2011 Hyundai Theta 2.4 GDI: time to decide....

[JimmyR]

..on an oil for our new car.
Owner's manual calls for API SM 5W20 or 5W30. For the next 6 months our climate will be typical Southern Calif mild, lowest temperature the car will see will be ~40F (rarely), warmest could see high 80's F (not so rare). I'm leaning to a 5W30, but unsure of brand. I have access to Liqui Moly , Pentosin, but also wondering about Royal Purple, and I know it is a heavier viscosity than in manual, but the Rotella T6 5W40. This car is 40% stop and go and 60% highway. In the summer, the car would be operated in 90F+ temps quite often. Engine has 1060 miles on it as of today.
Thanks for your feedback

 

[HTSS_TR]

If most of your trips are less than 20 miles, you should stay with 5W20. You don't need fancy oils like Liqui Moly, Pentosin or Royal Purple ... Any SM (or the new SN) dino such as Pennzoil, Valvoline ... will do good job in your engine, just follow the oil change interval in the manual. If you want to use synthetic then Pennzoil Platinum or Ultra, or Valvoline Synpower or Mobil 1 ... whichever you can buy on sale will be okay too.

 

[ChrisD46]

Pennzoil Yellow Bottle 5W 20 conventional oil : You can go to this oil anytime now - I would run it all year long at 4K to 5K oil change intervals . Next would be Motorcraft 5W 20 synthetic blend (if you can find it and find it cheap). Oil change interval to start would be 5K to 6K miles . Lastly there are Pennzoil Platinum 5W 20 , Mobil 1 5W 20 or Mobil 1 0W 30 which you could run all year long at 7500 mile oil change intervals ...any of these oils would serve you well .

 

[CharlieJ]

5w30. Synthetic. Pick which brand you like best.

 

[SrDriver]

We own/have owned 4 Hyundai vehicles here in southern Alabama. Very hot summers and mild winters with some freezing nights.

We run 5W20 year around without any issues. Any good 5W20 will serve you well. I highly recommend that you use OEM filters. They are good quality.

 

[TJPark01]

I have a Genesis V8. After getting the oil analysis I would suggest short oil changes with something cheap like PYB for the first year. Like an oil change now at 1k, then again at 4k, and then again at 7-10k, then get on the regular schedule with what ChrisD46 suggested.

 

[Brons2]

I have a Theta 2.4 in a Kia Rondo, not GDI though. I have gotten my best results on MC5000 5w30 from the dealer bulk tank. I have also gotten decent results with QSUD 5w30 and O'Reilly Full Syn 5w30. It shears back dino quite a bit, but the engine is approved for 5w20 anyways. I live in Texas, so my climate is also hot.

I'm trying 5w20 MC5000 for the first time. The engine seems peppier, and mileage seems to be about .5 MPG better. I do lots of 2 mile trips, and 90% city driving.

UOA's are posted if you want to take a look. I have only used OEM Hyundai/Kia filters. Currently have just over 48K miles.

 

[JimmyR]

The car gets driven 60 miles per day. Reason I bring up Lubro Moly and Pentosin, as I work @ a distributor for both.
(I've run 5W40 Voll Synthese in my past Subarus for last 8 yr)

There is some concern of going to full synth "too early" and affecting ring to cylinder wall sealing.

Thanks for your comments!