RPMs, Intake Temp, Trip Duration, Engine Load, etc.

Honda Reputaion
 

But, that's my point. Honda designs these engines with durability in mind. They know that their customers expect to get their "easy" 200k out of them. They would never reduce the viscosity of their oils just for CAFE. They might lower the viscosity for CAFE if they already know that there is NO difference in wear characteristics in this engine with the 5w20. They can't afford to lower the expectations of their customers at any cost. I hate to say this because I'm not a fanatical Honda person, but, "Honda really is responsive to customers, and value their reputation with their customers to the highest level." I reallly doubt that the wear characteristics between 5w20 and 10w30 is measureable within the lifetime of a high mileage car. Of course, everything is not fixed... like ambient temperatures, operation characteristics, rpm, etc (ie. racing and excursions to the North Pole). But, for the regular guy... the 99 percenter... he will do just fine with the low viscosity oil and the engine will last through expectations. If it doesn't, Honda Corporation will be the one that will suffer.

Honda won't take any flack if these motors are garbage by 200k, but there are ways to keep them from becoming that way... like "over maintaining", running a synthetic 5w-20 (or 5w-30/10w-30), and not beating the living tar out of it :)

My Fit only has 6500 miles on it. I haven't done the first oil change yet since it says 40% of oil life remaining.

When it is time to change the oil, I will just use 10w-30 or 5w-30 regular dino oil, whatever I have in my garage.

I live in SoCal, so we don't have temperature extremes here.

It's a Honda anyway, it'll do just fine. Some of you guys worry too much about oil.

myke

5W-20 all the time. Only change for me would be synthetic or non-synthetic.

As of now it's all non-synthetic and NO plans on switching.

i seriously doubt viscosity of oil really matters. unless youre switching from 5w-20 to like 20w-50 or something.

at most times the engine is doing fine, all it really needs is oil it doesnt care of slight variances in viscosity.

also for people thinking why put synthetic oil into a cheap econobox?
to answer that question, its quite simple, synthetic protects the engine better during cold start and start up, and it has a higher temp tolerance.

i drive my fit conservatively at most times but i do get wild on the throttle occasionally. i want the best in the engine and expect to get the best out of it. synthetic oil protects longer too so i only have to change it out once every 7,500-10,000 miles, which is a bonus.

Dude, you live in SoCal.... there are NO cold startups here, lol.

My Fit is still on its factory fill oil. I have 6500 miles on it and still says 40% oil life remaining. I'm thinking it'll go 8k-9k miles before I need to change it.

If putting synthetic oil makes you sleep better at night, then go for it.

If you ask me, it's just wasting money.

myke

do you not know what a cold start is? its when the engine was off for a long period of time(go to bed and start the engine in the morning). for example when you start your engine and the blue temp gauge indicator comes on to the left of the dash on your tach.

that is what a cold start is.

believe what you want to believe, i wouldnt trust dino oil in my engine for longer than 5k miles before a change. yes i do sleep better knowing my car will be well lubricated.

i guess what separates you and i is the fact ive opened up many engines and seen things youve never seen before.

just food for thought, my oil changes only cost me $29. i bet youll be paying more than that when you get your dino fill at the dealer.

Now I'm curious! Did you find some kind of lost treasure?

Seriously, that's funnay!:rotfl:

Tell us you don't still use slick50:popc:

What separates you and me is that i don't make assumptions about another person. How do you know what I know and what my experience is compared to yours? Are you an engine designer?

How many engines have you taken apart and what did you see?

There are numerous used oil analysis that show that dino oil works just fine, especially for little econobox engines like the one in the Fit. It's not like it's a high compression turbo engine :rotfl:

My oil changes cost less than $10 (including filter) as I do all my own work at home. Another one of your ASSumptions gone wrong :popc:

myke

Hey JJIN! I've seen things too!: :rotfl:
YouTube - BLADE RUNNER - I've seen things

Rotfl + rep for making me lmfao

Just bought a gallon of Full Synthetic Mobil1 5w20. Will wait until I hit 5200 since last change which was Castrol 5w20 mineral oil.

The Texas heat is coming up 100+ degrees for months on end. 5w20 still?

Does anyone know if there is a difference in the base between 5w30 and 10w30 Penzoil Yellow Bottle? I know it has a synthetic base, but from what I've gathered in the past, some weights are quite a different mixture than others.

There is crazy stuff going on with oil weight ratings nowadays in relation to the changes in the surface strength under pressure and heat .... The 5w30 will pour more easily than 10w30.... I used 10w30 conventional oil on my first oil change and could feel a drop in performance and fuel mileage, went to semi synthetic 5w20 next change and full synthetic 5w20 since.... I bought 5W30 Mobil 1 and intend to use it from here on out due to some performance upgrades I will be doing soon

Agree
 

I agree with you. 5w30 Mobil 1 is the best choice for this engine. I've used the stuff for literally 200k in three engines. Never had a problem with any engine, exluding timing belt changes, water pump and plugs. The cars were always junked because of body rot, and suspension cost.... at some point cost outways value. The Mobil 1 is great. Walmart has the best price, that I've found, but comes in the 5 quart container.

I stocked up on oil since Valv synpower was on sale... 1 oil changes worth of 5w-20 and 3 of 5w-30. Totally getty ancy to change the oil but less than 2k miles on it haaha.:hyper:

Ditto...no reason to waste money on full synthetic oil or some name brand oil (royal purple, etc.)...when I have never seen any concrete proof that they protect better...it's all marketing garbage!!! These folks who claim they can actually FEEL a difference just make me LOL

How about an economic argument? For example, Mobil1 0W-20 Advanced Economy which I just picked up a case.

Mobil 1 0W-20 Advanced Fuel Economy Fully Synthetic Motor Oil

The actual fuel savings I suspect will be around the range of 1% or less, too hard to directly observe.

But since the oil change volume is small and interval is 12,500 long (if you're the crowd that follows the maintenance minder) you will probably be ahead or at least around breaking even. You get the additional benefits of synthetic for free. Whether or not you believe these "benefits" make an actual difference or not doesn't matter if you have the perspective that it's for free.

I'd agree if it weren't for some sales that come along once in a while. I typically would get my name brand dino oil from walmart for ~$2 per quart (5 quart containers for $10), but when I got the fit I looked around for "the best" and found $7 per quart valvoline on sale at kragens last month for $4 with an additional rebate that brought the price down to ~$2 per quart, so why not?

I bought 4 oil changes worth :)