Originally Posted By: JOD
Regarding the original question, I've never seem elevated oil temperatures while sitting in traffic in hot weather. The oil just doesn't seen to get that hot while sitting and idling, no matter the ambient temperatures.
I think it's an unfortunate relic of the "Stop. Go. Pennzoil" marketing from years ago. Oil companies like to paint a very bleak picture of your oil cooking while sitting in stop and go traffic. This reasonates very well with people, because people CAN cook while sitting in stop and go traffic. The A/C doesn't work as well, we see the heat rising from cars around us, etc. We tend to imagine that the engine is experiencing the same feeling we are, but it's often not the case. Stop and go traffic, as stated earlier by myself and others like CATERHAM and JOD, is not "hard" on oil, contrary to what we might believe.
Use 0W- or 5W-20 oil in it without hesitation. I'm just around the corner from you in Fayetteville, which gets at least as hot as Charlotte (usually 2-3 degrees warmer) and my engines see 0W-20 oil year-round.