OW-16 vs 0W-20 viscosity specs - does it really matter.

[tolian21]

I wondered if I didn't get a 0W20 instead of 0W16 in our hybrid when we had dealer service the Highlander??

Lol, thats another thing to consider. Customers dont see their cars being worked on at the dealer, who knows if invoice matches the actual oil in the car? Especially if its from bulk barrels…

 

[Triple3 in Mo.]

I am really considering going to 0w20 from 0w16 in our Rav 4. 0w20 HPL, as I don't really see any problems using the 20 grade over the 16 and, gives me a bit more peace of mind with the hot summer months coming up.

 

[JohnnyJohnson]

I am really considering going to 0w20 from 0w16 in our Rav 4. 0w20 HPL, as I don't really see any problems using the 20 grade over the 16 and, gives me a bit more peace of mind with the hot summer months coming up.

Certainly the CAFE Police will be after you night and day they are relentless! 30 grade would likely put you on the most wanted list.

 

[Bill7]

As I stated up above, it used to be 5W20 VS 5W30. Now we have evolved to 0W16 VS 0W20. Let the "thick vs thin" debates begin!

Not really. Many of us on this forum only use 30 weight oils (no matter what the CAFE influenced owners manual recommends) as we googled HTHS wear graph, and found that any oil with HTHS < 2.6 causes exponentially high engine wear. Even 20 weight oils start out at the marginal HTHS = 2.6, but will shear and get thinner during the oil change interval, going into the high wear danger zone.

 

[ZeeOSix]

Many of us on this forum only use 30 weight oils (no matter what the CAFE influenced owners manual recommends) ...

A xW-30 will work well in just about anything. If there was only one oil viscosity in the world, it would have to be 0W-30 (the 0W to cover all the cold climates).