Originally Posted By: Jasper8146
You bring up an excellent question. Mine is a 2010 Camry V6 and the recommendation is for 5W-30 based on all available info that I have seen. On the 2011 Camry, they changed the rec to OW-20 even though it is the same engine with the same power rating and output. So that's why 5W-30. Would be concerned about changing to a much thinner oil at over 100k when it's been used to the 5W-30. Is the OW-20 really that much better? Why would it be?
My bad. I was looking at the four-cylinder engine. However, the same engine uses 0W-20 in the next year, there is probably no problem. I use 0W-20 in a 1985 Corolla that recommended 10W-30 with excellent UOA's.
The OCI length is determined by the base-oil quality. In terms of base-oil quality, PAO > GTL > Group III > Group II > Group I. These are the base-oil compositions according to
ExxonMobil MSDS:
M1 AFE 0W-20 SN: 30 - 40% PAO, 10 - 20% GTL, 30 - 40% Group III
M1 EP 0W-20 SN: 60 - 70% PAO
M1 AP 0W-20 SN: 60 - 70% PAO
TGMO 0W-20 SN: 80 - 90% Group III
M1 5W-20 SN: 40 - 50% GTL, 1 - 5% Group III
M1 AFE 0W-30 SN: 10 - 20% PAO, 20 - 30% GTL, 30 - 40% Group III
M1 5W-30 SN: 20 -30% PAO
M1 EP 5W-30 SN: 20 - 30% PAO, 1 - 5% Group III
M1 AP 5W-30 SN: 5 - 10% PAO
In summary, M1 EP 0W-20 SN and M1 AP 0W-20 SN have very similar formulations and they are practically all-PAO: You can't do better in base-oil quality, which will allow you the longest OCI's possible. M1 AFE 0W-20 SN is inferior to them.
M1 5W-30 SN and M1 EP 5W-30 SN are very similar and far inferior to M1 EP 0W-20. Surprisingly M1 AP 5W-30 SN is the most inferior of the bunch. Sometimes marketing doesn't equal product performance.
I would say go with M1 EP 0W-20 SN. It will allow you the longest OCI because of its virtually all-PAO composition. Don't worry about the viscosity being too light.
HTHSV = 2.7 cP and 3.0 cP for 0W-20 EP and 5W-30 EP -- hardly any difference -- and considering that the 0W-20 will shear a lot less, there will virtually be no difference in oil thickness in actual use.