I've been doing a lot of very short trips lately, and pretty much for the past 18-months or so. I don't see that changing much, if at all, in the near future.
I was curious to see if there's any oil more suited to such use, and I read several threads last night. I couldn't find any consensus of brand, spec, viscosity, or approvals, but it did seem that the best way to combat the deleterious effects of short tripping is to use good quality oil and change it frequently. I was hoping to find something that would inspire confidence when used for a year or so, but nothing jumped out at me.
My "official" change interval now is 5,000 miles or 6 months, and at 6 months that puts me at 3,500 miles. My next 6 month cycle will be next month, and the mileage won't even hit 3,000 miles, and I plan to change out the oil.
However, I thought I'd see if I've missed something. Most of my trips are 3-miles or less, and there are times when the water temp gauge doesn't even get up to normal operating range. I can't think of any solution other than frequent changes. For the foreseeable future, long highway drives are not in the picture.
Any thoughts?