Why Are There 20W-50 Oils?

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The VW GTI uses this, sounds thick as maple syrup to me though(real maple syrup, or molasses, whatever turns your shaft)
smirk.gif
 
20W-50? Probably the same reason there is 10w30 and various other spec's of oil we'd consider mostly "obsolete". Plenty of motorcycles that run hot, air-cooled engines call for 50 weights (or at least 40's) to basically ensure the oil will keep up protection despite boiling off in the desert. Your VW GTI probably specifies it because in Europe, thicker weights are still rather common, that and burning down the Autobahn, racing, and other applications call for more "rage resistant" oils.

Reality is though, most oils these days are very very good compared to yesteryear. If you want ultimate protection in a GTI, you can probably use something in the 40 weight category. If you want practical protection for everyday use and not racing, a high quality 0w30 like German Castrol would probably be perfect.

Plus it would actually flow in winter.
 
If I find a load of Castrol, Valvoline synthetic blends on the clearance rack.....I get as many as I can. The same with Mobil 1, 15w-50 clearance at Kmart, I bought all they had for sale.

You can always thin it out or use it to thicken up oils.

Right now I'm running 4+ quarts of M1, EP, 5w-20 and 2 quarts of Mobil 1, 15w-50. Engine runs great and startup is fast. Both oils are in the same family and have similar VI ratings.

This is my winter run and my engine sounds fine with the blend.
 
Originally Posted By: Chris142
Lots of unknowing people still use it.


If its recommended by the maker I don't see the problem. Unless said car is old and the spec is simply out of date.
 
It's not killed any engines downunder in just about forever, and is still an acceptable viscosity in many owners manuals of not very old cars.
 
Used car dealerships love the stuff. Gets them to run quiet and shift transaxles like buttah.

I have not even drained factory fill on my kawi bike but GTX 20w-50 is what im going to use. For example the rotella t6 is less than stellar on this particular bike. I wouldn't be afraid to use it as a top off in the srt-4 turbo either, if I'm shearing what im running out of grade it will be a good backup. Warm climates also are more forgiving to any oil choice of course.

mongo with you brother, walmart clearanced out motorcraft 10w-40 a few years back in the quart bottles to under a buck each and it took me a long time to finally be rid of them.
 
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M1 15W50 has been my mainstay (it`s going in next oil change). RP 20W50 gave me an impeccable uoa. Alot of high performance engine builders and tunes recommend 50 weight oils. SpecialtyZ recommends either RP 20W50 or M1 15W50 on their VG30DETT builds.
 
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It's recommended for my BMW, and I wouldn't consider using anything else. Use it in both my daughters cars - does no harm and the Baleno is on 395,000km, nothing else stays in as long.
 
Originally Posted By: zoomie
The VW GTI uses this, sounds thick as maple syrup to me though(real maple syrup, or molasses, whatever turns your shaft)
smirk.gif



That is a very old VW GTI (80s maybe?). All of todays VW GTI require oil with spec. VW504.00, all xW-30.
Some air cooled engines and boat engines require 20W-50.
 
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If it is the summertime, I find that these heavy oils just as good as the thin ones. I once drove to Yellowstone & back, and did side trips, for 2900+ miles one July. I got 28+ miles per gallon on Mobil 1, 15W-50; and it worked fine. These heavy oils are often seen on sales at a pretty good price. I have thinner oil right now, 15w30 Napa Synthetic, in The Beast, but come June, why not use thicker? When I know that I will be changing the oil, and I can calculate that based on my average miles, sure, I use the thicker stuff for the summer.

If I were in Chris 142's weather environment and had a car I did not run much, I might use the thinner stuff all year as in the Mojave you will see temperatures from single digits to over 120 degrees Fahrenheit, depending on the time of year and your altitude. But with my car it's a very easy daily mileage to predict, and right now it's about 32 miles per day; which points to an oil change between May 1 and June 15 of this year.
 
Why do they make 0w20 oils when we don't really care about the difference in fuel econnomy? Around here 20w50 is the cheapest by far, and by far the most available.
 
Hi supercity, 20W50 oils are age old oil and many vehicles run with this oil for years. Its more suitable for heavy duty and older engines. For light engines and more modern engines this 20W50 oil requires much more time to warm up the engine and its cold start capability is also poor and leaves the vehicle in dry running condition more ofter in colder countries. The 0W20 oil is not a correct substitute of 20W50, rather a 5W50 or 0W50 could be the correct ones with better cold restart capability. So far I know many Honda and Toyota cars specially Hybrid ones use this 0W20 oil.
 
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