Originally Posted By: EType
Is high speed driving the only reason for specifying heavier oils?
No, it is oil temperature, which does of course go hand-in-hand with heavier oil, but these heavier oils are, by design, also setup to handle extended drain intervals, which brings me to your second point....
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If it was then those instances where US drivers and dealers used the wrong oil and had sludge wouldn't have happened.
That had to do with using a non-extended drain oil at intervals designed for "Euro oils", that are in fact developed to handle those types of drain intervals. It isn't the weight per se, simply part of the design criteria of the lubricant.
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There must be something not connected with lower speed limits that still means German cars in the US require heavier oils. Is it something extra in the add pack for those same oils?
Nope, they don't "require" heavier oils. They require approved lubricants, which are usually validated in Germany, and subsequently mean Autobahn use. These oils are not only designed to handle extended drain intervals, but deal with the elevated oil temperatures generated due to high speed driving (hence the lubricants generally having a higher HTHS). There are multiple criteria at work here, covered by OEM approvals like LL-01, 505.xx, MBxxx...etc.
Your basic API 5w-20 isn't designed to run 15-20,000 miles between drain intervals. That's not to say an oil in that weight that could handle that type of interval doesn't exist (AMSOIL's signature series comes to mind, as does Mobil 1 Extended Performance) but these lubricants carry none of the approvals of the Euro marques, because they aren't heavy enough to provide adequate protection under "Autobahn" conditions and subsequently these companies make no efforts to test them.