North American Vehicles that spec’d 5w50 from the factory

[barkingspider]

In cases like this where the spec for a non-expensive car is such, I wonder how many quick lube places or even Ford dealerships just filled it with the bulk 0W20 or maybe 5W30 they had on hand for the oil change special.

Unfortunately, I think this happens often.

 

[YZJB]

I didn’t know that! I’m a big fan of Focus RS, if I ever got one I would not feel comfortable running a 5w50, I would rather run a 0w40 or 5w40, probably something from HPL

They specified 5W-50 in USA because there’s no Motorcraft 0W-40 A3/B4. The engine as you know is based on the Mazda L family and the RS 2.3L specifically had a lot of work done to it by Cosworth in the UK. So the European oil specs came first, then America had to find a Motorcraft product which was close enough lol.

I ran Castrol Edge 0W-40 in them for years. These days I run Shell Helix Ultra 5W-40 (which is the same as your Pennzoil Ultra Platinum). Porsche A40 is really what the Ford spec seems to align with, and the SHU has A40 approval. Engines seem to love it.

 

[SimpleSyrup]

Here’s a thread for the thickies at Bitog. It’s for vehicles that spec’d 5w50 in the factory owners manual.

Here are two screen shots from the factory owners manual for the 2022 Ford Mustang GT 500, which I believe is the last GT500 built. ( correct me if I’m wrong).

The manual specs 5w50 and for cold weather it spec’s 0w40. Feel the thickie love.

View attachment 259531View attachment 259532

0W 40 for those times when you want to get the rear wheel drive out for the snow

 

[RevvCats]

Yeah, must have been a CAFE thing. In the opposite direction. Mustang GT’s called for 5W20 in 2018-2020 with a special notice to use 5w30 for track use. In 2021 and newer Mustang GT’s they called for 5w30, even for track use.

What funny is if you call Ford Performance they’ll tell you 5w-50 for any coyote going to the track. If you look at the specs for Motorcraft 5w-50 it’s a thick 50, almost a 60 weight oil out of the bottle.

That could be an interesting back to back test, run the FP recommended 5w-50 one day and the Ford recommended 5w-30 the next to see its there’s a any noticeable jump in wear metals.