Originally Posted By: Clevy
Originally Posted By: AcuraTL
Such a shame to limit yourself to a 20wt in San Diego weather. A 5w-30 would work great in your climate. Don't always believe the one viscosity fits all climates stuff everyone likes to push.
Same with the filter. Why not use the Amsoil EAO or Royal Purple synthetic media filters? Why not a Pure One? Maybe a semi syn media Mobil One or K&N? OEM filters are average at best and they're definitely not required for warranty. It would be funny to hear their "excuses" if they wouldn't use a slightly heavier oil or non OEM filter.
Back to the 20wt since I assume its for warranty reasons, I would stay away from the AFE with its ultra low HTHS. Don't trade fuel economy for wear. I would go with Redline since it's on the heavier end of the 20wt spectrum. Ester base oil, moly, lots of ZDDP (no, it will not hurt the cats unless the car burns a considerable amount of oil. My Honda with 130,000 miles with high ZDDP from the first oil change and zero hydrocarbons on its last smog check will attest to that), high HTHSv, low NOACK for a 0w, did I mention the ester base oil that will leave the ring lands considerably cleaner at high mileage lol. You've got everything in one oil.
The car will do fine on any 20wt or 30wt oil. Mine has a 0w-40 in it right now so I can use the same oil for both my '14 328i and my Acura and stock up on it when I find a deal. Not a bit of difference in any aspect. I would shop by price unless you're like me and you like to see how many miles you can get out of a car in which case I recommend redline.
Don't trade fuel economy for wear.
Absurd.
Show me where afe accelerated wear vs the specified 20 grade.
You're obviously new here and have much to learn. I suggest going back and reading about a decades worth of posts from Doug hillary,Shannow and Molekule.
Then look up Dnewton and read his normalcy article,and look into the thousands of used oil analysis he's got.
then look at FX's used oil analysis where he's using m1 afe 0w-20 for 16000+ miles and his used oil analysis are stellar.
So I'll just chalk up your obviously uninformed post to ignorance of facts and maybe if you stick around long enough and absorb the data presented you'll clue in that in an engine that calls for a 20 grade wear is NOT increased using it vs a thicker grade.
Going thicker is fine if the operating conditions suggest it. Like much higher than normal oil temps for significant amounts of time. Extreme fuel dilution. Extended periods of time at high rpm.
Stuff like that may necessitate going thicker.
For example in my charger I use the prescribed 20 grade in the winter because I'm driving IT much easier and oil temps rarely exceed 230f.
In the summer I beat the car with lots of high rpm,and the oil temps often exceed 270f,so I use a 0w-40 in the summer because of that abuse the engine sees.
I've seen many 5.7l hemi used oil analysis using the prescribed 20 grade and there are a few here with 15000 miles on the oil and unless there was some kind of problem I've yet to see one with what you call elevated wear.
And that's with these owners driving the cars spiritedly when they saw the opportunity.
So the empirical data disagrees with your flawed opinion.
YOU disagree with my opinion. You've shown no data.
I've read posts by those you mention, many of them agree with my stance or some variation of it.. Ive also read yours and I know that you repeat what you read around here with no understanding of how an engine works which I'll chalk up to ignorance. This site is like most. You have a handful of knowledgeable posters like the ones you mentioned on both sides. The rest just read and repeat, many times out of context, as their own to the new posters.
You actually think the wear metal section of a UOA can be used to show which oil has the lowest wear. Your entire argument is based off of a very flawed method of detecting wear especially when switching from one oil to the next to the next. Real tests have shown that a higher HTHS reduces wear and lower HTHS increases wear. I better add the "within reason" clause before the smart guys suggest a straight 60 with a 7.0 HTHSv. This is not debatable. What is debatable is whether or not to care; will you keep the car long enough for it to matter. Accelerated wear conditions such as high load and high rpm make the difference in high vs low HTHS wear more apparent but there's still a difference.
You point out viscosity vs temperature yet you recommend a 0w-20 in a climate that stays close to 60F all year long.
With that said since no one including myself really cares, what do you think the 5w-30 will hurt; why wouldn't you use it?