I got my Z about 2 days ago and have put 230 miles on it already. I am just wondering what the opinions/recommendations are on when I should first change the oil and whether I should go synthetic right off the bat or not?

 

i waited till 10k like a lot of people say to but i would say after 2 to 3k would be fine.

 

I'd say wait a few thousand miles, let everything wear in according to the manual. Change it around 5k miles.

 

3,750 miles. Whatever oil you want.

 

I did my first oil change at 100 miles to get rid the break-in crap floating in the oil (there were some very fine speckles of 'glitter' on the dip stick), then again about 500 miles after that... Now every 3000 miles on dino oil, or 5000 miles on synthetic. Probably overkill, but it's cheap insurance.

 

Just as a side note. Honda specifically tells NOT to change the oil before the first schedualed interval of a new car. Honda have an maintenance indicator telling you when to change the oil. My Civic went 6,400 miles before the first change.

I'd stick to Nissan's recommandations for a new Z.

 

+1 I TURN PEOPLE AWAY WHEN THEY COME IN WITH THEIR HONDAS FOR THE FIRST OIL CHANGE BEFORE IT'S DUE.

 

Your engine will still be breaking in even after 10k miles, you can verify this with a used oil analysis.

I would wait until 15-20k to switch to synthetic IMO

until then, stick to dino oil, check the top 100 questions thread for my recommendations

 

+1 I did mine at 3,750 miles and i used synthetic

 

After ten thousand miles if you have traces of metals in your oil thats not break in, thats engine wear!
I drained the factory stuff at 500 miles, put in Pennzoil for another 2000 miles, switched to synthetic and never looked back!
I switch between the Amsoil and Motul 300V with the Mobile 1 extended filters.
German castrol syntec european formula is also very good if you can find it,
it has to say made in Germany on the back!


Jerry

 

Have you ever gotten a used oil analysis? You can see the average levels of lead, copper, etc. levels from other VQ35's ... and there will always be metal traces regardless of how many miles are on the engine or type of oil used.