Toyota Hybrid Recommendations

As hybrids without turbochargers tend to produce varnish rather than sludge it makes sense to look for oils that mention resistance to varnish formation or resistance to NOx-oxidation (nitrooxidation) or suitability for use in hybrids. If I remember correctly Dexos oils have declared increased resistance to oxidation, however, this was always mentioned in the context of turbocharger protection i.e. high-temperature oxidation rather than NOx-oxidation. Does Dexos1-Gen3 approval include some tests for varnish formation or what is your motivation for looking for Dexos1-gen 3?
 
Firsts oil change by 1k miles and I would run a thicker oil. 5w-30 if the engine allows for it or 0w-20.
 
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With all the feedback thus far, my understanding is that any Euro spec oil would be better than a non Euro spec of a comparable grade. Does a move to a Euro spec oil seem like overkill for the normal hybrid use with a 5k OCI?
 
Euro spec oil provides you with an additional safety cushion - e.g. extended OCI due to some unforeseen circumstances, sustained high speed driving, highly spirited driving at elevated altitudes (mountain passes), etc.
With 5k OCI you should be perfectly fine with any API SP oil.
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While we aim for 5k OCI we sometimes end up with 7k to 10k, moreover, the Camry sometimes enjoys left lane of German highways (100 mph+), and my spouse enjoys spirited driving - narrow curvy roads leading to mountain passes provide you with marvelous sights, hot oil when going uphill and very hot brakes when going downhill (hybrid is heavy and engine braking has its limits).
 
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Bumping this back up, for those interested, M1 EP 0w-20 went in yesterday with an OEM filter. Plan to start doing UOA after completion of this OCI at 5k miles. Still not sure which oil I'll use long term but planning to experiment a bit with both 0w-20 & 0w-30 oils in coming years with the UOA as a guide for permanent direction.
 
Bumping this back up, for those interested, M1 EP 0w-20 went in yesterday with an OEM filter. Plan to start doing UOA after completion of this OCI at 5k miles. Still not sure which oil I'll use long term but planning to experiment a bit with both 0w-20 & 0w-30 oils in coming years with the UOA as a guide for permanent direction.
There’s nothing that a cheap spectrographic analysis is going to show that will illustrate whether a 20- or a 30-grade oil is better.
 
There’s nothing that a cheap spectrographic analysis is going to show that will illustrate whether a 20- or a 30-grade oil is better.
From my reading it seemed that there is indication of a "wear" cliff event existing somewhere between a min. HTHS of 2.6 & 2.9 whereby you see increased engine wear. I figure that could be reflected via UOA. Am I missing something/incorrect regarding this difference being visible?
 
From my reading it seemed that there is creedence indicating a "wear" cliff event exists somewhere between a min. HTHS of 2.6 & 2.9 whereby you see increased engine wear. I figure that could be reflected via UOA. Am I missing something/incorrect regarding this difference being visible?
Yes wear increases at about that HT/HS. The problem is that a UOA is not the tool to determine comparative wear. There are far too many uncontrolled variables in everyday driving to ascribe any observed change to one single variable. Wear comparison between oils is a test performed in a laboratory in a complicated test such as is contained in Sequence IVA and Sequence VII. What you’re trying to do is read something that’s deep in the noise for a spectrographic analysis.
 
Yes wear increases at about that HT/HS. The problem is that a UOA is not the tool to determine comparative wear. There are far too many uncontrolled variables in everyday driving to ascribe any observed change to one single variable. Wear comparison between oils is a test performed in a laboratory in a complicated test such as is contained in Sequence IVA and Sequence VII. What you’re trying to do is read something that’s deep in the noise for a spectrographic analysis.
Makes sense now. Suppose UOA would only be helpful with interval evaluation. That said, on the oil side I may switch to an 0w-30 in the summer for the HTHS improvement alone. It may just be peace of mind thing and not result in any meaningful benefit, who knows.
 
If I bought a Toyota calling for 0w8 I'd use a quality 0w20 synthetic like M1EP, PP, QS, Valvoline etc....and change it at 5 or 6K (depending on how much short trip driving was done). Fractional MPG gains are less important to me than long term durability and of course cost and availability of 0w20.
 
From my reading it seemed that there is indication of a "wear" cliff event existing somewhere between a min. HTHS of 2.6 & 2.9 whereby you see increased engine wear. I figure that could be reflected via UOA. Am I missing something/incorrect regarding this difference being visible?
This is especially valid for base oil properties. The anti-wear additives and partially also the friction modifiers prevent the increased wear regardless of the low HTHS, therefore crazy-low HTHS oil is capable of surprisingly low wear that matches oils with higher HTHS.
On the other hand, as the clearances are lower and the oil film thickness is reduced I believe with the lower viscosities it is more important to replace the oil before there is a lot of carbon in it.
If I remember correctly, in one of the studies (paper on the development of a new 0w-16 oil from Nissan) the difference in timing chain wear rates between a fresh oil and a used oil (15 000 km/10 000 miles) was 5 to 10 folds.
 
While being aware of the limitations of the Noack test, many 0w-16 had crazy-high Noack values and I expect with many 0w-8 we might see even higher Noack numbers. I am unsure that super high moly content, which is typical for many low-viscosity oils, is a "universal good" with no drawbacks.

I believe the viscosity and OCI need to be adjusted to the vehicle usage and while 0w8 and 0w-16 might be a reasonably good choice for a typical user, it is not necessarily the best choice for everyone.
The oil manufacturers are constantly improving the oils so I try not to be the early adopter with my cars. I decided to stay away from the 0w-16 the same way I stayed away from 0w-20 - until I was sure both the oil manufacturers and car manufacturers learned their lessons.

On the EU market the 2021 version of A25A-FXS had in the user manual "use 0W-16 only, you can use 0w-20 once ...", however for warranty purposes, viscosities 0w-16 to 5w-30 are accepted. Being a hybrid that sees a lot of city traffic including many short trips, and a lot of high-speed highway traffic we settled for 0w-20 and a reduced OCI. To be on the safe side I decided to use 0w-20 having approvals that demand above-average engine protection - my favorite approvals are MB229.71 or MB229.72. Unfortunately, there are no similar approvals for 0w-8 or 0w-16 that I would be aware of. With these "new" viscosities, you have to blindly trust the oil manufacturer and the selected product line.

Btw. Is there any SAE paper/presentation providing results of the Infeneum Camry Hybrid 2012 study? The study should have ended in 2016 and 0w-20 and 0w-16 were used. I managed to find only some brief interim results published in 2014/15 (message: engines after 100k look clean with 7.5K OCIs, fuel savings are measurable) and nothing more recent nor more detailed. In the previous study, the OCIs were short - around 3K and yet there was some varnish.
Hello, I know this is a old thread but I was wondering what brand oil that makes the 229.71 or 229.72. I thought I read somewhere mobile one made some kind of a EXP oil. Just wondered what you were using. Thank you
 
Hello, I know this is a old thread but I was wondering what brand oil that makes the 229.71 or 229.72. I thought I read somewhere mobile one made some kind of a EXP oil. Just wondered what you were using. Thank you
Just two examples:
MB229.71: Mobil 1 ESP X2 0W-20 - euro oil that meets "API SP engine tests" not the API SP RC as such (possibly due to elevated phosphorus content).

MB229.72: RAVENOL Eco Synth EFS SAE 0W-20 - formally meets API SP (RC).
 
I have 250,000 miles of experience with the 2.0L version of your engine, using plenty of 0W8.

I see you are in Indiana. Take a trip to Manteno or Kankakee and purchase a 5 gallon tub or two of High Performance Lubricants Premium Plus 0W8 motor oil.

Cut your costs even further by doing OCIs of AT LEAST 15k miles.

Any talk of fuel dilution is nonsense.

I state all of this unequivocally, based upon extensive personal experience.

Good luck.

30k miles a year with 15k interval OCI isn’t the same as 5k miles a year with 15k intervals. ;) I wish I were closer to HPL. I hope I don’t miss the next shipping cost discount sale.
 
If I bought a Toyota calling for 0w8 I'd use a quality 0w20 synthetic like M1EP, PP, QS, Valvoline etc....and change it at 5 or 6K (depending on how much short trip driving was done). Fractional MPG gains are less important to me than long term durability and of course cost and availability of 0w20.

That is my plan for the new Signia with the same engine.
 
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I just got a 2019 Camry 2.5 Hybrid. Here in Finland, Toyota recommends and dealers use 0w16 oil and I was surprised and maybe a little concerned, I'm an old fashioned guy and my newest vehicle before this one has been a 2009.

However, these cars are somewhat popular in taxi use, and there's Camrys for sale with over 300k km's, and running flawlessly without any problems. That cleared some of my concerns.
 
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