Not sure why you feel the need to discredit my experience. But yes, I have noticed a difference in some vehicles. Some engines may be more sensitively tuned to oil pressure, and as we know hot oil produces less oil pressure than cold oil, and thicker oil results in higher oil pressure than thinner oil. It’s not unreasonable to think that oil type can affect the performance of an engine. FWIW, I’ve only ever experienced the oil viscosity difference in OHC or DOHC engines.
Can oil grade impact cam phasing?
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0-60 times really should be done in a lab setting where all the variables are the same each time.
If all variables are the same in a lab setting, and the only difference was the use of 0W-40, it’s likely the 0W-40 results in better piston ring sealing and the engine develops more power.
I can tell you in the absolute powerhouse of a Hyundai Tiburon I could feel some lag between a 10w40 and 0w20 at operating temperature. But that engines on its last legs as is
More than unlikely. Using a 20 will result in more power. Less drag, period.
'Measuring' performance data without at least semi-professional equipment (10 Hz GPS) is worthless.
Depends on the specific engine at hand. Thicker oil can help ring sealing in worn engines and help with compression loss, resulting in more power. You can’t put a blanket statement on it.
No discredit from me. I just like to take advantage of humor opportunities.
I've seen all sorts of things in my 17 years here....Mobil 1 tick, SOPUS oils "feel" better, etc. Having "felt" things as well in different vehicles, I won't be poking fun at anybody who has a similar claim. Well, except maybe that dude who claimed he felt a difference in power between syn and conv (now a syn blend) in the same grade. I even believe Arco's 8oz of Magnatec added to your interval make it run better.
That wasn't my point. Firstly, engines including VVT adjusters use to work at virtually
any temp. As a result viscosity must have a negligible effect. Engines are designed to
deal with varying viscosity because varying viscosity is impossible to avoid. That's what
I was trying to say.
Secondly, what you said is only true at -30°C/-22°F. Above anything that a 5W-30 is
thicker than a 5W-20. A 5W-30 can be thinner on a 'cold start' compared to a 0W-40.
It just depends how you define 'cold start'.
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Wasn't it you who put the blanket statement? Just to remind you of your own words:
I doubt it does on a healthy engine. I even say I still doubt it does on any healthy engine.
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I didn’t blanket state it, I clearly laid out that 0W-40 can help with ring sealing.
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Oh man... Need I again repeat what you said?
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Oh man... Need I again repeat what you said?
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This was never intended to be a argument, but the only blanket statement I can see is what I highlighted in red.
What I have highlighted in blue (or purple, I’m colorblind) is not a blanket statement. I didn’t definitively say 0W-40 is the reason for noticing performance differences, I referred to it as “likely”.
I run 5w30 in our Nissan that recommends 0w20. No issues. Like said above, all I ever ran in my two different Pentastars was 5w30 and that's what I run in my 2019 Ram 1500 hemi.
I've been using the manufacturer's recommended viscosity in my vehicles for over 30 years. Guess what, I have never had a problem with the vehicle's engine when it comes to lubrication.
5W-20 at 194F is roughly the same viscosity as 5W30 at 212F.
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Not sure if anyone else heard it, but the podcast host, Michael, mentioned that oil viscosity can interfere with variable valve timing. Something myself and others have noticed in our own vehicles.
Edit: I guess I should say I’ve never verified that vvt is altered depending on oil viscosity. I’ve just noticed certain engines to be more responsive on thinner oil.
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Yeah, someone would have to scan and plot real time OBD2 sensor data to verify if there was actually a change to the VVT operation on a different viscosity, which all other variables held constant.
There is a time to degrees plot based on viscosity that will slightly alter it. The question is if it's significant. With a 2.7 (20) vs 7.0 (70) HTHS Oil maybe. A 2.7 vs 3.1 HTHS oil I'm doubtful. Likely within the range of normal variation
What sensor in the engine determines what viscosity is being used? Does it just use oil temperature and assume a certain viscosity is being used? What happens if someone uses a 'thin" xW-30 vs a "thick" xW-30 for instance.
I went from 5W-20 to 5W-30 in a Coyote and I can't tell any difference at all on how the car runs and performs. You know Coyotes can run anything from xW-20 to xW-50 ... so does Ford have some magic code or sensor that accounts for that in terms of VVT operation? I doubt they do.
That's what I'm getting at. The engine ECM expects a certain reaction to a certain signal at certain temperatures. The parameters are likely however fairly wide because of production parts variations. If it's right on the ragged edge just a small change could cause an issue but many engines would likely operate fine with SAE 70. Certainly I've never seen a Coyote throw a code going from 20 grade to 50 grade or vice versa. How the typical engine would react to 8 grade or 70 grade I can't say. I would think it unusual for 10W-60 to cause any issue in a 5W-50 spec car or 5W-30 in a 5W-20 car however.
Someone noted one particular 5.7 Hemi Police car throwing a code for out of spec viscosity range when 15W-40 replaced the 5W-20 when idling around the garage. It would be interesting to try some 0W-40 in the same car and 15W-40 in others to see what the results are. I know several 5.7L Hemi Cars running 0W-40 or 5W-40 at track events that have never thrown a code.
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So have I and never had an issue. However 30 years ago we didn't have a wild stampede to small-displacement, Turbocharged, direct injection engines with low-tension piston rings and the resulting oil dilution issues. Both of our 2020 Honda CRV's will show 2.5% or more OD with thinning below grade at 2500 miles with the oil life monitor showing 50% life remaining using the recommended 0W-20. Honda has "supposedly" solved this issue, my UOA's prove (to me) that it's still a serious problem in many Hondas using the 1.5t engines. If I was content to resign myself to 2500 mile OCI's and the resulting costs I might have a long running engine. After a lot of research and discussion with people here on BITOG and my dealer and my Honda Certified Master Technician, I'm going to use 5W-30, interesting, because what he uses in his personal Honda. If the US market wasn't so welded to CAFE standards, Honda might recommend something other than the 0W-20 like they do in the same engine in other countries.
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