New Civic - Oil recommendations

[zb11]

Hey you guys, thanks for the feedback. I made this post at lunchtime and when I checked in again there were all these replies. All comments are most appreciated. I've learned more from this site in a couple of hours than weeks of reading oil vendor materials.

Keep it up.....

 

[Cerbera LM]

Another vote for 5w-20, dino is more then good enough and much cheaper. I use Exxon and buy a used oil analysis every now and then. Here are the results of Exxon 5w-20 in my Civic.

 

[pbm]

Cerbera LM: I have run Exxon 5/20 in my 01' Accord 4 cyl. and I love the 'feel'of it. The car runs great on it.

Question to all: How much cold starting improvement when using Mobil 1 0w20 vs. Exxon 5w20 conventional? What I mean is would 0/20 syn. vs. 5w20 conventional make any difference (in wear) in a NY winter where 0* is about the coldest temperature?

 

[uconn1150]

Ugh! It simply depends. Thin? Thick? It's probably one of the greatest debates here at BITOG. CAFE has done a lot over the past few years and now everyone is confused? There is an older post here where Honda USA says to use 5w-20, but Honda Europe says to use 40w/same with Honda Australia. The poster even scanned the manual? IS viscosity truly important? As Guru Terry will tell you, ANALYZE your oil! Only then you will know.

As for my JDM Honda B16 in Hotter than Heck Texas, it enjoys Schaeffer's 15w40. It revs very freely all the way up to 7800 rpm...bouncing off the rev-limiter...LOL...I did run some 10w30 during my Auto-RX phase and I did not see/feel any difference when I went to 15w40.

Don't worry, when it blows up because of the thicker oil, I will post pictures, however my analysis paints a different picture. Now I know.

 

[Gary Allan]

Remember, it's a Honda ..and anything they tell you is for your own good ..not like the other companies. The others do it to deceive you and have greedy reasons for doing so.

 

[pbm]

quote:

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Originally posted by Gary Allan:
Remember, it's a Honda ..and anything they tell you is for your own good ..not like the other companies. The others do it to deceive you and have greedy reasons for doing so.

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Honda can be greedy too. My owners manual states "use only Honda brand this and use only Honda brand that." They'd have you use Honda brand windshield washer fluid if they could get away with it.

 

[Crashbox]

quote:

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Originally posted by pbm:

quote:

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Originally posted by Gary Allan:
Remember, it's a Honda ..and anything they tell you is for your own good ..not like the other companies. The others do it to deceive you and have greedy reasons for doing so.

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Honda can be greedy too. My owners manual states "use only Honda brand this and use only Honda brand that." They'd have you use Honda brand windshield washer fluid if they could get away with it.

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OTOH, Hondas -CAN- be rather particular about some of their vital fluids, e.g., power steering and antifreeze. I own a '95 Civic, albeit with manual steering. I do use gen-u-ine Honda anti-freeze; other fluids- well- I try to use the best aftermarket stuff available.

 

[uconn1150]

quote:

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Originally posted by Gary Allan:
Remember, it's a Honda ..and anything they tell you is for your own good ../snip

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Just depends where you are at. Honda Japan says 1 thing, Honda USA says another, Honda Europe says what Honda Japan says, and Honda Australia says the same as Japan and Europe....I'll take what 3/4 say...smells like CAFE to me.

 

[1999nick]

quote:

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Originally posted by uconn1150:

quote:

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Originally posted by Gary Allan:
Remember, it's a Honda ..and anything they tell you is for your own good ../snip

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Just depends where you are at. Honda Japan says 1 thing, Honda USA says another, Honda Europe says what Honda Japan says, and Honda Australia says the same as Japan and Europe....I'll take what 3/4 say...smells like CAFE to me.

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On the other hand, it is a proven fact, with all of the used oil analysis and testamonials of owners with over 180,000 miles on 0W20 and 5W20 that this oil works just fine for longevity, so why not enjoy more fuel economy at the same time? Why pay the price of pumping 15W40 when these engines are obviously headed for a 300,000 mile life on 5W20?

 

[buster]

Hey, I just put Mobil 1 0w-20 in my 2.4L Accord. I had GC in before. Go with the 20wt! I thought the GC might not feel all that different but it did. I even switched gasoline to make sure it wasn't that. Engine was quiet and smooth with GC, but much more sluggish. The 20wts have proven themselves. Today's 20wt oils are out performing higher viscosity grades.

 

[joee12]

I personally use either Honda or Exxon 5W20, they are the same oil. Another great choice would be Havoline 5W20. I have been on the board for a long time, and have done much analysis of different 5W20 oils. They work great, and IMO all the "hype" and "fear" surrounding 5W20 has been debunked.

 

[ruking77]

I really like the Mobil 1 0w20, in a 2004 Honda Civic VP with app 16,000 miles.

I would read your owners manual as the intervals recommended are: severe (5k) and normal (10k). I fall in the normal interval. So I did the 10,000 mile interval on Honda 5w20 oem oil. Also the normal interval recommends every other oil change for the oil filter, i.e. 20k. So far I have 6,000 miles on the Mobil 1 and notice a range of .5 to 3 mpg better. Obviously your results will vary.

 

[JRHAWK9]

I use Mobil Drive Clean 5000 5w20 in my '05 Civic....

 

[Don Stefanik]

A little off topic.
I just bought my daughter a 98 Honda Civic with the 2.1.
I'm planning on puting in the 0W30 as I want her to get the best gas milage.
How do these civic's stand up over time. She had a Pontiac Grand Am and I was sick of fixing it all the time.

 

[jtantare]

You are all a bunch of cheese eating EPA surrender monkeys.

 

[Gary Allan]

Gosh, I don't think that I've ever been quoted this much in one topic ...ever.

 

[sands]

quote:

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Honda can be greedy too. My owners manual states "use only Honda brand this and use only Honda brand that." They'd have you use Honda brand windshield washer fluid if they could get away with it.

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Well said...My RC51 owners manual recommends Honda GN4 "motorcycle oil", one of the worst oils out there..The Honda 10W40 GN4 Shears down to a 20W real quick..Almost every test HTHS, 4 ball wear, evaporative stability ect ect shows that oil is at or near the bottom of the heap of available choices. And it's available for $4 or more per quart and ONLY available at the Honda dealership..Contrast this with better (much better) performing regular petro car oils in the same categories that cost a $1.50 and can be found almost anywhere..More people live near Walmarts than honda dealerships.

Yes, and it's a "motorcycle oil" that supposed to have something special in it to help protect the high demands of a motorcycle engine...Only partly true (motorcycle engines being demanding) but most conventional car oils show better test numbers...

Still can't figure out how they get away with charging $4 for the stuff...They all need to come to websites like this.

Don't get me wrong, Honda makes great products and I really like them...I've owned nothing but Honda motorcycles for the past 14 years...But Honda definitely did not make that oil.

 

[airbus]

Don,the 1998 Honda Civic is a GREAT car. It's extremely reliable. I had one once - sold it with 130,000 kms on it with no problems. I totally regret trading it in for my current 2001 Honda Civic. Honda redesigned the front suspension starting with the 2001 Honda Civic. It used to have probably one of the best suspension systems for any type of car regardless of price -now its got one of the worst (unreliable/rough). Honda quality,at least in the Civic line up,is not what it used to be.

 

[The Critic]

quote:

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Originally posted by Don Stefanik:
A little off topic.
I just bought my daughter a 98 Honda Civic with the 2.1.
I'm planning on puting in the 0W30 as I want her to get the best gas milage.
How do these civic's stand up over time. She had a Pontiac Grand Am and I was sick of fixing it all the time.

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Don,
That XL 5w-20 is awesome. No need to spend the extra $$$ with 0w-30.

Besides, that 5w-20 will give better fuel efficiency than the 0w-30, and not only that, the 0w30 will thicken up like crazy.

(dunno about API SM version though)

MW

 

[Stephie]

quote:

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Originally posted by Michael Wan:

quote:

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Originally posted by Ray H:
The 5w30 viscosity range relies less on VIIs than 5W-20 to maintain viscosity when hot.

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Ray,
I thought it was the opposite.

5w-20s use fewer VIs due to the lesser span???

Besides, Honda switched to 5w-20 if I recall correctly, due to the better flow and faster heat displacing.

Besides, aren't thinner oils more solvent?

Michael

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Michael,

Ray H has it right and you have it backwards and I'll provide the proof shortly. I do not know who started this "spread" nonsense but we can put an end to it now for good. If you take the viscosity numbers posted by ZoomZoom for the various Mobil 1 grades and plot them on a viscosity versus temperature chart, you will find that the oil with the flatest curve or least drop off in viscosity for given temperature rise is the 0W-20 grade. As you would expect, if you graph these on a logarithmic plot, the "curves" become quite linear and the plot that is most horizontal is 0W-20. Now, given the same type of basestocks, all BITogers should know that the oils with the least drop off in viscosity with temperature tend to have more VI additions. The 0W-20 grade is even flatter than the 15W-50 (35 point spread) indicating more propensity towards VI additions in the low "spread" oil....thje opposite of what you thought. Now let's take two oils with a 20 point "spread" as you would say Mike, the 0W-20 and the 10w30. At 0C, the 10w30 is 69% more viscous than the 0W-20 but at 100C, it is only 19% more viscous. What does this say Mike? IT says that at cold temperatures, the 0W-20 is way thinner but at high temperatures, it is not very much thinner indicating a much higher VI addition propensity despite having the same "Spread". The oils that don't thin out nearly as drastically have more VI propensity and that grade is 0W-20. I invite you to make the graphs and dispel the "spread" nonsense for yourself. In fact, a recent post by 1 FMF shows this effect also for Mobil 1 but only at high temperatures above 190F. The 0W-20 shows a higher Viscosity Index type behaviour as I said myself. It is more pronounced however throughout a wider temperature range like 0C to 100C.

Regards,
Stephanie