Hi All,
I've heard of some guys switching to synthetic in the cold weather for the better flow characteristics at start up. Just wondering if anyone has actually proved less wear with a synthetic vs conventional by doing a UOA?
I'm more curious when temps are in the -5 to -10 celsius range. I expect it would be much more likely to show real benefits when it gets much colder than that.
Thanks!
Synthetic for winter?
- Thread starter gnr
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Can't be done. What synthetic of the proper viscosity will do at those temperatures is provide easier starting, better fuel economy (that really can't be measured), and maybe quicker warm-up.
You will smash the vehicle, it will rust through, or you will get rid of it long before you will recognize any gains in wear which you would have to tear the engine down to measure.
You are welcome.
Oil Changer is mostly right for us here in the rust belt. I think the best benefits are what he states. I know many GM manuals state to run synthetic when there is extreme cold. I think that means -20C or less. Of course many newer cars require synthetic all the time anyway, at least a semi-synthetic.
I do it just to have a car that starts easier. It preserves the amps in the battery so you have more leeway in the cold.
Last Winter I used 0W20 Acura SM. It started much easier than Pennzoil Platinum 5W20 I have in the sump now.
So I can imagine in my small car in -25degC weather with dino 5W20 my battery would really struggle.
Originally Posted By: Oil Changer
Can't be done. What synthetic of the proper viscosity will do at those temperatures is provide easier starting, better fuel economy (that really can't be measured), and maybe quicker warm-up.
You will smash the vehicle, it will rust through, or you will get rid of it long before you will recognize any gains in wear which you would have to tear the engine down to measure.
You are welcome.
You should consider the low temperature properties of the oils available in grades that suit your engine.
Some are better than others.
For example, M1 AFE offers much better low temperature performance in the 0W-20 grade than PP or QSUD even though the SOPUS oils are thinner at 40C and 100C and have about the same VI.
If ease of cold weather starting is your goal, then you should look for oils with good cold specs which may or may not lead you to a synthetic.
If PQIAs results are representative, either QSGB or PYB in 5W-20 would have better cold performance than a number of 5W-20s labeled as synthtetics and there isn't much to choose between QSGB and QSUD or PYB and PP in terms of cold performance.
I got the figures for PP and QSUD from the Shell EPC site.
If you compare these oils using Shell's numbers and ignoring PQIAs, there is also not much difference between them as a group in cold performance although the syns look a little better.
You can certainly hear it turnover easier with synthetic oil.
I used to think that synthetic was magic for very cold weather.
I'm not sure how to account for the Focus cranking more easily on a syn blend 5W-30 than the Accord does on a syn 0W-20 on those -10F mornings we've had a few of this winter.
I realize that this is an apples to oranges comparison.
Originally Posted By: fdcg27
I used to think that synthetic was magic for very cold weather.
I'm not sure how to account for the Focus cranking more easily on a syn blend 5W-30 than the Accord does on a syn 0W-20 on those -10F mornings we've had a few of this winter.
I realize that this is an apples to oranges comparison.
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