It's small beans but we burn something like 390 million gallons of gas per day in the USA. A small reduction is still a small percentage, but a large absolute number. Meaningless for the individual no doubt about that.
Increase in MPG=Better engine protection?
- Thread starter mahanddeem
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When I tried Rotella T6 Mutli Vehicle 5W30 in my Acura, the engine seemed sluggish right from the get go. Drove around for acouple days -- drained it and went right back to 0W20 and performance wise -- it was right there again. When its your vehicle -- you know -- unless you drive like a really old man/woman at "all times!!!"
Do you mean the engines get different mileage due to design or condition?
Surely not due to using different motor oil brands. That would defy physics.
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Well a reason does exist why classes like Pro Stock in Drag Racing were the entire field is qualified within a few hundredths of a second use 3 Grade Oil. It does free up some power.
I have no doubt that 0W-16 will improve MPG over SAE 70; especially from a 40F Cold Start but the question is how much difference can really be proven between two 5W-30 3.04 HTHS oils that are both SP GF-6A? I find it dubious that in uncontrolled conditions any difference could be proven. The up to 20% difference in day to day mpg difference in the same commute makes it hard to separate hundredths of a mpg from the noise.
You cannot, this is correct. I once linked an article that detailed how difficult (impossible really) it is to make comparable measurements in real-world fuel economy. One thing the article noted was that in order to even get close you needed to use standardized test fuel since the energy content of gasoline even at the same station varied by up to 4%. This right there blows out any smaller change one might observe.
As is always the case, detecting or measuring something is the easy part. Attributing it to an isolated variable is the much more difficult aspect.
Assumption of all things equal is a big assumption unless this was a direct study in a controlled environment and not over an OCI for each brand driven on the road.
Things like brand of fuel used, octane rating of fuel, outside temperature, driving conditions, car maintenance etc.. can all impact mileage. If both 5W30 oils are made to the same spec then the difference on MPG's should be marginal. It is likely something else impacting the results IMO.
I just looked up the TSB from Ford regarding the switch to 5w-20. It didn't quote any fuel economy percentages. The Ford TSB for the switch from 10w-30 to 5w-30 indicated a fuel savings of 1/2 percent so the 0.6% is probably accurate. I did read a bulletin from Ford years ago that stated the switch from 10w-30 to 5w-30 netted a 2% to 5% increase in economy but I cannot locate that bulletin to verify.
Friction and wear have no linear relation. You can have friction without wear, with little wear, and with a lot of wear. You can also have wear without friction, due to chemical reasons.
So no, you can't say an oil which provides less fuel consumption is better protecting. But you also can't say it isn't
So no, you can't say an oil which provides less fuel consumption is better protecting. But you also can't say it isn't
I understand your logic -- I never clarified anything about MPGs though. I only had the oil in service about 3 days in the Acura. Thing is, the Ram & Baja in signature both are on a steady diet of T6 MV 5W30 and run great. Never ran a 20 weight oil in either of those vehicles though.
x 50 million cars = CAFE.
Started using Redline 5w30 with M1 0w30 and mpg has improved. I'm guessing better sealing. This will be my continued blend til 500,000 miles or a deer
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Started using Redline 5w30 with M1 0w30 and mpg has improved. I'm guessing better sealing. This will be my continued blend til 500,000 miles or a deer
A member here years ago said a thicker oil can provide better ring seal making the engine run more efficiently.
How are you able to measure, and then attribute this increase to Redline oil when accredited laboratories cannot do it?Started using Redline 5w30 with M1 0w30 and mpg has improved. I'm guessing better sealing. This will be my continued blend til 500,000 miles or a deer
That Redline must be even more magical than most people think, considering that grade-for-grade the HTHS is higher than any other oil.
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I havent had to add any oil.
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