The fancy, snobby name for GDI.
oil recommendations
- Thread starter 1978elcamino
- Start date
The fancy, snobby name for GDI.
Is it not rated for 0W-20? Ours is.
Your knowledge is greatly appreciated here. Thank you.
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- Apr 22, 2016
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No, this one is the regular 2.5L non turbo. 5w30 Dexos right on the oil fill cap.
Sorry, I had the Yukon on the brain. Our cap says 5W-20. The manual says 0W-20 is ok for cold climates and something about 5W-30 for the 3.6L.
Japanese
$50 site donor 2026
Valvoline R&P could be a forever oil with no issues, depending on the use of the truck, because that oil is run in other trucks & SUV on here, even turbocharged. However, in this application oil with higher HTHS would be better. The Colorado runs 2.5L 4 cyl. engine in a 4x4 application and about 4,000 lbs. curb weight truck with gross weight going to about 5,500 lbs.
I run the same displacement (Camry) engine 2.5L 4 cyl (FWD) in a vehicle with curb weight about 3,000 lbs. Yes, the engine has plenty of torque. It's one the largest 4 cyl. engines on the market today but the transmission has a major role in that as well. I love 4 cyl. engines because they are always easy to maintain and service.
In this truck application the 6-speed transmission most likely has short gear ratios to accommodate for the small displacement engine and the vehicle's heavy weight (for that engine). So higher RPM are expected.
In this case we have two major goals:
• To make sure the engine is cleaned enough after running the SuperTech oil for about 100K miles—for that the VRP 5W-30 oil will do the best job. (Do we know how many miles the ST oil has been run to, regarding the OLM?) I'm also interested what the OLM would display when running VRP.
• To provide extra engine protection (in a small 4-banger that pulls heavy truck body) by using higher HTHS oil like Mobil 1 ESP 0W-30 or Mobil 1 FS 0W-40. These oils are not only with higher HTHS than the VRP oil, but also contain certain amount of PAO, GTL, and ester base oils that the VRP doesn't.
It's subjective which oil of the two is better FS 0W-40 or ESP 0W-40. However, the first one is easily available at Walmart in 5 qts jug for about $32. The second one comes only in 1 qt bottles and is significantly more expensive.
Mobil 1 FS 0W-40
(ESP 0W-30 is at the same price at Wlamart)
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Mobil-1-FS-European-Car-Formula-Full-Synthetic-Motor-Oil-0W-40-5-Quart/23636902?classType=VARIANT&athbdg=L1102&from=/search
Mobil 1 ESP 0W-40
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Mobil-1-127918-ESP-X4-0W40-Motor-Oil-6-Quarts/6779217026?classType=REGULAR&from=/search
Not it's not. ESP is a rock solid, stable , shear resistant PAO / Ester oil that doesnt shear out of spec in the first 500 miles.
Japanese
$50 site donor 2026
I don't know what you mean by "doesn't shear out of spec", but the full-SAPS FS 0W-40 has more robust additive package and is not restricted by emission requirements like the ESP oils.
Check this post and the entire thread as well:
Not often the first recommendation is the best, but I vote for this too. Clean it up with 4 runs of VRP, then either keep running VRP, run an excellent Euro oil like recommended here, or run AMSOIL SS or HPL PCMO for 10k+ based on UOAs.
I'd follow the advice here and use Carquest Premium, Microgard Select, or STP XL. NAPA Gold apparently good too again.
Unfortunately if you buy off the shelf oil, they use high winter ratings to cheap out on base oils. Now if OP was willing to buy AMSOIL or HPL, I’d absolutely recommend a 10W-30 or 15W-40 oil. Or in Florida, SAE 40 from HPL would be a great choice.
Patman
Staff member
It’s not a matter of needing the cold weather performance of a 0w, it’s more about the fact that a lot of 0w oils use a better base oil than the 5w version of that same oil. Case in point, Mobil 1 ESP 0w-30 vs it’s 5w-30
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