How long till 5W-20 is the norm??

Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
Jul 19, 2005
Messages
623
Location
Pullman Wa
Usually you can't find 5w-20 in every oil brand at most places, wally world dosen't carry it in a few different brands. When will 5w-20 be a major player? I want to see 5w-20 supertech.
 
Why???

You can get Havoline 5W20, 1.58/Qt..
dunno.gif
 
quote:

Originally posted by toocrazy2yoo:
Why???

You can get Havoline 5W20, 1.58/Qt..
dunno.gif


I've never seen Havoline 5W20 at any of the Walmarts in my area. Plus, the other grades they DO carry are now about $1.90 a quart.

Still a good deal overall, I guess.
 
Havoline 5W-20 isn't available at WalMart, however, it is on sale at Advance Auto... I believe that's what toocrazy is referring to.
 
I think it will be a good long while before people shy away from 10w-30. It will continue to be the biggest seller for some time to come.
 
With Ford and Honda already onboard. Chrysler not far behind and Europe in the wings....it won't be long.

Now for most on this board (not including me) it will never happen
wink.gif
 
Not long at all. If the things that supposedly make 5W-20 so good (cooler running temps, Gr. II+, easier start-ups, better MPG, yada, yada,...then 0W-20 will find its way to the manufacturers' hearts, and quickly to the maintenance manuals.
 
If it wasn't OK to use, why would companies leave themselves naked for lawsuits by recommending it? Use it as recommended by the car manufacturer/oil maker with confidence.
 
Is Europe really in the wings for 5-20? Most are still recommending 40wts, although I think BMW is now at 5w30 and VW is planning to move down to 5w30, although these still carry ACEA A3-ratings, so I suspect they are heavy 30wts like GC. My Jetta recommends 5w40, which is the heaviest oil any car I've ever owned has recommended.
 
People keep forgetting that millions of cars and trucks have been running 5w20 for the last 15 to 20 years with no ill effect (5w30 dino, especially pre-SM, shears down to a 20 weight during the OCI).
 
quote:

Honda "recommends" 5W-20 strictly for economy reasons. For mechanical reliability, Honda still prefers the use of 10W-30 motor oil.

I suspect that if the average vehicle had a 500 pound reduction in weight, and the vehicles over 4000 had a 1000 pound reduction in weight, that all of the manufactures fleets could easily meet CAFE limits with whatever oil any manufacture relly wanted for long life.
 
Unfortunately, Mitch, it looks like manufactures are doing just the opposite (ex. New Jeep Wrangler or Toyota Rav4)

Personally, I don't think I could bring myself to use 5W20.
 
I'm with Mitch weight reduction is the key. I also think that more fuel efficient engines are also going to help quite a bit, which is what has been coming as time has progressed recently. A 2.3L 160hp engine making 24mpg city versus the 3.4L 170hp engine of the past that with 20mpg city is an example of how a smaller displacement with a naturally aspirited engine can make as more power in relation to displacement with better fuel economy.
 
If every commuter in the US would switch to a car that weighed at or below twenty five hundred pounds with a 1.5 litre engine, and the amateur politicans would stop playing games with trains and commuter lanes and start pouring concrete, the use of gasoline would take a big dive. People will not give up their cars, car pool, ride the train and, HOV lanes are a joke. On a 4-lane freeway with an HOV lane, you take 95%+ of the traffic that was in 4 lanes and put it into 3 lanes. Great idea. It does not work, never has, and these politicians keep doing it. We need to get out of our big cars, and they need to pour concrete. Next time I hear one of these tv talking heads present another hydrogen car of the future, I think I'm going to puke. We have discovered the problem, and it is us.

But wait, the problem is that not enough of us are running 5w-20 oil. Truth is that 5w-20 won't destroy your engine, and the GM exec incharge of gas mileage would sell his Grandmother to the Mustang Ranch for a tenth of mile per gallon imporvement in the CAFE rating.

And in the news today, GM's gross revenue was 192 billion. Big deal. Toyota was 191, oops. Better get some more of that 5w-20 oil, someone's catching up.
 
"Your presumption that "world companies" are universally recommending 5W-20 is divorced from the facts. Those that do (companies based in Japan and the U.S.) do so not because they're absolutely convinced of 5W-20's superior protection effectiveness, but because they're absolutely convinced if they don't they'll be bumping up against EPA imposed administrative fines for fleet excess fuel consumption."

I thought that, too, Ray, until a post last week from a fellow BITOGer, who pointed out that the 5W-20 oils in North America ARE a superior grade oil (Gr. II+/syn blend) relative to other countries's motor oils. So maybe Manufacturers do have confidence in the quality of N.A.'s 5W-20s. At least that was a reasonable reply to the question why the same Honda engine gets different visc recommendations - by Honda! - depending on which continent it is located in.
 
Once GM starts recommending 5w-20 for all their engines, I think you see the rest of the Japanese companies follow suit. That will probably happen within 1-3 years....

The Europeans don't even like the thinner 30wts, much less 5w-20.
 
quote:

Originally posted by Ray H:
In Japan's home and other world markets, Honda "recommends" 5W-20 strictly for economy reasons. For mechanical reliability, Honda still prefers the use of 10W-30 motor oil.

While the former may be stated in the owner's manual, the latter isn't, and is a giant assumption on your part.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top