- This topic has 24 replies, 11 voices, and was last updated 12 years, 9 months ago by
.
-
Topic
-
-
Replies
-
The reason some car manufactures have switched to 5w-20 is for gas mileage.they feel that thinner the oil creates less drag in the engine= better mileage.
with car companies competing for gas mileage ratings they are doing what they can to compete.The idea that car manufacturers recommend lighter viscosities to improve fuel economy and that they have taken a shortcut to better CAFE ratings appeals to me too.
Honda recommends 5/20 for some VTEC engines and 5-30 for others and this could be suspected of supporting the shortcut idea, but Honda does not have the problem that most other manufacturers have in meeting CAFE standards. Nearly everything they sell in the US gets good or excellent mpg. They sell no real PU trucks. The Ridgeline isn’t really a PU truck and few are sold here.
Certainly there are other manufacturers that are highly motivated to take shortcuts to improve CAFE ratings.
Honda’s small high reving engines are notorious for long life. I doubt they would risk the reputation they have earned to improve their CAFE rating when they have no motivation.
If you could make a good complaint about Honda engines, it would be that they often remain running with no internal problems when the the rest of the car looks like a corpse.Hmmm, Very good points. Its much like for Ford, Cars here in the United States call for “5w20” but in Australia they call for “5w30” just for these exact standards. I have a 2003 Honda Element for a Daily driver. Great car, I’m pretty sure every thing else on it will die before the Engine does. I mean for instance the Ridgeline and the Element does not get that? great of MPG. Because two main reasons. Its very heavy and its aerodynamics are rather…well…Box like. But I see your point. I think Honda is in the safe zone when it comes to CAFE.
But, I’ve seen Honda’s well into the 500k+ Miles range. The body may be rotted, looks ancient and makes some weird noise. But its still keeps kicking. I can say the same for Crown vic’s too. Every time I get into a taxi cab it has the “Check Engine” Light on but it has 400+k miles on it. Funny huh?
If you keep close track of your mpg and switch from 5/30 to 5/20 oil, will you see an improvement? I don’t think so.
An improvement of a fraction of 1 mpg is very hard to detect, but it would be significant in improving a huge fleet. It would be important to a manufacturer seeking to improve a CAFE rating.Im a big fan of always going by what the manufacturer recommend for its viscosity.
However, i did read that the only reason Ford uses 5w20 vs 5w30 is for fuel economy.
There will be no difference in those 2 oils at cold start up, only once you get the oil to temperature will there be a difference.
http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ub … p?ubb=cfrm
Great website on everything for automotive fluids.
Always, always, always, always, always, always, use what is recommended on the oil cap or owners manual for the engine you’re working on. Engineers spend a great deal of time, testing, and effort figuring out what works best in their engine design and you should stick with it.
Eric, I don’t want to go against the grain here man. But for General cars? Daily drivers and normal people. The recommended weight on the cap or manual will work just fine. But when you start getting into very high heat or extreme heat and power applications, Drag racing. Road racing, Auto-X. The Thickest oil you can use as long as the PTW ( Piston to Wall Clearance ) Will allow, It will be the safest against shearing, extreme heat and wear. But this also comes down to the quality of the oil as well. Not just weight. A Solid, Good 5w20 weight will be better then a bad 5w30 weight and so on.
Yes, Manufactures put alot of time into R&D For the Engines they put in there car. But they will use a lighter weight if it means better emissions and MPG just to please the government and emission standards and regulations to prevent them selfs from being fined. Company likes Honda don’t have to worry about it so much. But Company using V8’s and trucks? They do.
I can go on and on, And I will if I must but don’t think certain company’s know best. Sometimes they think with there wallet before they think about there automobiles.
Quoted From Six6vetteguy:
I use 10w-30 in california…5w-30 doesn’t offer enough protection.
There is absolutely no difference in these 2 oils when the oil is at operating temperature (cheaper brands may offer different HTHS properties over branded products).
The only difference is the viscosity index rating for the winter temperatures where 5w is thiner than 10w for cold starts.
W in oil stands for Winter, not weight.
You may enjoy this website –
http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ub … p?ubb=cfrm
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.