vs
Engine oil PENNZOIL or IDEMITSU
SP certified oils have better LSPI protection than SN, and SP is what Subaru requires for this generation.
Pros: better LSPI protection
Vehicle:
Subaru
I buy 5 OE Toyota filters at a time from Amazon ( approximately $6 ea ) Purchase Ow-20 Idemitsu oil from NAPA ( ships free to my home ) in the cost saving 6gal box ( 24 qts ) for about $125 with their online coupon. Use this in both my Avalon and my Tundra- both run like a dream.
Pros: cars run like a dream, cost-saving
Vehicle:
Toyota Avalon
I use PUP 0w20 in mine. Lots of tests and UOA show that Pennzoil Ultra Platinum is the best non-boutique oil you can buy. But honestly any top shelf oil will work. 5k km intervals are more important than brand with a turbo engine.
Pros: best non-boutique oil
Vehicle:
Toyota
Mileage: 5000 km
Do her a favor a change the oil, with Valvoline Restore and Protect or Pennzoil Ultra platinum, it will quite down a little and it would be great for the car.
Pros: great for the car
Cons: requires oil change
Pennzoil Platinum Synthetic. My 1988 740 has near excellent compression at 245k og miles.
Pros: excellent compression
Vehicle:
Volvo 740
Mileage: 394275 km
At the very least, make sure you're using quality oil like Mobil or Castrol or Pennzoil.
Pros: quality oil
I use Pennzoil Platinum 5W-30 in my 2011 328ix (N51) I believe that is the recommended viscosity.
Pros: recommended viscosity
Vehicle:
BMW
I use 5w-30 pennzoil ultra platinum full synthetic with the oem motor craft oil filter
I change my oil every 3k miles
Vehicle:
Ford Mustang
Mileage: 4828 km
So if you review the virgin oil analysis database, it includes idemitsu 0w-20 and 5w-30 and for both, the TBN is rather weak in comparison to other more readily available blends, also, the viscosity at 9.5 cSt for a 30w, some 20w come close to that. Does any of that matter? Not a whole lot, but it shows that there's nothing special about the oil. Generally speaking, higher TBN is better.
Pros: nothing special about oil
Cons: TBN is rather weak
BMW switched from Castrol to Penzoil years ago...but both cause oil starvation in The S65 motor
Cons: cause oil starvation
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Which engine oil to choose — PENNZOIL or IDEMITSU?
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:
- PR Score.
- Overall ranking.
- Vote balance.
- Average rating.
- Number of reviews.
- Feature ratings.
- Car owners’ choice.
Which engine oil are better — IDEMITSU or PENNZOIL?
In March 2026 on PartReview, engine oil IDEMITSU and PENNZOIL were roughly equal.
- PENNZOIL received a PR Score of 93 out of 100, and IDEMITSU scored 97 points.
- PENNZOIL ranked 8 in the overall ranking, and IDEMITSU ranked 14.
- The average rating is higher for IDEMITSU (4.8) than for PENNZOIL (4.5).
-
Engine oil IDEMITSU have better feature ratings than PENNZOIL:
- Warning light - owners believe, that this property for PENNZOIL is better than IDEMITSU.
- Exhaust smoke - drivers claim, that this property for IDEMITSU is outperforms PENNZOIL.
- Engine noise - reviews suggest, that this property for IDEMITSU is preferred to PENNZOIL.
Which engine oil are more popular — PENNZOIL or IDEMITSU?
In March 2026 on PartReview, engine oil PENNZOIL were overall more popular than IDEMITSU.
By vote balance, engine oil PENNZOIL surpassed IDEMITSU:
- For PENNZOIL, the ratio of positive (648) to negative (45) votes is 603 votes.
- For IDEMITSU, the ratio of positive (83) to negative (2) votes is 81 vote.
By number of reviews, engine oil PENNZOIL surpassed IDEMITSU:
- For engine oil PENNZOIL there are 230 reviews: 214 positive, 3 neutral, 13 negative.
- For engine oil IDEMITSU there are 28 reviews: 27 positive, 1 neutral, 0 negative.
Which engine oil do car owners prefer — PENNZOIL or IDEMITSU?
In March 2026, according to PartReview, engine oil PENNZOIL and IDEMITSU have not taken top places in car-specific ratings. You can help by adding your review about these manufacturers.
Other comparisons of engine oil
If this comparison didn’t fully answer your question, there are many others on PartReview.
For example, comparisons of engine oil PENNZOIL with: Mobil, Castrol, LIQUI MOLY, MOTUL, Shell, AMSOIL, VALVOLINE, RED LINE, OEM Toyota, Mannol.
Also available: comparisons of engine oil IDEMITSU with: Mobil, Castrol, LIQUI MOLY, MOTUL, Shell, AMSOIL, VALVOLINE, 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.