Good low volatility 10w-30 for a Skyactive GDI engine?

So why did the viscosity requirements change for Mexico to 10w-30. Personally do not care but that should be a neon light that a decision was made with higher thinking than you or me. (or oil experts here) They are specific…
In many cases oil recommendations are adjusted to what is available in the intended market, while in the US you can get just about everything from thick to thin except 25W60, in many parts of the world thinner oil is much harder to come by which is why you may see recomendations for 15W40 or 20W50 in Russian owners manuals, or 20W50 or 25W60 in manuals for Africa, the middle east, the Caribbean, ect.
 
Post #3 here for a Miata. Notice all the different viscosities.

I can overthink this but the same vehicle around the world? Does this give the Miata owner to choose anything? Not my bag to overthink this, there is a reason these cars have the highest reliability.
 
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Post #3 here for a Miata. Notice all the different viscosities.

I can overthink this but the same vehicle around the world? Does this give the Miata owner to choose anything? Not my bag to overthink this, there is a reason these cars have the highest reliability.
If they do list different grades then either they didn't petition for CAFE credits or they certified for them with the other grades.

Or they are breaking the terms of their credits. It has to be one of them.
 
If they do list different grades then either they didn't petition for CAFE credits or they certified for them with the other grades.

Or they are breaking the terms of their credits. It has to be one of them.
That is Europe and the world. Is CAFE regulations for Canada and Puerto Rico? Personally keep an open mind on why the engineers have different requirements in the world. Europe Mazda has a different oil manufactured by Total, North American and Japan Mazda oil is made by Idemitsu. Miata’s are shipped around the world with Idemitsu‘s version 0w-20.
 
That is Europe and the world. Is CAFE regulations for Canada and Puerto Rico? Personally keep an open mind on why the engineers have different requirements in the world. Europe Mazda has a different oil manufactured by Total, North American and Japan Mazda oil is made by Idemitsu. Miata’s are shipped around the world with Idemitsu‘s version 0w-20.
True, I got lost where we were in this thread.
 
Post #3 here for a Miata. Notice all the different viscosities.

I can overthink this but the same vehicle around the world? Does this give the Miata owner to choose anything? Not my bag to overthink this, there is a reason these cars have the highest reliability.
You have to be a member to enlarge that image.

But other grades elsewhere is perfectly normal, as is the use of thinner oils in Japan, as they've been pushing the ultra-thin oil angle for years with grades whose Noack was so bad they wouldn't even pass the API limits. They also have regulation that caps the useful life of vehicles, hence the business of importation of JDM engines to North America. Ergo, ensuring they last hundreds of thousands of miles isn't a high priority.

It was Honda, in their paper on going below 0w-20, who noted that they were making design changes (wider bearings, special coatings) to obtain acceptable wear in the presence of increased operation in boundary and mixed lubrication modes rather than hydrodynamic. Because they observed that they could actually reduce friction in boundary with oil additives, despite the wear, over the viscous friction taking place in hydrodynamic. It's all a quest for these incremental gains in efficiency, which I'd say were pioneered in Japan but have spilled over into other markets due to regulations like CAFE where these small increases in fuel economy have a cumulative effect for manufacturers who benefit.
 
One primary difference between Japan and the US is that the US created CAFE as a fuel conservation agenda when the times called for it. We have been back and forth on that since the 70’s. Japan imports all of their oil and thus a higher price is called for. While Japan does have a conservation type agenda it is mainly based on not having their own petroleum sites thus being dependent on others.
 
You have to be a member to enlarge that image.

But other grades elsewhere is perfectly normal, as is the use of thinner oils in Japan, as they've been pushing the ultra-thin oil angle for years with grades whose Noack was so bad they wouldn't even pass the API limits. They also have regulation that caps the useful life of vehicles, hence the business of importation of JDM engines to North America. Ergo, ensuring they last hundreds of thousands of miles isn't a high priority.

It was Honda, in their paper on going below 0w-20, who noted that they were making design changes (wider bearings, special coatings) to obtain acceptable wear in the presence of increased operation in boundary and mixed lubrication modes rather than hydrodynamic. Because they observed that they could actually reduce friction in boundary with oil additives, despite the wear, over the viscous friction taking place in hydrodynamic. It's all a quest for these incremental gains in efficiency, which I'd say were pioneered in Japan but have spilled over into other markets due to regulations like CAFE where these small increases in fuel economy have a cumulative effect for manufacturers who benefit.
So… The OP is using his Miata in Mexico.
 
So… The OP is using his Miata in Mexico.
I don't think he is, he states:
here in the high dessert we get 115f summers and by next winter I should have moved south to basically Mexico weather.

His focus appears to be on the weather where he's moving, being similar to Mexico, and in Mexico, the manual calls for 10w-30. Of course Mexico likely doesn't have the same access to a plethora of quality lubricants like we do in Canada and the USA and a poor quality 5w-30 would indeed be a reason for an OEM to shift their recommendation to a 10w-30 that, if of the same quality, will be more shear stable.
 
Thanks for pointing out. Now that is a different can of worms… The OP is assuming 0w-20 is not good for him. Well…. that is up to him. Maybe the BITOG oil experts can help him find a SM rated 10w-30?
 
Just to add, while these SkyActiv engines rev up quickly, for the most part they have a easy life. Even on the highway the RPMs are low.


If the car is going to be tracked or similar then a step up in grade would be prudent. For everyday driving including some higher throttle episodes like going up long hills for example, a 0w-20 will do the job. Even in hotter climates it will be fine.

I tend to believe that the temperature charts we see for oil grade recommendations are remnants of the past when straight grades were the norm.
Notice the ambient temperature charts for each viscosity all have the same max temperature. That ambient temp chart is for the low temperature only.
 
No, the OP is in the Oregon High Desert, and may be moving further south where they have "Mexico-like" weather, but the OP is not in Mexico from what I read.

I got fooled as well. I’ve been in that part of the country. I ran 0w-20. No need to change.
 
Just how much slower do you have something to offer us like maybe a 1/4 miles ET and speeds?
Didn't track or race the car so I cant comment on oil thinned to track temps, but for a relatively low hp, light, manual trans car the engine felt like it was losing hp and hesitant to rev on WOT with the near 40 weight oil. If I still owned the car I would never use M1 ESP 5w30 or a Xw40 for street. The UOA I posted was before putting in the 5w30. I drove the car hard and 0w20 was fine. If one insists on a 5w30 I wouldn't use anything else besides API SP "eco" thin 5w30 for street.
 
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I don’t fear it but a somewhat higher HT/HS is a tangible benefit in my book. And I’ve never felt the car being “slower” with a 30-grade.
Are u running euro 5w30 in an ND miata? It's noticeable in a 2300lb low hp car. I was of the same opinion as you until I ran it and didn't like it the performance and feel of the motor.
 
No, the OP is in the Oregon High Desert, and may be moving further south where they have "Mexico-like" weather, but the OP is not in Mexico from what I read.

It's not the Mexico-like weather and not as extreme as places close to the equator, his worries are just silly at this point, Oregon rarely touches 90F it seems and still has a fairly moderate yearly temperature spread. Most places see freezing temps from Oct-April:

 
It's not the Mexico-like weather and not as extreme as places close to the equator, his worries are just silly at this point, Oregon rarely touches 90F it seems and still has a fairly moderate yearly temperature spread. Most places see freezing temps from Oct-April:



I’ve been around Eastern Oregon from the central high desert to the barren southeast. It gets a lot hotter than 90°F. It also drops to below zero in many places.

This is a huge area. There are vast desolate parts once you get outside of the towns.
 
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