Kia Sorento 3.5

[211311]

Girlfriend has a Kia Sorento. What do you guys think would be the best oil choice for this engine? The owners manual goes anywhere from a 5w20-5w30-10w30-10w40-20w40-20w50. I have been using Havoline 10w40 for about a year. Would the Trop-Artic 10w30 blend also be a good choice? Thanks!

 

[drums57]

Havoline 10w30 all year long.

 

[The Critic]

5w-20.

Thinnest possible in this time of high gas prices.

Michael

 

[jbas]

There have been several recent threads on the Hyundai 3.5L (which is what your Kia has). As is typical here, opinion as to viscosity all over the board from 0w30 to 15w40.

I have this engine and personally like Pennzoil's 10W-40 summer/10W-30 winter, in a dino. The Pennzoil 10W-40 is thinner than most 10W-40s. Of course, I'm signed up for the free Pennzoil 250K warranty, so I'm bias-selective. IMO the 3.5L likes 10w30 or thicker visc.

I would think the Trop Artic 10w30 syn-blend would be a good match. The Trop sells for $1.12 at my WalMart and $1 at a nearby Dollar Tree.

 

[fred0803]

Thinnist possible???
Give good advice, not a political statement.

With that statement, everyone on the planet should use 5/20 for it's supposed incremental milage gain.

But damaging your engine is not important too.
Changing driving habits alone would save 20% gas if "everyone" didn't floor the car, used cruise control and didn't go over the speed limit ever, and coasted to stop signs and so on.

10/30 trop artic or Motorcraft Semi year round.

 

[The Critic]

quote:

---

Originally posted by fred0803:
Thinnist possible???
Give good advice, not a political statement.

With that statement, everyone on the planet should use 5/20 for it's supposed incremental milage gain.

But damaging your engine is not important too.
Changing driving habits alone would save 20% gas if "everyone" didn't floor the car, used cruise control and didn't go over the speed limit ever, and coasted to stop signs and so on.

10/30 trop artic or Motorcraft Semi year round.

---

No, what I meant was that if 5w-20 was allowed by Kia for his temp. range, then by all means use it.

I didn't tell him to use something that wasn't allowed by the manufacturer, I simply said that if 5w-20 was allowed for his app, then use it. There's no reason to use anything thicker than is necessary.

Michael

 

[211311]

Can't find anymore Dollar Tree Trop-Artic. Wal-Mart has Havoline and Trop-Artic at about the same price, which would be better in this vechicle for 4,000 mi changes. 10w30. Thanks.

 

[Ray H]

211311, I'd put my money on the TropArtic based on what ConocoPhillips printed about their syn-blends before they were released late last year. (In fact I did - to the tune of 78 quarts.) However, having said that, you could not possibly go wrong with Havoline, either, based on both price and consistently fine UOA results submitted to BITOG's used oil analysis forum. There really aren't any bad motor oils available in the U.S. and Canada as long as they're listed as "SM"/"GF-4", by the way.

 

[jbas]

"There really aren't any bad motor oils available in the U.S. and Canada as long as they're listed as "SM"/"GF-4", by the way."

True methinks. I just got back from WalMart and WalMart's 5 qt. jug sells for $4.97, and SM/SL/SJ et al rated. Don't know if it was GF-4. WalMart's 5 qt. "full synthetic" (Grp. III) was $11.88.

 

[211311]

Ray H, I cleaned out the dollar tree of 29 qts. of Trop-Artic synblend. Before that, Havoline user. Could I blend the two?

 

[theguru]

These motors seem to like 40 weight oils.

 

[211311]

The dollar tree has only Trop-Artic 10w40 left. Would it be ok to mix it with the TA synblend 10w30 and use it in the Sorento?

 

[theguru]

Yes you could, but you could go with either and they would be ok. If you mix maybe go 50/50 for a mid 30w approx.