Glad you got your car registred already. The main difference in specs is usually the daytime running lights required in Canada and the child seat anchors. Subaru may already have installed suitable anchors while Candian Tire is authorized to make the modifications in other areas, if required, to bring the car up to Canadian standards.
We just bought a new Mazda 3 for my wife and the instruction manual covered Mexico, the US and Canada. So it’s essentially the same car for al three countries.
The single biggest item omitted is to not having -40 grade windshield washer fluid.
That is true. Some engines will not function correctly with the wrong weight of oil. The lifters, cam, etc. may not be lubricated/function properly with oil that is too thick or too thin for the design. Bearings are also designed around oil weight.
Either way, synthetic is the way to go in your conditions. I suggested the European oils as they are excellent at preventing sludge formation inside of engines. Short and infrequent trips in cold temps are about as bad as it gets on an engine. This is where the good stuff is worth paying for. Mercedes, BMW, etc. design high performance cars not unlike the Impreza and they want to go above and beyond on oil specifications to make sure their cars last. You still want to make sure to get it hot enough when you drive it so that water doesn’t collect in the engine. Gasoline is a hydrocarbon. You get carbon dioxide, water, among other things produced during combustion. Water vapor will condense and accumulate in a cold engine. It will be evaporated and blown out through the PCV system when the engine gets hot. You might also want to give the PCV valve a good inspection/cleaning and make sure the associated tubing and passages are clean. This can be another victim of short trips. Although simple, easy to replace, and very cheap (usually in range of $5-15) as car parts go, this is often neglected and can lead to more serious troubles down the road.
Definitely get the car ready. As well as the oil, make sure the coolant is fresh and mixed at the proper ratio. You can find cheap testers that have balls of different densities that. You suck coolant into this and you want it to be a certain density for extreme cold protection. The little balls of different colors float at different densities/protection levels. The package should tell you how well coolant will protect based on which balls float.
As for tires, if you are about to replace them and don’t want a second set of wheels and snow tires, you might consider getting a grippier softer rubber compound. These are great for really sticking to the road/track and racing and extreme handling situations. They also wear out much faster. These are often specified for high performance cars and police cars. In your case, the limited use of the car and extreme cold might be just the reason to get a softer rubber tire. Unfortunately many of these types of tires are not meant for snow/ice. Good luck finding one that is a decent compromise between the two conditions.
As for the winter driving, one thing that you can do is to drive around in an large empty parking lot to get a feel for how the car handles in the snow. The car will slip and slide at times and the wheels will spin at times, so you need to know how that feels.
When you’re on the road, make sure to leave lots of room between you and the car ahead of you. It can take far longer than normal to stop if something happens.
One tip to keep in mind is that roads are often much more slippery just before an intersection as compared to the rest of the road, due to all of the cars braking and accelerating there, so approach intersections with extra care.
For driving in snow, you need good tread on your tires, especially if you use all-season tires. I consider 6/32 to be a bare minimum for safety, but more would be noticeably better.
@cwatkin,
What specifically makes the So called european oil different? There really is not a chemical difference in the detergents or the oil its self. So what specifically do you claim other than shmucking expensive oil that does nothing extra. Any oil with both the SAE and the european standards appelation ACEA is basically identical chemically(it has a less than 1% difference in formulation). There is zero evidence that API/ SAE oil is inferior in any specific way. Oil is a lubricant. Most engines never develop any serious crud as evidenced in the US by the longer life of all of our car engines here than 30 years ago.
@euryale1 - there is a difference in the specification for some VW/Audi/Porsche and (I think) all BMW oils. They have higher requirements, and if you choose to ignore that your warranty could be voided.
Just like how older SAE-approved oils fail to meet current specs.
The Euro oils have a larger and better ADDITIVES PACKAGE. It is close to Mobil 1 Extended Drain oil but not quite the same. They need this for the longer drain period. Most of these oils also use a synthetic base, just like Mobil 1.
However OPs Subaru does NOT NEED a Euro oil, just what the manual specifies. If you go to an oil with a very low pour point (for easy cold starts) , you need a 0W20 or 0W30 weight. Thats what I would use in Ottawa for easy starts when parking outside, say when going out for dinner or party, or going skiing.
Some of the European car manufacturers call for OCI’s of 15k or so. This would be impossible with just about any SAE rated oil, excluding some with a synthetic base. Three things make this possible. 1. The engine - don’t do this on a classic carburated car. 2. The filter - most U.S. filters can’t go that long without being changed. Many European ones are very different than you are used to seeing. You replace the filter element which is somewhat messy compared to removing the filter element inside a canister. You could maybe go this long on the oil if you replace the filter every 5k or so and replace the lost oil. Better filters may go a little longer. Don’t do this with the cheap orange Fram filters or similar. 3. The oil - The detergents, other additives, and chemical stability of the oil are important here. I wouldn’t even try this on conventional oil.
Many of these oils also specify low ash so there won’t be deposit formation when they are burned in the engine. It doesn’t matter how good an engine is, it will burn a small amount of oil which goes through the O2 sensors, cat, etc. Some of this crud also ends up back in the oil. The less of this formed, the longer the oil and the filter last. This type of oil is specified for even the more basic BMW’s, Mercedes Benz, etc. for long change intervals. It is also specified for their extremely high performance and high dollar models.
I recently purchased a 1994 Geo Metro 3 1.0L 3 cylinder 5 speed for the 50+mpg mileage and am on a forum for enthusiasts of these little cars. The basic consensus is that these little engines will run forever if taken care of. The basic design is over 30 years old and called for 5W30. These engines are hard on oil and not forgiving of cheap oil, dirty oil, or the incorrect oil. Lots of people viewed them as a cheap car so why spend money on oil changes? This has resulted in a lot of engine problems such as oil burning, stuck rings, stuck valves/lifters, and burned valves. Those who have owned them and experimented for years have found that European spec ACEA A3/B3 A3/B4 work wonders in these little engines. Mobil 1 European Car Formula 0W40 is one of the favorites and is widely available throughout the country. This simple and tiny engine is hard working and not much different than many European performance vehicles in that respect. Sure, this engine never called for such oil and it simply didn’t exist when it was designed but it works well in this little engine. Yes, I have the same oil in my lowly Geo Metro as called for in the MB SL 65 AMG and others in that class.
This pays off in better mileage, longer oil changes, and longer engine life as it far exceeds the published requirements. You will definitely not harm your engine by running one of these oils if it isn’t required. The only harm might be the additional cost of this oil over something else. In my case, the cost of fuel or lack thereof greatly offsets the cost of this oil. The longer I keep the Metro going, the more I save. I do not know what viscosity the Impreza calls for but would assume 5W20 or 5W30. You could definitely use 0W20 or 0W30 respectively. The 0W is great for cold weather startups.