Which do I use...

[Stealth26]

Hey guys, just wanted to get your opinions on something. First, the details on my car. It is a 1996 3.8 Camaro. I drive roughly 50-60 miles a day with it being 85-90% freeway miles so I use M1 so I can do a little longer drain intervals.

I'm in the SF Bay Area and it doesn't get cold enough to snow, but the other night I went out to my car and it was all covered in frost. I'm using 10w-30 now but would going to 5w-30 even be beneficial since it doesn't get very cold or would it hurt during the summer months?

BTW, I'm on 10w-30 Pennzoil now since I'm on a ARX rinse cycle.

 

[XS650]

10W-30 is more than enough for what passes for winter in the Bay Area.

Frost doesn't even mean it got down to freezing.

The chances of it being below an actual 32F in the Bay Area long enough for your engine block to drop to 32F are slim to none.

My '96 Chevy manual sez 10W-30 is good down to 0F, so you have a big safety cushion with 10W-30 in the Bay Area.

 

[TR3-2001SE]

Yes you would really not need 5w-30 and I think the 10w-30 is a better oil anyway.

 

[Steve S]

I lived in the bay area 46 years in San Bruno and Millbrae I would use 10w/30 or 15w50 M1 oil .Doing the freeway miles like you do I'll bet that after the first run with the M1 oil you can get by with 6,000 mile + oil changes if your motor is in good tune,use the M1 filters they filter great.