Oil: 5W-30 Rather Than 5W-20 ?

Amsoil & Amilie websites both say 5w20. Some listing will list heavier oils depending on the outside temps., but your vehicle only gives one listing. I'd try to find some 5w20.. the thinner oil is needed for the tighter tolerances.

Chas

you could run 0w-40 too. [it's the first number of the two that you need for cold weather.]

bottom line, don't stress this too much. the same car, same motor, sold in europe has a much different oil spec, no problems. look up details on one of the british websites.

not necessarily true. thinner oil is primarily to meet usa emissions regs. exact same vehicles, exact same motors are sold in europe and have a heavier oil spec from factory.

Bob wrote in news:l0d6f7$neq$ snipped-for-privacy@dont-email.me:

the 20-weight part is only intended to help conform to certain government regulations that automakers were required to meet when the car was certified for sale in the US.

How long is he going to have the car? 10 yrs, 20 yrs, longer?

I always just dump in what ever oil is handy. I never had an ordinary car go less than 225k miles. None of them ever used more than 1 qt oil in about 2500 miles.

For the last couple of years I've seen 5W-20 even at Walmart and Pep Boys, so I can't imagine it being hard to find anywhere, including where there aren't any of those stores.

I can understand a company like Ford specifying 5W-20 to boost their CAFE a trifle so they can sell more higher priced vehicles that consume morefuel, but why would companies like Honda and Hyundai, which have no trouble with meeting CAFE standards, do the same? I don't understand the use of lighter oil for emissions because don't they evaporate more easily and increase hydrocarbons?

I wouldn't trust Amsoil's advice because that company has claimed that some of its synthetics would improve fuel economy 4% over conventional oil. OTOH Exxon/Mobil told me its synthetics increased fuel economy "not one bit."

you do indeed get better fuel consumption with synthetics because the friction characteristics of the oil are better. not as a function of viscosity so much, but as a function of the way the oil film behaves at high shear rates inside the thin bearing films. think of it as branched twigs vs smooth logs. one rolls much better than the other. that's what you have with the straight chain isomers vs. the branched chains of the conventional oils.