M1 0W40 User Question

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Anyone running M1 0W40 in vehicles spec'd for 5W30 , 10W30 ? Have you noticed any change in performance or gas mileage since switching to M1 0W40 from 5W30 , 10W30 ?
 
Originally Posted By: ChrisD46
Anyone running M1 0W40 in vehicles spec'd for 5W30 , 10W30 ? Have you noticed any change in performance or gas mileage since switching to M1 0W40 from 5W30 , 10W30 ?


FWIW: For my vehicle ('12 Kia Optima SX, 2.0T), the OEM spec for my car is 5W-30 or 5W-40. Since the turbo is hard on engine oil I opted for the 40 weight oil and have since I bought the car new (M1 0W-40). I suspect one would see a minor drop in mileage (not really performance) long-term between the 30 and 40 weight oils.

I did do an experiment with another car of mine that may be of interest. My wife's '14 Nissan Rogue spec's 0W-20 oil and I normally run 0W-30 M1 AFE oil. For one OCI, I switched to M1 0W-20 oil and noticed about ~1MPG difference (improvement) on the highway and no other effects I could detect (both running 87 octane, E10 gas). Honestly, that little of a difference is really hard for me to have any faith in that data. YMMV
 
You are gonna notice a bigger difference based upon your driving style, your trip, seasonal fuel, and weather. I have used M1 0W40 in all my cars and never noticed a big difference. When I switched to 5-30 in my Camry, it felt SLIGHTLY more eager to rev. Since using M1 0W40 I have noticed that the oil consumption in the Pontiac has been reduced. The Prizm has very little consumption, but I want it to be cleaned up to prevent that. It is a great oil! Use it with confidence.
 
I run 0w40 in my 2012 V6 Nissan Pathfinder that calls for 5w30 the VQ40DE V6 can be hard on oil I say can be as some 30 weights test fine on UOA and some do not with this V6 I don't quite know why yet but it may be how it is driven? Anyway 0w40 seems to make my V6 idle much smoother? No idea why but it is noticeable and I see no difference in millage.
 
Whether or not you "notice" it, the effect is still there.

Higher HTHS results in lower MPG, period, for these HTHS=3.0 5w30 engines getting HTHS=3.5 0w40, losing power and fuel economy due to higher viscous friction.
Depends on your experiment style, as in how well independent variables are controlled. Its almost impossible to see the 1%-2% diff in MPG unless you do a true lab test.
 
Yeah, but 5 PSI in the tires can do that easily. And folks who live at the end of a long gravel road may well run softer tires to keep their teeth, so mileage is a big variable. It may be there, but may be un-noticebale ...

If you like 0W-40 acts in the engine, use it
smile.gif
 
Originally Posted By: ChrisD46
Anyone running M1 0W40 in vehicles spec'd for 5W30 , 10W30 ? Have you noticed any change in performance or gas mileage since switching to M1 0W40 from 5W30 , 10W30 ?


No change at all. Either mpg or 'feel'. This time decided on Edge 0w40, same difference.
 
I've used it in my Infiniti that calls for 5W30. Engine was quieter, especially during cold starts. I noticed no change in MPG.
 
Currently running M1 0-40 in my 95 Corvette 350 cuin (LT-1) motor. It's been in there a couple of years as it is not driven often. Noticed an exactly 1 mpg drop in MPG as compared to a variety of 5-30s used in the past. This has been observed over a several year period--not one or two tanks of gas. The ONLY M-1 products I would ever use are the 0W-XX based lubes. Tried it to try and quiet the (normal) valvetrain noise down, which it did-somewhat-
 
It was a very long time ago, but I didn't notice anything major one way or another, it was the middle of summer when I put it in...
 
I tried M1 0w30 in the Escalade. Ran nice. May go back to it. Does the American M1 0w40 shear to something thinner over time?
 
I've run the 0w-40 both M1 and Castrol in my truck. Never noticed any drop in MPG or performance. I'd do it again in a heartbeat.
 
I am running M1 0w40 in the 2001 Volvo V70XC, which has a light pressure turbo. The mileage seems to be off less than 1 MPG this winter, 20.9 vs. 21.5 MPG in mixed driving. Last summer I scored the best single tank highway trip in the 15 year history of the vehicle at over 28 MPG. Acceleration does seem a bit more sluggish in the winter, but that is highly subjective.
 
Originally Posted By: Astro_Guy
I am running M1 0w40 in the 2001 Volvo V70XC, which has a light pressure turbo ... Last summer I scored the best single tank highway trip in the 15 year history of the vehicle at over 28 MPG. Acceleration does seem a bit more sluggish in the winter, but that is highly subjective.

+1. Had never below 28.
 
Originally Posted By: ChrisD46
Anyone running M1 0W40 in vehicles spec'd for 5W30 , 10W30 ? Have you noticed any change in performance or gas mileage since switching to M1 0W40 from 5W30 , 10W30 ?


Ran M1 5w-30 for 4 years in my Camaro. Been on M1 0w-40 for the past 8 months, the older higher viscosity version. Only difference I've noticed in both summer and winter driving is a slight increase in idle oil pressure - 2-3 psi max. No difference in engine sounds or performance. Since it's a weekend warrior I don't track mpg that closely. But, nothing obvious in lowered mpg that I can see. I'm staying with 0w-40 over the next few years.
 
Originally Posted By: oil_film_movies
Higher HTHS results in lower MPG, period, for these HTHS=3.0 5w30 engines getting HTHS=3.5 0w40, losing power and fuel economy due to higher viscous friction. Depends on your experiment style, as in how well independent variables are controlled. Its almost impossible to see the 1%-2% diff in MPG unless you do a true lab test.

This exactly. Look at what I run in my G37. I cannot tell the difference in fuel economy, simply because there are too many other variables. It's certainly there, if you could test for it carefully enough. An ordinary person outside a lab simply cannot do it.
 
None of us drives in a laboratory so we have to be concerned about the dozens of other variables, almost all of them more important to mpg than a 30 to 40 oil grade change:

Ambient temperature, wind direction, altitude, road conditions (type of surface, texture, cracks, wet/dry/icy, etc.), tire type/size/pressure/age, type of driving you do (speed, lead foot, short or highway trips, braking style, hilly or flat terrains, excess idling, drafting), vehicle type (size, weight, age, tune/efficiency, mfg tolerances, windows open/shut, AC use, engine displacement, drive train gear ratio and how you employ that), type of fuel you use, how quickly you warm up your engine, maintenance, etc. No doubt I've missed some, but anything but oil grade is part of this list...making up 99% of mpg factors. Many of these factors change by the minute. Some of them you can control by where, when and how you drive.

So once we've optimized all of the above in our personal vehicles, and making the best choices on how, where, when we drive...even what vehicle we buy, then we can be concerned about that last 1% of potential fuel efficiency by adjusting oil grade. That excess 40 lbs of stuff you have sitting around in the car? That's probably a bigger factor than oil grade.

Then there's the issue of what oil grade actually maximizes the life of your engine. It might not be the factory recommended grade, particularly if it was one that was back specced. Your mpg savings of $10-$50 per year might not balance out to the cost of a new engine 8-20 years down the road if you are one of those who are keeping your car until it's just no longer feasible. If you lease, or only own a car to just past the warranty period, then by all means use the thinnest oil recommended to maximize the mpg and cost of operation. You don't care about what happens to the car after you sell it.
 
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