Lightest 0W-30 for winter use?

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ringmaster

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I am looking for a light-weight, high-quality 0W-30 synthetic for my Toyota 4.7L V8 truck engine. The factory manual calls for 5W-30 but my engine is regularly asked to start @ -10F and every UOA I have ever seen shows how easy these engines are on oil so I am sure a good 0W-30 will be more than robust enough. The goal is to have an oil with a very low temp pour point and and not go over ~10.5 cSt @ 100C in an attempt to help fuel milage as much as possible. Cost per unit of oil isn't a concern and I will use a max OCI of 6k miles or six months to ensure I don't get excessive fuel dilution from the extreme cold starts. I know people will tell me to use el cheapo oil for this application, it doesn't need a group V exotic oil, yadda, yadda, but I want to feed this beast the best possible oil smile Red Line 0W-30 is at the top of my list. Motul 8100 X-Lite looks very nice but it is quite a lot heavier than the Redline, really more like a 5W-30 (11.9 @ 100C!). The full-synthetic Toyota 0W-20 also appears to be a stellar oil but I am a bit concerned with running such a light oil in the 4.7L V8 due to the low HTHS number (it was designed for the 5.7L). Perhaps a 50/50 blend of Toyota synthetic 0W-20 and Red Line 0W-30 crzy Your thoughts and recommendations are requested. Thanks
 
That engine is back speced to 5W-20 for even a 2002. I will be pouring in M1 EP 5W-20 next spring for a 12-15K OCI. Chart should be posted shortly by Caterham. lol.
 
I was also guessing Mobil 1 as well, but like I said it's only a guess. Another suggestion for you would be to contact Toyota to check and see if their oil requirements have been superceded, and of so.... whether you can use 0w20. If so, the Toyota 0w20 should be the best pick for you followed by Mobil 1. A lot of it has to do with the viscosity index of these oils. (Caterham here has done some good research on the 0w20 weights) It can also depend on the model year of your truck. I do run 0w20 Quaker State UD syn oil in my Grand Marquis right now. It does normally call for a 5w20 (and the spec was 5w30 prior to the 2001 model year), but it has been running very well with the 0w20. I also found this post from the tundratalk.net website. Hope this will be a help to you as well.... http://www.tundratalk.net/forums/tundra-general-discussion/79689-engine-oil-5w-20-okay.html
 
Originally Posted By: mercuryblues
I was also guessing Mobil 1 as well, but like I said it's only a guess. Another suggestion for you would be to contact Toyota to check and see if their oil requirements have been superceded, and of so.... whether you can use 0w20. If so, the Toyota 0w20 should be the best pick for you followed by Mobil 1. A lot of it has to do with the viscosity index of these oils. (Caterham here has done some good research on the 0w20 weights) It can also depend on the model year of your truck. I do run 0w20 Quaker State UD syn oil in my Grand Marquis right now. It does normally call for a 5w20 (and the spec was 5w30 prior to the 2001 model year), but it has been running very well with the 0w20. I also found this post from the tundratalk.net website. Hope this will be a help to you as well.... http://www.tundratalk.net/forums/tundra-general-discussion/79689-engine-oil-5w-20-okay.html
Oops, Simple Gifts beat me to the punch. LOL! Thanks for your help SG!
 
Originally Posted By: simple_gifts
Let's keep this in house. http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=2454386&page=1
According that that chart Toyota only approves 5W-30 and 5W-20 for the 4.7L V8. I would prefer a 0W-XX oil for this application. I did look at the M1 AFE 0W-30 but the specs didn't exactly jump out at me. Is there any reason to think the M1 would be better than Red Line 0W-XX for this application?
 
Originally Posted By: SubLGT
M1 AFE 0W30 has an unimpressive VI of only 166.
...to Red Line's 183!
 
Originally Posted By: ringmaster
.......my engine is regularly asked to start @ -10F .....
-10F is around -23C, and I would think the -40C MRV spec would be relevant. Look for the 0W30 with the lowest MRV spec. The M1 0W30 MRV spec is 13,250.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: SubLGT
Originally Posted By: ringmaster
.......my engine is regularly asked to start @ -10F .....
-10F is around -23C, and I would think the -40C MRV spec would be relevant. Look for the 0W30 with the lowest MRV spec. The M1 0W30 MRV spec is 13,250.
What makes you say MRV is so important? MRV is about the safety of starting an engine at a particular temperature. It measures the likelihood of cavitating the suction side of the oil pump, and the "no shear stress" requirement is more important than the actual viscosity. CCS is about ease of starting at similarly cold temps. Any synthetic 5wXX or 0wXX oil should be fine from a safety and ease of starting perspective down to -10F. MRV and CCS performance are dominated by pour point modifiers, while time to reach the valvetrain is dominated by VI. If the OP had to start unaided (no block heater) at say -30*F, I'd be more concerned about MRV & CCS requirements and 5wXX vs 0wXX. If the OP had mentioned needing to rev the engine when cold, I'd also worry about MRV, but as long as he can warm the engine up gently I think VI is more important. Between the two oils mentioned, I'd go for RedLine. You'll have no trouble starting your car, and the 186 VI will help the oil get to the valvetrain sooner than M1 AFE. Of course Redline is substantially more expensive. Since we're talking about $10/qt boutique synthetics, I'll throw out RLI BioSyn 0w30 (VI of 193) and LiquiMoly Longtime 0w30 (VI of 186) as other possibilities. Really though, any good 5w30 or 0w30 synthetic will be fine. I don't know that your engine would really be able to tell the difference between M1 5w30 and 0w30. 5w30 is 11cst with a VI of 172 and 0w30 is 10.9cst with a VI of 166. Sure, at -30*C AFE 0w30 is the clear choice, but even a slight bit warmer the oils perform very similarly.
 
Originally Posted By: gpshumway
.................What makes you say MRV is so important?........
Because there is a correlation between MRV viscosities and oil pressurization time at below freezing temperatures. http://papers.sae.org/912337
 
M1 0w30 has lower HTHS than RL 0w30, 3.0 vs 3.2, and would provide a microscopic improvement in fuel economy. Unfortunately, Red Line doesn't put MRV in its data sheet, and Mobil doesn't put CCS in its sheet, so there is no way to compare cold flow characteristics. Mobil 1 0w30 has the lowest MRV that we know of on this board, at 13250 cP. Based on your criteria, M1 0w30, seems slightly better due to lower cost and better availability. RL 0w30 would be excellent, though, and you could thin it down to match M1's HTHS by mixing in a quart of RL 0w20. Hmmm....
 
The Subaru has never turned over so easily in cold temps as it has this winter running AFE 0w30. I'll be sticking with this oil year round (including severe service towing through summer).
 
My wifes 2011 Hyundai Santa Fe V6 calls for a 5W20... I think I will be using Mobil 1 AFE 0W30 in the Summer and 0W20 in the Winter...
 
The Motul X-Lite 0w30 is way to heavy with HTHS over 3.5. If you were towing I would *maybe* say you can run it. RLI 0w30 is equally as thick with HTHS of 3.6. It'll sap some gas mileage for sure. Redline's 0w30 is a stout formula, but please don't drain it in just 3k!
 
Originally Posted By: A_Harman
Based on your criteria, M1 0w30, seems slightly better due to lower cost and better availability. RL 0w30 would be excellent, though, and you could thin it down to match M1's HTHS by mixing in a quart of RL 0w20. Hmmm....
I think this is exactly what I will do; all Red Line, 5 parts 0W-30 and 2 parts 0W-20. This should get me right where I want to be!
 
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