Some Engine Info From The Facebook Page For Elio.

[JEBar]

The stated oil change is indeed 3,000 miles however in my opinion this likely has more to do with the engine being newly designed. It would not surprise if this number changes over time,

for two months short of 10 years I drove 150+ miles round trip to work and back .... where was an Elio when I needed it .... at that rate, if they weren't cranked for anything but going to work, I put 3,000+ miles a month on my vehicles .... over the years I've seen the recommendations for oil change intervals bounce around all over the place .... with regular vehicles I've always changed the oil and filter every 5,000 miles .... during the years mentioned above, if the engine didn't overheat, I changed to a 10,000 mile interval with the filter changed at and quart of oil added at the 5,000 mile mark .... all I can say is it worked well for me and I do want to note again that rate I was still changing oil every 3 or so months

Jim

 

[ArthurKent]

The biggest change in oil change intervals occurred when engines acquired positive crankcase ventilation, which kept out
the outsie air and its dirt. As I recall the intervals doubled. They used to tell you (and maybe still do) not to switch to synthetics until the engine had broken in, since apparently synthetics would not allow the cylinder wall/piston ring wear needed for breakin.
But now some cars come from the factory with synthetic oil installed. I've been told that this is because these engines (high end) are machined to a tighter tolerance and don't require break-in to seat the rings and get a perfect seal. Generally I would prefer to double the interval (or more) by using synthetics and thus reduce the overhead costs of the oil changes.
Using synthetics should actually be cheaper - cost of the oil per mile will be as cheap or probably cheaper and you will only have to have half as many oil changes.
I just checked and found that the shortest oil change interval by any manufacturer is from Hyundai and Kia for their turbo engines - 5,000 miles. All of the other manufacturers recommend between 7500 and 10,000 miles, except Jaguar, which recommends 15,000 mile oil change intervals. Barring some plausible argument from IAV , I would not be inclined to change oil more often than probably 6,000 miles, or longer.

 

[Snick]

From some of the better articles we have been told that the planned oil is conventional 5W-20.

The stated oil change is indeed 3,000 miles however in my opinion this likely has more to do with the engine being newly designed. It would not surprise if this number changes over time, maybe even before production, however it is much better for them to just state 3,000 miles as most people are used to hearing this number and will not question it.

You'd be hard-pressed to find a new car owner's manual that specifies 3000 mile OCI for an normal duty cycle.

In my opinion, 3000 mile OCI was a myth pushed by Iffy Lube and other hack shops.

Most cars specify 6000-7500 mile OCI for normal duty cycle.

 

[Jambe]

agree but what I don't understand is using more expensive synthetic and keeping the change intervals at 3,000 miles

Jim

Elio Motors has stated that synthetic oil changes can be at 5000 miles.

 

[Jambe]

agree and my bet is, the motor will have a very small oil filter

Jim

It will be a PF53.

(My 4-cylinder Nissan Sentras take 3.5 quarts and they all go 250000+ with the cheapest oil--Walmart SuperTech and oil changes anywhere from 6000 to 8000 miles between changes.)

I should add: I drain the oil, add one quart, run for one minute, drain the one quart, replace the filter, add three+ quarts. Works for me.