Best 0w20 for Extreme Cold Start at -20F?

Ok rattling is a good enough reason to look for something else. I would too.

Redline performance series is PAO/ester blend.
Yeah, but it's also a lot heavier, basically a 0W-30.

Personally, if something like Ravenol or HPL aren't in the budget, I'd just continue using the Mobil product. 30% PAO is still 30% more than anything else on the shelf at Walmart.
 
Yeah but your west coast Canadian, try a NWT or Queen Elizabeth island winter. I remember when my aunt and uncle had a minus 59° in Calgary
Umm, SE BC, North of Idaho. I’ve worked at Tuktoyuktuk, NWT, Edmonton, Alberta and Norman Wells, NWT. ;)

It was so cold we had to jump start the wolves.
 
There is "required" and "better." I've started at -20 with a dealer bulk 0w20 and the car rattles like mad. And I've started with the old higher PAO version of M1EP and it starts smoother by a mile.

I've also started with a 5w30 and notice more rattle at startup. Sure, a 5w30 will work, but it seems noticeably harder on the engine than the equivalent 0w20.

What is tested in a Lab is not what happens in the real world, I would say that the OP should contact HPL since they do have some oils with an amazing low pour point.

I remember a friend of mine who was living in MN and he came back my way and we went to Georgetown in D.C. and it was like the 1st week in February, and at 11 p.m. I said man is it cold out, and it was like 15 degrees out, he said for the whole month of January in MN, it did not go above 0 degrees.
 
Extreme cold start at -20 LOL well I see you have never spent a winter in Havre or Whitefish Montana!
Or Squarebanks ... err ... I mean Fairbanks, Alaska. There, -20 degs F is an AVERAGE winter day's temperature. -30 degs F is also a normal operating day, but nearing -40 degs F starts becoming really serious for motorized vehicles and aircraft. Same for unique, remote northern places like Coldfoot, Alaska.

BTW, Havre, MT is a miserable place! Been there and done that, and much prefer Alaska!

0W oils are normal up north and in cold places.

Don't worry, Gents. When it's really cold in western continental and interior Alaska places, it's a DRY cold and doesn't penetrate winter clothing and gear like more humid coldness. Speaking of cold... I worked at Alyeska Pipeline's Pump Station #5 (PS05 of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System) adjacent to Prospect Creek for a good winter. I've seen -50 and -55 degs F up there. See a snippet of the coldest recorded temp in North America about that place below:

Jan. 23, 2021, is the 50th anniversary of Alaska's all-time lowest temperature: minus 80 degrees Fahrenheit, recorded by a weather observer at Prospect Creek Camp.

Now a clearing in the woods, Prospect Creek Camp was located near the confluence of Prospect Creek and the Jim River, just north of the Arctic Circle and about 160 miles north of Fairbanks.

The camp was there to house workers building the trans-Alaska pipeline. The high temperature at Prospect Creek Camp that January day in 1971 was minus 64 degrees. The warmest air people in Allakaket (about 56 miles away) felt the next day was minus 66 degrees, which is still Alaska's record for the lowest high temperature of any day.


For me, the coldest place I've ever lived was the upper Midwest. There it can be below zero WITH humidity. God help those who go outside and brave that.
 
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Yeah, but it's also a lot heavier, basically a 0W-30.

Personally, if something like Ravenol or HPL aren't in the budget, I'd just continue using the Mobil product. 30% PAO is still 30% more than anything else on the shelf at Walmart.
Yes but the rattling or absence might not be due to viscosity, rather composition
 
Yes but the rattling or absence might not be due to viscosity, rather composition
Sorry, wasn't trying to imply that the sound would be impacted by that, simply pointing out that if he's wary of going heavier, that oil is not "typical" for a 0W-20, being closer to a 0W-30.
 
is -20°F extreme cold starting? wouldn't even require the 0W rating

I've had a few -35 starts on 5w-20. One was my taurus, that would have been on conventional. The oil wasn't the problem, but the delayed engagement into reverse or drive was concerning. It took more than a few seconds for the transmission to engage. And it was so cold, the torque converter wouldn't lock up.

The other was my Focus on synthetic 5w-20. The engine was fine .... luickily ... that thing shot up to 2500 on a cold start! It stalled when I let the clutch out. Had to slip the clutch to idle in neutral
 
i have started often at -40 celcius and lower when i had my 2016 mazda 6 with 0w20. any 0w20 will be fine at extreme cold. -20f is -28 celcius. it is cold, but any 0w20 will be more than fine.
 
I recommend HPL Premium Plus 0W-20. However, as Overkill said, the M1 EP 0W-20 should still do the job just fine if HPL is not in your budget.
 
The classic BITOG overthink. Tons of rusty old beaters running around with Jiffylube 5w30 conventional and 200k+ miles and we are listening for cold start rattle with 0w20 synthetic.
So, it's a bad thing when people like to take care of their stuff that costs tens of thousands of hard-earned dollars?

Strange flex...but alright then.
 
A lot of those Jiffy Lube special engines with 200k+ miles also likely suffer from ring coking, sludge, varnish, and 20-30% power loss from new due to worn rings and blow-by while consuming a quart or two between oil changes. Just because it still runs doesn't mean it's in good condition.
Silly BITOG logic. Used cars all run differently and have no commonality. Justify it all you want but changing between different 0w20 oils is irrelevant in the real world.
So, it's a bad thing when people like to take care of their stuff that costs tens of thousands of hard-earned dollars?

Strange flex...but alright then.
Caring for your vehicle and being obsessed with minutia are different things.
 
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