Originally Posted By: RyanGreener
Hey everyone. Just looking for a cheapo way to almost match the 0W-20 rating of my tC while using cheapo conventional oil since I want to do 5k OCIs.
0W-20 isn't "thinner" than 5W-20. It's more pumpable at low temps. There's a difference, and it's important.
Also, if your tC requires 0W-20, that doesn't just mean viscosity grade; it also means a certain quality level that is very difficult for a non-synthetic 5W-20 to meet. 0W-20s as a class are just higher quality lubricants than non-synthetic 5W-20s. They have to be, or else they'd cook off too fast and work terribly.
By the same token, any conventional 5W-20 that approaches the cold pumpability of a 0W will be either so thin that it's terrible, or so close to a 0W-20 that it's not cheap. So if you want it to be cheap, you're going for terrible. Doesn't make sense for an engine that specs 0W-20, especially given how cheaply you can get a decent API-certified 0W-20 these days.