Anybody using Driven brand HR-2 oil in their slant?
What would be a good recommendation for someone on a budget?
House brands are a good everyday price value. O'Reilly Syntec, Napa brand, Walmart Supertech, Costco Kirkland and Canadian Tire for our cousins to the north are all good products. Those places all run sales, too, so watch for them. Right now, I'm running Pennzoil Synthetic High Mileage 5W-30 in my little Vibe. I paid $21 for the oil on sale at Walmart. When I bought it, it was cheaper than Supertech.
If you still want a higher wear protection oil, look to the European spec stuff. VW, Mercedes, BMW and Porsche all have their own specs for oil because the API specs don't meet their approvals for anti-wear. Anything that meets Porsche A40 is really good stuff. Right now, the Walmart website is showing Porsche A40 spec Quaker State synthetic European 5W-40 for $22.97 for 5 quarts. That's a very good value. I really like the Mobil1 FS 0W-40. I use that in my 340. That usually runs about $28 regular price, but I'm pretty sure I've never paid that much. If you want to use something lighter, the Euro xxW-30s are a good value, too, if you get the 5-quart jug. There are fewer choices for the xxW-30s in the 5-quart jugs, and the single quarts are much higher priced. Since most of them also meet recent, if not current API specs, they'll be limited to 800ppm ZDDP. Still, plenty for a stock slant 6 or 318. The xxW-40s are limited to 1200 ppm, so that's where some of the extra wear protection comes from.