The biggest thing is do you drive it far enough / long enough to warm up the fluids in the car? If not then yes you would be considered severe duty. My car might travel 5 miles at most Monday through Friday but on the weekends it can see 100+ miles in many cases. Which case the water from condensation that gathers in the oil gets burned off on the weekends as does any fuel pollutants etc. But if your rarely running the car long enough to really get things warmed up then yes its viewed as severe duty conditions with a shorter oil change cycle.

Also most people don't realize this but turbo engines absolutely HATE use cycles like this were the vehicle rarely ever gets up to running temp a good example of what type of engine to AVOID if you rarely drive far enough to get things warmed up.

We just replaced my wifes 2001 VW with a plugin Hybrid Ford Fusion mainly due to her new commute and wanting the HOV lane sticker for a shorter commute when possible. But on the weekends she typically is 100% Electric use only and during the week as long as she charges at both ends of the commute she averages about 80-85mpg on her commute. Without the charged up battery pack she typically sees about 40mpg.

 

The biggest thing is do you drive it far enough / long enough to warm up the fluids in the car? If not then yes you would be considered severe duty. My car might travel 5 miles at most Monday through Friday but on the weekends it can see 100+ miles in many cases. Which case the water from condensation that gathers in the oil gets burned off on the weekends as does any fuel pollutants etc. But if your rarely running the car long enough to really get things warmed up then yes its viewed as severe duty conditions with a shorter oil change cycle.

[snip]

agree. The question is whether that is happening. You can't really use the temp gauge as it is measuring water temp not oil temp. The Subaru answer seems a little short to me. If it's right, I"m OK. I'd hate to do the 3 month change. I'll be doing that every 1000 miles or so.

 

The advice by car manufacturers (not just Suby) to perform certain of its recommended maintenance step only if the car has been subject to severe driving conditions is as vague as it can possibly be. They could just as easily have said instead "perform this maintenance step if you think your car might need it".

 

You're expecting too much, you can't quantify it, it would be a complicated differential equation with unending varaibles:

Input variables please:

1. ambient temperature
2. humidity
3a. geographical coordinates
3b. is this vehicle driven in the winter in a northern climate?
3c. input alternate winter location
4. is the vehicle in a heated garage.
5. if yes - what temperature is it kept at in the winter
6. is the vehicle kept in an unheated garage.
7. is it detached or attached
8. if unknown - what is the average temperature
9a. how many times out of 100 do you start the car and allow it to warm up?
9b. how long is the average warm up time?
10. how much average weight are you carrying?
11. how many times per year are you carrying more than 500 pounds of people and gear?
12. how many trips per week.
13. how many miles is on a commonly used trip?
14. how many stop lights on each trip
15. how many stop signs for each trip
16. length of time for this drive.
17. repeat steps 13 - 16 for each typical driving scenario
18. how many times does the vehicle exceed 4,000 RPM's?
19. how many times and for how long are highway trips?
20a. are you driving on dusty/gravel roads?
20b. please see appendix A for quantifying the silicate material in the conditions you're driving.
21a. are you coastal?
21b. please see appendix B for quantifying the coastal conditions your vehicle encounters.
22. do you allow the car to idle while picking up mail, groceries, children, or other routine activities?

 

At the rate, you equate to 5500 miles/year. No worries, wife does less than that (mileage/time/speed) and I switched it to syn/1yr OCI – since new under warranty. No problems whatsoever, it’s a modern drivetrain.

 

thanks for all the replies

i'll probably get one done sooner (first change) under premise of getting the initial bits of metal out of there and then go to a 5,000.

 

Ah, i forgot, a UOA would tell you for certain if you can extend it further.



that looks like a great plan, seems like what i'd do with nothing else to go on too.

nice feedback on the 17 minutes/miles, interesting, i would have thought it was sooner, like 10 minutes. flat, hills, or mountains?

 

Oil Temp....
I don't know if the 2.5 would be much different from the 3.6, but my 3.6's oil is up to running temp (190-200F) within 17mins/17miles of starting, even with 20F ambient temps.

 

Since I have another car for longer trips, most driving with the outback are smaller distances from 2 to 20 km, rarely 50 km.
I do about 5 - 10 short distances on most days.

I have been doing such since 2007 and change the oil every 15000 km (9320 moles). The engine has now 180000 km (111000 miles) and runs fine. The whole thing about "severe driving" is totaly overexagerated.

 

This specific drive is a bit hilly and very curvaceous (30mph posted speed limit). I normally drive quite spirited (not speeding) but for these tests I drove what I would consider to be normal... not spirited, but not lax.