[Normy]

I use 10w-40 Castrol GTX in south Florida, year round.

Brand? Literally, whichever label has your favorite color is the one to use. I use Castrol simply because I've used it for years, it was recommended to me by a VW mechanic when I bought my first car in 1984. I doubt it has any advantage over any other name brand oil.

Synthetic versus non-synthetic? You decide. Plain and simple, synthetic oil is better. But I once had a student [I was teaching him to fly airplanes] who was a chemical-petroleum engineer from South Korea. He told me that unless I was driving a car with an air-cooled turbocharger or racing my car competitively....that synthetic oil was a waste of money, since my car would never need its increased capabilities.

-He also told me to pick one oil and stick with it. Changing brands is not a good idea, as the different detergent package could cause large amounts of deposits to suddenly become suspended, clogging your oil filter and possibly some of the oil passages. And DO NOT switch between synthetic and non-synthetic oil! Moving either way, from one to the other can cause all sorts of crud to become suspended and may even cause oil leaks.

I suspect that any name brand will work for you. Israel can be VERY hot- you might consider 20W-50. If you do, heed my advice and on cold days [15 C or less], keep it below 3000 rpm until your temperature gauge is where it normally rests. Otherwise, your oil pressure will go sky-high and you run the risk of blowing gaskets/developing oil leaks.

Good luck-

N