Fuel Economy vs. Wear

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For those of you on the 5W20 fence Motor Oils - Fuel Economy vs. Wear.

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Interesting article. I've always been somewhat confused at the Europeans pref of thicker oils. However one should note that Europeans most often use synthetic or synth blend oils so perhaps a synth 5w40 gives us the best of both worlds.
 
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The best protection against wear is probably a product that is a little thicker (such as SAE 10W-30 or 15W-40) and has more antiwear additives than the oils that support the warranty. The best oil for your vehicle depends on your driving habits, the age of your engine and the climate you drive in, but it is not necessarily the type of oil specified in the owner’s manual or stamped on the dipstick.




So the moral of the story is: Thicker is better.
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Old old article. Outdated and notice the wording "probably". No such thing as a one size fits all is best.
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...Outdated and notice the wording "probably". ...




That is an understatement. He presents no evidence that 5w20 oils increase wear. Only a European Ford dealer that uses 5w30. Talk about
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Not outdated it is a 2006 book. Its written by Lube engineers. Its a very good book. What they say makes perfect sense. What would be your explanation to as why every other country than the U.S specifies thicker oil for the same engines, other than we are so CAFE (Caring About F-ing Enviroment).
 
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What would be your explanation to as why every other country than the U.S specifies thicker oil for the same engines, other than we are so CAFE (Caring About F-ing Enviroment).




I would say they don't have CAFE so they use what they have always used.

I would challenge ANYONE if you know of any premature engine failures or failures in general for cars that call for 5w-20 grades? UOA's have been flawless and they have been in use now for hundreds of thousands of miles.
 
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What would be your explanation to as why every other country than the U.S specifies thicker oil for the same engines, other than we are so CAFE (Caring About F-ing Enviroment).




I would say they don't have CAFE so they use what they have always used.

I would challenge ANYONE if you know of any premature engine failures or failures in general for cars that call for 5w-20 grades? UOA's have been flawless and they have been in use now for hundreds of thousands of miles.




There was that V-10 in a motorhome awhile ago which had a long thread going here. Believe it called for a 5w-20. She ran the OCI from memory around ~7k when the engine seized.
 
Another problem with figuring all this out is that most of the 5w-20 oils start with better base stocks and the end result just may be a better quality oil package.
 
That article is very very old with no quantitative testing done to back up the conjecture presented.
Always expect people to resist change and progress. It is natural. But do not excuse it.
 
"Interesting article. I've always been somewhat confused at the Europeans pref of thicker oils."

In Spain on an 'autopista' topped out at about 125mph on a BMW 750cc motorcycle I had to move over for the fast traffic that would come up and blink their lights. In trips to Germany my wife said that her friends were often doing +120mph on the autobahn. These aren't speed crazed youngsters in hopped up cars, just middle aged people driving around normally in normal cars. High pseeds combined with typically longer change intervals typically meant good quality, thicker oils. More vehicles are switching to thinner oils though.

In the US it's sometimes hard to get people to do the speed limit as they're yammering on their cell phones or saving others from themselves.

I haven't checked lately, but for awhile the F1 rules required that an engine last more than one race. Shell was providing Ferrari thinner oils for speed and thicker oils for protection during non-race conditions, in an attempt to better manange the wear allowance.
 
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