Warming Up: 5w-30 vs 10w-30
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Warming Up: 5w-30 vs 10w-30
When I had 5w-30 in my rex, it warmed up a little quicker than when I switched to 10w-30. Does 10w-30 slow down the engine warming-up process?
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Originally Posted by WindingRoad
When I had 5w-30 in my rex, it warmed up a little quicker than when I switched to 10w-30. Does 10w-30 slow down the engine warming-up process?
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Lighter weight oil heats up faster, which is why we people in the colder regions of the world use thinner oil during the winter. I normally go with a Mobil1 10w-50 during the summer, but use the 10w-30 for the winter. The 50 weight makes my engine feel too sluggish in the winter, and it takes forever to heat up the car.
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One of the benefits I have noticed (and correct me if this is impossible) is, during the hotter months, I get a small kick in performance using 50wt. I would think this is from better compression due to the thicker oil allowing less blow-by in the cylinder, especially after running hard for a long time, where a thinner oil would break down. This has only been a theory of mine from when I started using 50wt. Dunno if its correct though.
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Even in the summer, I don't think I'd want to run straight 50w, especially with so many different brands making 20w50 now in synthetic. 50wt is going to cause more friction wear at startup.
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Originally Posted by BAN SUVS
Even in the summer, I don't think I'd want to run straight 50w, especially with so many different brands making 20w50 now in synthetic. 50wt is going to cause more friction wear at startup.
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If you're not flogging your car on a racetrack for 20,30,40 minutes at a time with high coolant temps, then no, 10w50 isn't really better. It just reduces your fuel economy a tiny bit. Subaru recommends 5w30 or 10w30 for a reason. If you're not using the car drastically differently than what's outlined by the owner's manual as "heavy duty use" then you don't need it.
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