Hello all, looking for a recommendation for my new 2012 Focus. I read a lot of the info on the main BITOG site, but still have a few questions.
About the car: 2012 Ford Focus with 2.0L Duratec gasoline direct injection with variable cam timing (intake & exhaust). It sees a lot of short trips (5-30 minutes each), and a decent amount of highway 1+ hours. Owners manual recommends 5w-20.
I tend to drive a bit on the aggressive side, although for the most part I keep everything pretty calm. That being said from time to time I do like to run it hard on the back roads, and I will eventually get into autocross with it (probably next year). I definitely don't baby it, but I also don't just keep the go pedal mashed to the carpet. Car has 8000 on it now, oil was first changed at 4000, and will be changed again at 10k. Plan is to change it every 6k. Manual doesn't explicitly say when to change it, rather to do it when the car tells you to...however it does say 10k max between changes. I don't trust the car, especially when I've heard of other 2012 Focus drivers saying they've gone over 10k already without the car saying it needs it...I typically run Motorcraft filters, or Wix if I have to.
Also, I live in Metro Detroit, so it will experience some very cold days for a few months. Winter temps usually in the 20's or below, and a few weeks of 10 and below are typically normal as well.
So what would be a good oil for me? I was leaning towards synthetics as it seemed they helped a lot in colder climates and for short trips. I don't mind paying the extra money if it will help. Obviously I don't care to spend it if it's doing nothing at all vs dino oil. I was also perplexed by the wide variety of synthetics, especially when some were almost as cheap as dino oil...
Thanks for the help.
About the car: 2012 Ford Focus with 2.0L Duratec gasoline direct injection with variable cam timing (intake & exhaust). It sees a lot of short trips (5-30 minutes each), and a decent amount of highway 1+ hours. Owners manual recommends 5w-20.
I tend to drive a bit on the aggressive side, although for the most part I keep everything pretty calm. That being said from time to time I do like to run it hard on the back roads, and I will eventually get into autocross with it (probably next year). I definitely don't baby it, but I also don't just keep the go pedal mashed to the carpet. Car has 8000 on it now, oil was first changed at 4000, and will be changed again at 10k. Plan is to change it every 6k. Manual doesn't explicitly say when to change it, rather to do it when the car tells you to...however it does say 10k max between changes. I don't trust the car, especially when I've heard of other 2012 Focus drivers saying they've gone over 10k already without the car saying it needs it...I typically run Motorcraft filters, or Wix if I have to.
Also, I live in Metro Detroit, so it will experience some very cold days for a few months. Winter temps usually in the 20's or below, and a few weeks of 10 and below are typically normal as well.
So what would be a good oil for me? I was leaning towards synthetics as it seemed they helped a lot in colder climates and for short trips. I don't mind paying the extra money if it will help. Obviously I don't care to spend it if it's doing nothing at all vs dino oil. I was also perplexed by the wide variety of synthetics, especially when some were almost as cheap as dino oil...
Thanks for the help.
