Oil Weight
05-07-2008, 03:54 PM
#3
3rd Gear Member
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location:
Posts: 939
RE: Oil Weight
What oil are you running now? And how's your pressure?
For a street car, you need a heavy enough oil to maintain proper oil pressure. That's all, no more. A heavier oil will create drag and cost you power. It will also wear out your pump drive parts a little sooner; especially the distributer gear. That's why so many new cars use 0W-20 oil.
You also want to keep the spread fairly narrow. A 10W-50 is less stable over time than a 10W-30.
Start with a good 10W-30 and see how it goes.
For a street car, you need a heavy enough oil to maintain proper oil pressure. That's all, no more. A heavier oil will create drag and cost you power. It will also wear out your pump drive parts a little sooner; especially the distributer gear. That's why so many new cars use 0W-20 oil.
You also want to keep the spread fairly narrow. A 10W-50 is less stable over time than a 10W-30.
Start with a good 10W-30 and see how it goes.
05-07-2008, 04:30 PM
#5
6th Gear Member
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: California
Posts: 10,468
RE: Oil Weight
It depends on how hot the engine runs as well. Viscosity is rated at a certain temperature, as oil temp increases viscosity decreases. That's why most race cars run heavier oils, and in hotter climates heavier oils provide more protection.
05-07-2008, 07:58 PM
#10
3rd Gear Member
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location:
Posts: 939
RE: Oil Weight
10W and 5W refer to cold pouring charectoristics. The W stands for Winter. A 5W oil will pour better at very cold temps than a 10W will.
To change the pour charectoristics, they have to engineer the oil with specific additives. The wider the spread, the more additives. With a regular dino oil, use the narrowest spread to meet your expected weather conditions. You would want to use a 10W-30.
Synthetic are slightly differant. They can utilize a broader spread without concersn. So if you're using a semi-synthetic like Mobile 1, Penzoil, Quaker State, etc, a 5W-30 will be more than enough.
To change the pour charectoristics, they have to engineer the oil with specific additives. The wider the spread, the more additives. With a regular dino oil, use the narrowest spread to meet your expected weather conditions. You would want to use a 10W-30.
Synthetic are slightly differant. They can utilize a broader spread without concersn. So if you're using a semi-synthetic like Mobile 1, Penzoil, Quaker State, etc, a 5W-30 will be more than enough.