Doing some thinking whilst narrowing down my choices for motor oil. My Honda Civic HX (High Efficiency VTEC-E) lists a preference for 5w-30 in its manual and on the oil filler cap. To date I have been buying Mobil 1 5w-30 for this reason, but I am wondering about a few things:
With loads of speculation about some grades of M1 being changed to Grp. III base oils, am I better off to go with a 0w-30 oil, since to my knowledge (limited, so please go easy) there are no dino or exclusively Grp. III 0w-xx oils? M1 0w-30 doesn't seem to have the following of its 20 and 40 couterparts, so I know little to nothing about it, apart from what's on Mobil's site.
Also, I have considered GC, which seems to be proven Grp. IV at least, but some posts on this sight lead me to believe it's a bit thicker than I might want for my engine. GC's API donut on the back of the bottle doesn't carry the "energy conserving" label either, and his car gets 40+ mpg with M1 5w-30, so that's not something I want to sacrifice with another oil. From all I can tell, GC may not carry this logo because it doesn't contain friction modifier, as its apparently constructed of German Uber-esters that don't need them. So, might my engine still get this kind of mileage, even without this label on the bottle?
Furthermore, my fiancee's Ford Focus specifies 5w-20, and I have been using Motorcraft in this application, and seems to do well. However, her engine is the lowly 2.0l SPI design, and I cannot imagine it's anymore sophisticated or made to higher tolerances than the D16y5 in my Civic. I could be wrong there, but this has led me to consider moving to a 0w-20 or 5w-20 (I live in Georgia, so winter isn't much concern, but summers are intense) in the Honda. I've also read that Honda now specifies this in all its newer models, and that the Hybrids all get 0w-20 factory fill in order to garner their excellent mileage. That being he case, I've thought that even thinner stuff might help push my mileage even further (already getting 46-48 mpg on road trips at 65-70 mph) and put me into hybrid territory. Am I being greedy here, or is 0w-20 up to the job in slightly older engines?
Any info on any of these inquiries will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!
With loads of speculation about some grades of M1 being changed to Grp. III base oils, am I better off to go with a 0w-30 oil, since to my knowledge (limited, so please go easy) there are no dino or exclusively Grp. III 0w-xx oils? M1 0w-30 doesn't seem to have the following of its 20 and 40 couterparts, so I know little to nothing about it, apart from what's on Mobil's site.
Also, I have considered GC, which seems to be proven Grp. IV at least, but some posts on this sight lead me to believe it's a bit thicker than I might want for my engine. GC's API donut on the back of the bottle doesn't carry the "energy conserving" label either, and his car gets 40+ mpg with M1 5w-30, so that's not something I want to sacrifice with another oil. From all I can tell, GC may not carry this logo because it doesn't contain friction modifier, as its apparently constructed of German Uber-esters that don't need them. So, might my engine still get this kind of mileage, even without this label on the bottle?
Furthermore, my fiancee's Ford Focus specifies 5w-20, and I have been using Motorcraft in this application, and seems to do well. However, her engine is the lowly 2.0l SPI design, and I cannot imagine it's anymore sophisticated or made to higher tolerances than the D16y5 in my Civic. I could be wrong there, but this has led me to consider moving to a 0w-20 or 5w-20 (I live in Georgia, so winter isn't much concern, but summers are intense) in the Honda. I've also read that Honda now specifies this in all its newer models, and that the Hybrids all get 0w-20 factory fill in order to garner their excellent mileage. That being he case, I've thought that even thinner stuff might help push my mileage even further (already getting 46-48 mpg on road trips at 65-70 mph) and put me into hybrid territory. Am I being greedy here, or is 0w-20 up to the job in slightly older engines?
Any info on any of these inquiries will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!
