobil 1 product). Blackstone Labs consistently recommended 6100 mile oil change intervals for my (rather mild) driving with that oil in that engine, which is quite similar to our Kia 2.0T-GDI motors. So I'd fully agree that extending the oil change interval on a turbo motor to 10K is risky, warranty or not.

BTW, Walmart has great prices on Mobil 1 and Pennzoil Platinum in 5 qt. jugs.

 

Double, I suggest a 5k change interval...7500 tops!

 

What's the point in synthetic oil if you can't run it for longer?

Ever been through this article?

All About Motor Oil

Not to mention, why does Fram sell an oil filter that will go 10,000 miles?

For example: http://www.amsoil.com/storefront/alm.aspx Read down to "Service Life"

 

Why the enhanced engine lubricity, anti-sludge and cleaning agents for one. There's oil that says you can go 25k miles but that doesn't mean you should

Do what you want my friend...I am only giving you sound advice. If you don't plan on keeping the car after warranty, then it doesn't matter but if KIA says every 7500 miles for your engine, than anything more could void your warranty regardless of what the oil or filter manufacturer says

 

I'm sticking to the Service Schedule more for miles 1 through 99,9999 than for 100K+. I'd hate to be the one with a blown motor @ 60K and not have it covered because I can't produce documentation of oil changes per the schedule. I realize that this scenario may seem far fetched, but every manufacturer has cars that are the exception to the rule, and it does happen. I guess it all comes down to what you value. My piece of mind of following the service schedule is worth the $60 for 4 oil changes vs. 2 in a normal driving year for me.

 

Double - starting to see the light and understand why we are all telling you the same thing? Your choice in the end but it truly isnt that expensive to adhere to the manufacturers suggested oil change interval.

Remember that old commercial..."you can pay me now or pay me later"

Enjoy your car and drive more...worry less

 

Ill be going 5w40 M1 Full syn at around 1500-2000 miles.

 

Good luck with that. M1's full synthetic is 0W40, and their best oil, even if Kia says it must be 5w40 (or 5W30).

 

The 2011's first oil change was recommended at 3000 miles, then 5000 thereafter. I see no reason to do it sooner.
Has this changed for the 2012?

 

*recommended* is a loose word. ive always changed oil on new vehicles between 1500 and 2000 miles.

 

Fondu,

For example, I use m1 0w-40..
just look up oil posts by myself, dfrost, solo, and others. The topic on "best" oil for the 2.0 engine has been discussed many times so the search is a good starting point rather than having a new thread every month on the same thing lol

 

yea i wasnt gonna start a new thread. haha

 

I just used M1 0w30 for the 2.4, I do not see why that would be a problem for Kia. One of the Best Oils on the market.

 

First off, sorry the posts by myself that I was thinking of were on the the other optima forum so searching here wouldn't find them anyway!
Second, everyone has any opinion on brand, duration, etc. I try to stay out of that and keep to the science of oil and an engine.
Thirdly, the below is talk focused on oil selection for the 2.0 turbo.
Here you go (sorry for the info-dump):

Preface: sorry for being so long...

I'm sure they're(dealers) saying its okay (5w-20) because it is probably the only oil they have in their shop in a 55 gallon drum...dirt cheap for them i'm sure. Quaker state blend or conventional i believe.

From a pure viscosity point of view 5W-20 would be okay... The oil could be pumped easier (less viscous)and therefore take away heat more efficiently (from engine/turbo contact to the oil, then oil to cooler). The less work needed to pump the oil and the cooler the engine (due to fast oil flow) results in higher power of the engine actually. The problem with this lesser grade/weight oil is that even as a full synthetic it can break down quickly from the turbo's greater shearing ability and fuel dilution caused by Direct Injection...A synthetic 5w-20 would last longer than a blend/conventional 5w-20 in our engine, but not as well as a 30 or 40 full synthetic. One of many reasons a 5w/0w-30 and better yet a 5W/0W-40 are spec'd AND should be used is due the added robustness of the higher weights. You want (and need) an oil that has a High Temperature-High Sheer (HTHS) rating. 40's will be better with this (typically) than 30's, 30's better (typically) than 20's.. (Over shorter oil changes intervals this is less noticeable and not relevant than w/ longer intervals...aka track days etc... You see many track cars running say 500 miles etc on 0w-20, but they get drained and engines even rebuilt...not 5k worth of miles over and over on their turbo/supercharged engine lol). The HTHS is important for the oil's ability to withstand the stress that's occurring in the engine and turbo, the higher the better in relation to protection. The HTHS values above 3.5 receive a rating of ACEA A3, but above 3.5 also means they are not ILSAC GF-4 or GF-5. Those ratings are for energy conservation...Thick does not equal energy conserving, lol. I'm not sure any 40 oils meet GF-4 because of this(Eneos does apparently though due to lubrication additives..). The KIA manual says use 5W-40 that meets API SM and ILSAC GF-4 or better..This isn't possible for the reason above... the *w-30's will meet both and if you're anal about meeting BOTH ratings then use a 5w-30... otherwise use 5w-40/0w-40 oils and sleep well knowing your oil and engine are fine for 5k and your mpg MAY be 1 mpg worse, if that.

Other benefits of *w-40 and *w-30 verses *w-20's are higher flash points AND lower NOACK values. Flash point obviously is when the oil starts to flash/burn from temperature. NOACK is the % of oil thats burns off at 150C in the standardized test..... These two benefits are very important for not only the turbo engine but all 2011+ Optima engines. Gas Direct Injection is a young technology and does provided improved benefits of gas mileage and power verses the port fuel injection engines we're used to. However like everything, DI is not perfect and one draw back is often higher fuel dilution. Basically it is easier in DI to not burn 100% of the fuel, which then CAN (not saying its guaranteed) pass seal rings and contaminate the oil. Why does that matter? Because the more fuel in the oil, the lower the flash point value becomes. ...The lower the flash point, the more volatile the oil becomes (increasing % burned/ NOACK). This not only will lead to oil consumption but deposits forming on the intake where no fuel is passing to wash it off like in port injection engines. As the oil vaporizes at the lower temps than it should it will stick the the intake ports. These deposit build up and can actually be pretty nasty within a few thousand miles. And guess what? its there to stay until you or a tech clean it off. Those deposits will rob your engine of HP and therefore fuel economy as well.Oil does not solve this on its own, however the right oil can help considerably!...So, use a *w-30 or better yet a *w-40 and change at the recommended intervals (not 7k -10k because its "good stuff") it will help combat fuel dilution/consumption/deposits.

dfrost,
you sound pretty educated in oil, especially since most do not do oil analyses on their car... So let me ask you this, why change to Mobil 1 5W-30 when you had great success with Mobil 1 0w-40??

Our SX's can take 40 weight (and should be preferred due to Turbo heat...) and the 0W is negligible (in fact better for oil temps in the morning.at crank start...). So why the change?

You may not realize this but Mobil 1's 5w-30 is NOT in the same class as its 0W-40. 5w-30's base is group 3 oil, which is not technically synthetic.. The US laws are screwed up... You want to know why most "FULL SYN" oils are so cheap now?? They have a very low percent of syn, but due to law are allowed to be called "full". 0W-40 base is group 4 (syn), and has much higher additives, better NOACK, etc etc etc. I would not expect the SX to get the results you had with the Audi if you use the 5W-30. Guess we'll see

.. Personally I'm using Mobil1 0W-40.

1 important note to everyone is that every engine will "take" a specific oil differently. There is no such thing as the "best" oil... If your oil and corresponding oil change interval works for you (verified by oil analysis) then great...if not, there's plenty of options to try. Don't be stuck on brands

As far as oil losses, the NOACK i mentioned is the measurement of oil loss/volatility. The measurement is what % "X" of oil is lost/evaporated at specific test temperature, specific time, with specified oil volume...
For example: your Mobil 1 5W-30 is rated at 12% loss. Mobil1 0W-40 is 8.8%.. That means the 0W-40 would lose ~30% less...
FYI, the best you'll find is 6% from someone like Redline. Redline makes very good oils, they are group 4 and 5 bases. Redline is also very expensive lol. Amsoil's can be low too, mainly being their goal is long OCI's so you need a.) good NOACK and b) lots of additives. Again Amsoil is more on the expensive side but some deem it worth it.

 

I am going to go with Mobil 1 (0W-40) @ Walmart for under $30 for a jug. Anything better? I have done the research. OR Amsoil 5W-40 (European Formula)...$10 per quart?!!

 

I have heard great things about the Mobil 1 and the Amsoil. I would try the M1 as I read on several posts that it's TOP rated and one of the best 40W oils on the market. I got a free Amsoil membership and can get the Amsoil for about $7.75 a quart but that's still pricey

 

how many quarts does the turbo take? *edit* found it takes about 4.6 quarts.

I think im gonna spring for Amsoil. Howd you get the amsoil membership?