2010 Honda Civic -- Your Oil Experiences

[poiuy223]

Hi All,

I know oil preferences depend on driving habits, environment conditions, etc... but I just wanted to gather some user experiences (no need for used oil analysis) with their favorite oil for this engine. Feedbacks like engine smoothness, extended drain capabilities, quietness are all welcome.

I'm looking to settle on an oil and just walk away. I understand using different brands is completely acceptable and do not harm anything in any way, but from my own car's experiences, sticking to 1 brand seems to run the smoothest.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Falken]

My Fit isn't a Civic, but...

It runs very smooth on Quaker State Ultimate Durability, PP, and Pennzoil Ultra.

It really runs well in cold months on Idemitsu oils, I have used the 0W20 and car readily starts and runs quiet.

I only used Mobil Super 1000 conventional one oci after the factory fill to help break in the engine and seal the rings.

The only oil I have seen where iron, copper, and metal increases in wear is with Mobil 1.

But it is such a small amount it isn't worth the concern.

It seems either you are a Mobil user, SOPUS, or Castrol.

Mobil users are the majority of the site.

The only oil that gets a universal nod I have found is Amsoil, but it is usually cost that limits its use as most people won't do an extended drain under warranty.

I would love to use AMSOIL Signature Series 0w20 at one point, but I have a lot of jugs of Pennzoil Ultra SN with it's GTL base stock to use up first, that I got for $29 a 5L jug.

 

[Cooper]

Hey. I have an 09 with 55k. I have used Pennzoil Platinum 0w20, Mobil 1 0w20, Honda (Idemitsu) SM 0w20 and Kendall GT-1 Full Synthetic 0w20. It has the Kendall in it now. I liked the PP and the Honda oil. They both seemed to get great mileage, run smooth. Good startup, etc. I didn't like the Mobil 1 at all. It made the engine loud! I haven't got any miles on the Kendall yet as I changed the oil today with it for the first time. By the add pack, right now, the top two in my opinion that are readily available would be Kendall GT-1 Full Synthetic 0w20 and Pennzoil Platinum 0w20. Just my .02.

 

[Falken]

Cooper, how much did you pay for the Kendall? I hear great things but I doubt I can find it up here in Montreal.

I would be interested in the Kendall 0W20, how does it run in the Forester??

 

[Cooper]

I will have to keep you posted. I just changed the oil in both vehicles. I purchased it from www.petroleumservicecompany.com. I couldn't find it locally.

 

[Falken]

Wow, if you buy a case off that site it is $4/L, not bad!

And that is the price for the 0W20. This is the cheapest price for 0W20 I have ever seen, even lower that the TGMO 0W20 that goes for about $5.50 L at Toyota dealers.

 

[Cooper]

I am not sure they can ship to Canada....

 

[scurvy]

Originally Posted By: poiuy223
... but I just wanted to gather some user experiences (no need for used oil analysis) with their favorite oil for this engine. Feedbacks like engine smoothness, extended drain capabilities, quietness are all welcome.


So you're looking for touchy-feely handwaving but not actual data?

Not a Civic nor a Honda but my thin-is-in anecdote is that Mobil 1 0w20 has been in the sump my Mazda 5 since I dumped the FF at 5k miles. Next up will either be Castrol Edge or Amsoil. No issues with Mobil 1 to report; engine sounds/acts/feels just like it did on the factory fill or the first change with M1.

Originally Posted By: Falken
Wow, if you buy a case off that site it is $4/L, not bad!

And that is the price for the 0W20. This is the cheapest price for 0W20 I have ever seen, even lower that the TGMO 0W20 that goes for about $5.50 L at Toyota dealers.


If shipping was free, yes.

Shipping it to Illinois made a 12-quart case go up to $64.12 or $5.34/qt. You can get plenty of oils on sale for less than that. $5/quart or less when bundled with a filter is very common for most of the FLAPS sales. No idea what shipping it to Québec would do to its price, much less import duties, taxes, fees, GST, HST, etc...

If they allowed local pickup, one was in Wilkes-Barre PA anyway and wanted to run Kendall maybe it would be worth it.

 

[poiuy223]

Originally Posted By: scurvy
Originally Posted By: poiuy223
... but I just wanted to gather some user experiences (no need for used oil analysis) with their favorite oil for this engine. Feedbacks like engine smoothness, extended drain capabilities, quietness are all welcome.


So you're looking for touchy-feely handwaving but not actual data?

Not a Civic nor a Honda but my thin-is-in anecdote is that Mobil 1 0w20 has been in the sump my Mazda 5 since I dumped the FF at 5k miles. Next up will either be Castrol Edge or Amsoil. No issues with Mobil 1 to report; engine sounds/acts/feels just like it did on the factory fill or the first change with M1.

Originally Posted By: Falken
Wow, if you buy a case off that site it is $4/L, not bad!

And that is the price for the 0W20. This is the cheapest price for 0W20 I have ever seen, even lower that the TGMO 0W20 that goes for about $5.50 L at Toyota dealers.


If shipping was free, yes.

Shipping it to Illinois made a 12-quart case go up to $64.12 or $5.34/qt. You can get plenty of oils on sale for less than that. $5/quart or less when bundled with a filter is very common for most of the FLAPS sales. No idea what shipping it to Québec would do to its price, much less import duties, taxes, fees, GST, HST, etc...

If they allowed local pickup, one was in Wilkes-Barre PA anyway and wanted to run Kendall maybe it would be worth it.


Yup, just wanted user touchy feely results. All the major syn oils will be fine with my girl's driving habits, but I wanted to reduce trial and error and hopefully just end up with a good syn to settle on. Seems like PP is the favorable choice as most owners complain about M1 loud noise issues.

Any user notice consumption with a certain brand? The Civic currently has no consumption issues with all the different brands I've tried but knowing what to avoid would be nice.

 

[scurvy]

Originally Posted By: poiuy223
Yup, just wanted user touchy feely results.


One of the best touchy-feely results is that when touching your wallet; on that basis Quaker State Ultimate Durability 0w20 is likely one of the best outstanding value oils.

I haven't found it anywhere else but many folks report seeing the 5-quart jug at Wal-Mart for under $21.

 

[poiuy223]

Originally Posted By: scurvy
Originally Posted By: poiuy223
Yup, just wanted user touchy feely results.


One of the best touchy-feely results is that when touching your wallet; on that basis Quaker State Ultimate Durability 0w20 is likely one of the best outstanding value oils.

I haven't found it anywhere else but many folks report seeing the 5-quart jug at Wal-Mart for under $21.


Sadly, I haven't been able to find any Quaker State Ultimate Durability 0w-20 or 5w-40. I have better luck finding Pennzoil Platinum 0w20 and Pennzoil Ultra 0w-40...

 

[panthermike]

PSC does have a great price on the Kendall 0w20. If only the shipping wasn't so high, I would use that oil exclusively in the Civic. About $6.32/qt with shipping for me.

 

[Dave Hess]

2007 Civic EX
127K miles

Any brand 5w20 conventional oil.

 

[poiuy223]

Originally Posted By: LT4 Vette
2007 Civic EX
127K miles

Any brand 5w20 conventional oil.


Was thinking about going Pennzoil conventional but she likes to turn on the car and put it into drive within 2 seconds, no warmup of any kind. I figured syn would help a little more due to that...unless you guys think this is negligible.

 

[Cooper]

I would definitely go with a synthetic like PP with your situation.

 

[Patman]

My Civic has shown great used oil analysis and has low consumption using Mobil 1 0w20

 

[SLCraig]

This doesn't really help you but I sorta get the gut feeling that Pennzoil conventional maybe makes this car run just slightly smoother/quieter than any other oil I've used to date. It is high in moly and maybe that is why, I don't know. I have used all kinds of oils in my R18 and for the most part they all seem to work about the same. They seem to be durable engines so I wouldn't worry honestly regardless of what you use.

 

[Brule]

Originally Posted By: panthermike
PSC does have a great price on the Kendall 0w20. If only the shipping wasn't so high, I would use that oil exclusively in the Civic. About $6.32/qt with shipping for me.


[My engine is the 2.0 from an Si so the following may not apply.]

I used mainly Mobil 1 5w20 [and O'Reilly Synthetic] nearly exclusively from about 120K to 195K. No problems. Then I tried TropArtic because of a sale. Engine really seemed smoother and quieter after that. Any Con/Phillips-made oil like Kendall, Motorcraft, or TropArtic should have similar results. Needless to say I would not recommend M1 for a Honda engine due to my unscientific "smoothness feeling".

At my high mileage 0w20 is consumed much more than 5w20 for some reason. If you don't have consumption issues then the weight probably won't matter. At this point I am using 5w30 or 10w30 at 216K now with no mpg penalty.