You guys crack me up if you can tell a 5/30 vs 20/50 I'll buy you lunch. The dif is at most 1-2% hp YOU can NOT feel that it is all placebo effect MY Opinion no reply needed.
bruce
bruce
Oil viscosity and if you can feel the difference?
- Thread starter Fordiesel69
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Grab your wallet, I have a hankering for some Steak Diane.
Me to come on over I'll fill you car and you tell ME what it is. Or I'll send a couple pails to you and run it.
actually the brandy is the best part.
bruce
actually the brandy is the best part.
bruce
When Maxlife full syn was clearanced at $2.00 a quart, I bought three oil changes worth. I most certaily noticed that my car was not as responsive with Maxlife full syn compaired to the Mobil 1 I ran in it before and after. Both were rated at 5W30.
I have 6 qts of Maxlife syn I will trade anyone in my area for some Sl ,Sm energy conserving 5w30.
How about if we forget the oil and just send a couple of pails of Brandy.
I could not tell the difference between 5w20 and 5w30 in my '99 F150 with the 4.6. When I ran 5w40, I did notice a difference in that the truck felt sluggish. After running each of the oils for 1 year periods to even out any variation in driving / weather / etc... I ended up with over a 5% decrease in fuel mileage running 5w40. That was not "in my head".
(FWIW, my '88 Jeep Cherokee noted no change in fuel mileage between 5/10w30 and 5w40 oils, again over long time periods).
I would argue (as others have) differences are engine and driving habit specific. No one size fits all generalization.
(FWIW, my '88 Jeep Cherokee noted no change in fuel mileage between 5/10w30 and 5w40 oils, again over long time periods).
I would argue (as others have) differences are engine and driving habit specific. No one size fits all generalization.
I need to make a correction to my correction. Decided to use current data this time.
Code:
T(C) TA 5w30 * Gold GC 0W30
0° 549 615
10° 286 322
20° 162 183
30° 99 112
40° 64.0 72.3
50° 43.6 49.2
60° 31.0 35.0
70° 22.9 25.7
80° 17.4 19.6
90° 13.6 15.3
100° 10.9 12.2
HTHS 3.1 3.6
Code:
T(C) TA 5w30 * Gold GC 0W30
0° 549 615
10° 286 322
20° 162 183
30° 99 112
40° 64.0 72.3
50° 43.6 49.2
60° 31.0 35.0
70° 22.9 25.7
80° 17.4 19.6
90° 13.6 15.3
100° 10.9 12.2
HTHS 3.1 3.6
When I was drag racing I could tell the difference between Castrol GTX 20W50 and Mobil 1 5W30. My bike would spin up faster with the 5W30. I could 60 foot better with the 5W30 and it was worth a couple of miles per hour at the far end.
Everything is a trade off though. With the M1 5W30 the bike would pit cams every other season. In my case I thought the reduced cam life was worth the "free" power.
Everything is a trade off though. With the M1 5W30 the bike would pit cams every other season. In my case I thought the reduced cam life was worth the "free" power.
I can tell you that I have not noticed a difference in Pennzoil 5w-30 versus the new GC 0w-30 we put in a V6 Tacoma.
I CAN tell the difference from GC 0w-30 to Maxlife synthetic 10w-30 in another V6 engine, truck did not want to climb into higher RPM's as easily as it does with Maxlife synthetic and just overall ran terrible with the GC, BUT that may have had something to do with this truck had never before ran a synthetic and that was at around 150k mile mark.
I CAN tell the difference from GC 0w-30 to Maxlife synthetic 10w-30 in another V6 engine, truck did not want to climb into higher RPM's as easily as it does with Maxlife synthetic and just overall ran terrible with the GC, BUT that may have had something to do with this truck had never before ran a synthetic and that was at around 150k mile mark.
Heres an absolute non scientific test, but might just tell you about oil weights.
I have a 98 f150 with the 4.6L v8. Last winter I was running 0w30 GC. I have a compustar remote starter. In the dead of winter, it would not start with the starter. It isn't a battery problem, its just the fact that the remote starter doesn't crank the engine enough to allow it to start, it gives up too fast.
This season i'm running 5w20 motorcraft oil, it starts up right away with the starter.
I have a 98 f150 with the 4.6L v8. Last winter I was running 0w30 GC. I have a compustar remote starter. In the dead of winter, it would not start with the starter. It isn't a battery problem, its just the fact that the remote starter doesn't crank the engine enough to allow it to start, it gives up too fast.
This season i'm running 5w20 motorcraft oil, it starts up right away with the starter.
Add another to the list of people getting a free lunch.
I switched from 5w30 in my 5.2 ZJ to 20w50 due to pressure dropping off at hot idle. I can absolutely tell a power difference, both cold AND hot.
Secondly, I lost 2 full mpg since the switch, on every tank. I went from 15-16 normal driving to 13-14. Period. No other changes, same gas stations, etc.
I switched from 5w30 in my 5.2 ZJ to 20w50 due to pressure dropping off at hot idle. I can absolutely tell a power difference, both cold AND hot.
Secondly, I lost 2 full mpg since the switch, on every tank. I went from 15-16 normal driving to 13-14. Period. No other changes, same gas stations, etc.
I can tell. Smaller engines w/higher revs seem to be more affected by visc.
What really surprised me was a difference between two oils within the same grade. I had been running Maxlife 10W-40 in a late model Buick; the car would have excellent performance on that oil.
Then one day it was time for an oil change and Walmart was out of stock of the tried and true Maxlife, so I grabbed a bottle of 10W-40 Havoline. I figured it was only 1 cSt thicker, so what the heck. The Maxlife being 13.9 cSt with the Havoline being 14.9 cSt @ 100C.
Well, as it turned out, the car would drive real sluggish with the Havoline. I couldn't believe it at first, I thought it was all in my head; but as I kept driving it, it became more and more apparent the difference in performance. So I drained it out. I decided to save it for the mower since I only had about 50 miles on it.
Walmart was still out of stock, so I went to the parts store and bought 3 quarts of Chevron 10W-30 along with 2 quarts of 10W-40 and mixed it. That dropped me down from 15 cSt to about 12 cSt. The performance was back! The car has its accelleration and torque back. I was absolutely dumbfounded by the apparent change in performance by a different grade of oil.
Then one day it was time for an oil change and Walmart was out of stock of the tried and true Maxlife, so I grabbed a bottle of 10W-40 Havoline. I figured it was only 1 cSt thicker, so what the heck. The Maxlife being 13.9 cSt with the Havoline being 14.9 cSt @ 100C.
Well, as it turned out, the car would drive real sluggish with the Havoline. I couldn't believe it at first, I thought it was all in my head; but as I kept driving it, it became more and more apparent the difference in performance. So I drained it out. I decided to save it for the mower since I only had about 50 miles on it.
Walmart was still out of stock, so I went to the parts store and bought 3 quarts of Chevron 10W-30 along with 2 quarts of 10W-40 and mixed it. That dropped me down from 15 cSt to about 12 cSt. The performance was back! The car has its accelleration and torque back. I was absolutely dumbfounded by the apparent change in performance by a different grade of oil.
Prominently posted at our cubicle:
In G*D We Trust
All Others Bring Data
Without Data You are Just Another Manager with an Opinion
In G*D We Trust
All Others Bring Data
Without Data You are Just Another Manager with an Opinion
Maxlife 10W-40 vs. Havoline 10W-40
Code:
Viscosity in cSt
TEMP MaxLife Havoline
C F 10W-40 10W-40
0 32 919 1120
10 50 457 544
20 68 249 290
30 86 147 168
40 104 92 104
50 122 61 68
60 140 42 47
70 158 31 33
80 176 23 25
90 194 17.6 18.9
100 212 13.9 14.8
.
VI Index 154 148
Over a range from about 68F up to 212F, full operating temperature, I think both Maxlife & Havoline 10W-40 are very similar in viscosity - actually too close to tell the difference in a true blind test.
I think the problem with some of these "butt dyno-meter" observations is that it takes 5-10 minutes for the crankcase oil to get up to full operating temperature.
Acceleration may be sluggish until the final operating temp is reached.
If the crankcase temps were only in the 150F temperature range when this butt dyno-meter observation was made, and Havoline 10W-40 is 2x times thicker than fully warmed-up(212F) MaxLife, then, sure, I can understand why the comment is made that Havoline is perceived to be thicker.
Code:
Viscosity in cSt
TEMP MaxLife Havoline
C F 10W-40 10W-40
0 32 919 1120
10 50 457 544
20 68 249 290
30 86 147 168
40 104 92 104
50 122 61 68
60 140 42 47
70 158 31 33
80 176 23 25
90 194 17.6 18.9
100 212 13.9 14.8
.
VI Index 154 148
Over a range from about 68F up to 212F, full operating temperature, I think both Maxlife & Havoline 10W-40 are very similar in viscosity - actually too close to tell the difference in a true blind test.
I think the problem with some of these "butt dyno-meter" observations is that it takes 5-10 minutes for the crankcase oil to get up to full operating temperature.
Acceleration may be sluggish until the final operating temp is reached.
If the crankcase temps were only in the 150F temperature range when this butt dyno-meter observation was made, and Havoline 10W-40 is 2x times thicker than fully warmed-up(212F) MaxLife, then, sure, I can understand why the comment is made that Havoline is perceived to be thicker.
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