I'm getting so sick of people saying how slow their car feels on one oil or another, and how much fuel mileage they lost. I devised a little test. I live in Youngstown, OH. Test car was a 2006 Cobalt with the 2.2 ecotec engine. Amsoil filter was used for both changes. Drive type and weather was very consistent between fills. (Between 5F and 40F) It consisted of a couple 10 mile trips per day. Usually about 40 miles total. Car specifies 5w30 in usual GM fashion. Tires were studded snows and filled to 30 psi for the entirety of the test. Car had 82,000 miles at the start of testing.
Findings; over 3000 miles on each fill (about 75 days worth of driving). The 5w-20 averaged 26.2 MPG total, and the 20w-50 turned in 26.0 MPG. Honestly, this is close enough to be within statistical noise. i could have bwen giving more gas with the thicker oil because the engine ran smoother and with less noise. Hand calculated at each fuel stop. Car never made terrible noises upon startup, and actually ran much smoother on the thick stuff. Because this is bitog, and you all have to know, Pennzoil conventional was the oil used in both fills.
I should have done used oil analysis but I couldn't justify spending $50 to look at oil in a weight I don't really plan to use again. Take it with a grain of salt, but it seems to me oil is pretty much just oil, and just about any modern oil in just about any weight will not cause an engine to explode like some here like to believe.
PS; please don't shoot me for daring to use 20w-50 in the winter months.
Findings; over 3000 miles on each fill (about 75 days worth of driving). The 5w-20 averaged 26.2 MPG total, and the 20w-50 turned in 26.0 MPG. Honestly, this is close enough to be within statistical noise. i could have bwen giving more gas with the thicker oil because the engine ran smoother and with less noise. Hand calculated at each fuel stop. Car never made terrible noises upon startup, and actually ran much smoother on the thick stuff. Because this is bitog, and you all have to know, Pennzoil conventional was the oil used in both fills.
I should have done used oil analysis but I couldn't justify spending $50 to look at oil in a weight I don't really plan to use again. Take it with a grain of salt, but it seems to me oil is pretty much just oil, and just about any modern oil in just about any weight will not cause an engine to explode like some here like to believe.
PS; please don't shoot me for daring to use 20w-50 in the winter months.
