It was noted here a long time ago that cars in the U.S. spec thinner oils for CAFE standards while the same car and engine in Europe will spec a heavier oil and longer OCI.
Not sure about longer OCIs ... I mean USA car OMs are calling out 10K+ mile OCIs for engines specing 0W-16 and xW-20. Heavier oil outside the USA because the engineers are not tied-down by CAFE and spec thicker oils to give more engine wear protection.It was noted here a long time ago that cars in the U.S. spec thinner oils for CAFE standards while the same car and engine in Europe will spec a heavier oil and longer OCI.
I don't believe it has been seen in the wild yet.Any VOA of the M1 FS 0w40 API SP?
Sounds like lots of common sense going on "down under". Different oils for different temperature ranges. I like it. These cars/engines are similar to everywhere else, so in theory they took should have the same choices I would think. Tell us which one you picked.The last time I was regularly changing my own oil, I owned 1998 and 2003 Hondas. I then moved from the US to Australia, bought 2012 and 2016 Hondas, and no longer had a garage, so I've had the oil changed by my mechanic. Now I have a garage again and it's time for some oil changes, so I pulled out my owner's manuals and found something surprising: my recollection is that my older Hondas recommended one oil weight for cold conditions, and one for warmer ones. My new ones recommend from 1 to 4 possible weights across three different temperature ranges. For example, this is from my 2012 Honda Jazz (Fit) manual:
-30 to +40C: 0W-30, 0W-40, 5W-30, 5W-40
-20 to +40C: 10W-30, 10W-40
-15 to +40C: 15W-40
The manual itself gives no indication of how I would choose between these, other than the operating temperature conditions. Needless to say, where I live in Australia the lowest winter temperature might be 0C on a couple of days, which suggests that I could choose any of these 7 weights of oil! My mechanic used 5W-30 at the last change. The car has 166k kms on it, I've only owned it for 2 years and have no prior service records. So: what else should I take into consideration here, when choosing an oil weight?
I think they probably get a bit of everything there. Would love to see the scenery and mountains but skip the Jurassic Park wildlife they got down there. No Crocs or cobra for me.Do they ever get Snow in Australia?
I went with 10W-30. I don't know if there's any reason to try a -40 next time. Maybe a good idea since the car is over 100k miles, and I have a suspicion that it may have been thrashed a bit before I got it. I haven't done a compression test though.Sounds like lots of common sense going on "down under". Different oils for different temperature ranges. I like it. These cars/engines are similar to everywhere else, so in theory they took should have the same choices I would think. Tell us which one you picked.
So you didn't read the thread at all, then?How about what is recommended in the owners manual?