Not OEM approvals they state meets and exceeds and is suitable for like many others do nothing wrong with that many do it.
Best 0W-20 Full Synthetic Oil?
- Thread starter HotRod Hudson
- Start date
Triggered? I love it............it's not emotional, nor uncontrolled. . My comment was just as it reads though - things/events I can't control. Thread types are something I/we can have a say in. The amount threshold of repetitious threads varies by forum. Rather the number/percent of repeating or rhyming threads before a forum is killed does vary, but essentially the intelligent core will get bored.You sure about that?You seem triggered by a certain category of threads here.
I support these threads. As mentioned elsewhere, this is many users' first experience with the forums. Instead of complaining about them, all the people complaining should write a very thorough and thoughtful explanation for why it's a difficult question to answer and offering some advice on how to get the best advice from the forum's expertise, and then we can bookmark your kind post and link to it when people ask. I suspect none of those belly aching about it will take me up on the offer.
Your suggestion sounds really excellent to me actually. @wwillson
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- Jul 18, 2025
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Amsoil Signature Series 0w30
Nor does anyone else. It is what it is.So... I've read this whole thread and still don't know what the best 0w20 full synthetic oil is....
1. High Performance Lubricants Super Car
2. Amsoil Signature Series
3. Mobil 1 ESP
2. Amsoil Signature Series
3. Mobil 1 ESP
Neither is Dexos 1 Gen 3. Read the manual.
Not cheap
Valvoline. Do your research as to which one. My vehicles are older so I use full syn high mileage. Phenomenal add pack that won’t hurt a newer vehicle. In this area, Menards can’t be beat on price after their 11% Rebate.
So?
They cover other specs/apptovals that are even higher and established much earlier than Dexos.
Patman
Staff member
My opinion and research says that 0w-20 is perfectly safe for a lot of applications. There are a lot of engines out there that have gone 300,000 miles or more running nothing but 0w-20 (or 5w-20)
Yes in Alaska and Canada -80F to 0F etc you would be more likely to get better results with 0w20 than in 32f to 124F. Especially if you drive like a old lady. Or if the product you put it in has specifically been made to function only on that thin and weak a film barrier, etc.
Check what engine oil is recommended outside the USA’s stupid CAFE standards for the engine, and you are likely to find a higher stronger more protective viscosity is recommended.
Look into the film barrier strength of different viscosity oils. Higher viscosity, is a stronger film barrier.
Lake Speed jr is a Tribologist/oil expert.
Another guy I like:
Notice manufacturers are recommending higher viscosity in some engines than they originally recommended in the USA. My Coyote originally they recommended 5w-20 then 5w-30 now 5w-50. Similar for GM and their 6.2L engines as you can see in the Lake Speed video, and GM recent documents. There may be others.
There may be an exception but I don’t know of a manufacturer that first recommended a higher viscosity and then changed and recommended a lower viscosity. Maybe for possibly CAFE standards, which is about squeezeing every last vapor of fuel economy NOT increasing engine protection or longevity.
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Patman
Staff member
No matter how much you personally want to hate 0w-20, it gets the job done for millions of vehicles on the road today.
The conclusion of the second video is that 0W-20 is perfectly fine provided the engineers design the engine correctly...?
slo town
$200 Site Donor 2026
My 18 has seen nothing but 0w20 and some pretty hard miles as far as summertime runs through the mountains. I should have taken pics when I changed the valve cover due to stripping the pcv. There wasn’t a spot of discoloring anywhere, absolutely factory new. 0w20 is more than fine if that’s what your car recommends.
The GM 5.3 will run just fine on any oil. I’d run the cheapest full synthetic 5w30 out there ala Kirkland. Change it every 5000 miles faithfully. My ‘07 has 175,000 miles and now gets a quality high mileage ie Valvoline High Mileage Full Synthetic. It’s only driven 2-3000 miles per year so it gets changed at 18 months still with 50%+ on the oil life monitor.
It doesn't bother me, it may bother some, the Valvoline Restore and Protect is not dexos approved. The Mobil 1 Advanced Clean is dexos approved in 0W20 and 5W30. I have been using Valvoline 5W30 for the last 2 oil changes, will wait for more reviews and concensus on the Mobil 1.
Yes, if he has more money - HPL or Amsoil. However, they are not Dexos oils either.
I just started thinking that if an oio is not Dexos approved, that's actually a good thing.
Also GM mentioning only Dexos oils in their owner manuals, but not mentioning API, ILSAC, and ACEA - some kind of scam is going on.
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