Which Amsoil for my new Cobalt?

[KW]

I plan on changing the oil and filer useing the OLM on the car. Normally I would just use the 10W30 ATM that I keep on hand for family members in something like this. But I thought it would be fun to discuss some of the other options Amsoil has. The follow oils look like they should be worth looking at. The series 2000 0W30, series 3000 5W30, or the XL 10W30.

The little car will run about 8 to 10 mile trips to work and back with the occational 500 to 600 run each way to my daughters house a few times a year. I'm in Arkansas so the weather is pretty mild in the winter.

Thanks

 

[JHZR2]

standard ASL 5w30 will be more than perfect for most any standard 4cyl engine...

JMH

 

[KW]

I'm sure it would be, but I don't keep any 5W30 on hand right now. The 10W30 should work about as well in my climate. Would there be any advantages with the 0W30. It should flow better on a cold morning and is a thicker 30 weight when the motor is warmed up. Then again something from the XL line might just be the ticket.

 

[cousincletus]

Since you live in AR, I would just use the 10W-30. The owners manual calls for 5w30 only, but I can't see a car having the same oil requirements in the South as the North, winter and summer, where temperature differences can be over 100 degrees. BTW I have a 2006 Cobalt and I use 10W-30 in everything I own. Will do an oil sample to verify that it's ok, but I don't suspect there will be any issues. I'm still not a believer in real thin oil, as there is little margin for error if you do a lot of short trips and have fuel dilution.

 

[TeeDub]

Based on my experience with these oils since the Amsoil 0w-30 came on the market in 1995, the S2000 will provide a fuel savings of 2%-4%, compared to the Amsoil 10w-30. So if you are running OCI's > 10,000 miles, it will actually be more cost effective to use the 0w-30.

The 0w-30 also provides even better high temp deposit control over long service intervals and the TBN retention is better than the 5w30 or 10w-30.

Your short commute would also dictate the optimum viscosity to use here, ie thinner is better.

 

[Gene K]

I would use the Amsoil XL-7500 5w30 (XLF) with the OLM.
That way if you ever have an engine problem the dealer cant give you any grief over non-API certified oil.

 

[OriginHacker21]

The new cobalt has the 2.4L Ecotec right? I'm running the 2.2L ecotec (2004 sunfire) and it loves Amsoil's 5w30 ASL. My manual book says in weather above 0F that 10w30 is fine so I would assume for the slightly larger 2.4L engine that 10w30 should be ok.

If I were in your shoes - I'd run each of the oils you want to test - feel them out - then get a UOA on each one. Not very scientific but its still cool to see/feel/experiment.

I have used Amsoil's 0w30 and series 3000 5w30 (diesel). The 5w30 seemed a little heavy but I didn't notice the MPG loss - the engine didn't want to rev as freely as it does with Amsoil 5w30 ASL. Amsoil's 0w30 seemed to do very well and I possibly saw a 1-2MPG increase on my 220 mile drives to/from work. My only problem is that Amsoil's 0w30 is too expensive for me

.

I prefer Amsoil's HDD 5w30 if you are in the heavy oil camp and Amsoil's ASL 5w30 if you like a lighter oil. A+ on all of the oils you mentioned - though I've never used Amsoil's 7500 mile oil (XL).

 

[JHZR2]

what I have seen is that a 0w-xx oil will tend to be a bit thicker than a 5 or 10w-xx oil in normal starting conditions. This is of course within reason, at some part curves cross, but if you look at the cranking viscosity across temperature for a 0w-30 vs 5w30, often at typical temperatures that we see, say 10-30F winter temps, the 5w30 may be thinner at startup!

The fancy amsoil oils can get VERY expensive, considering what is gained in a non-nigh performance engine... unless you drive REALLY hard.

In fact, XL gives GREAT UOA results, it seems, so you might want to consider using that at short (OLM-derived) intervals while still under warrantee, just as a CYA move...

JMH

 

[harry j]

Try Amsoil 0W-30 and their awesome Aeo oil filter.