Economy/"Green" Oil 0w-30? What's the deal?
 

Not sure if anyone has posted about the Mobil 1 Economy Oil 0w-30 or something... but I was wondering if this oil type is proven and usable in our 2nd gen Fits? I just glanced over it when I was at Walmart. Let me know thanks!

Also, for future references since I just got my first oil changed at the dealership. I asked a friend whos drives an '06 Fit and he told me to use Mobil 1 5000 Conventional Oil 5w-20 and a mid tier oil filter like FRAM. Is this fine for an oil change every 3000 miles? I'm debating whether to buy OEM Honda Oil Filters or not, I've seen a few wholesale deals. I drive a new '10 Fit.

It really doesn't matter what viscosity or type of oil you use. Just follow the maintenance minder when doing your oil changes. I am actually running on that "economy" mobile 1 you are asking about. I used it to increase response because the viscocity is thinner than the 5w-20 of the factory fill.

As for the oil filter I've heard using the oem honda oil filters are optimal for our cars. A lot of the members here prefer using the oem honda filtec manufactured oil filters. I am currently using hamp filters that are used in the type r engines in japanese hondas. I will be making the switch to the filtecs on my next oil change.

Not sure I can agree with this statement.

Honda is quite specific:

Second guess the Honda engineers that design excellent engines and do as you wish, however, the engine is designed to these specifications.

There are numerous discussions on this forum regarding oil and the Fit.

I'll encourage all to do some searching and reading before saying things like 'it really doesn't matter', it does if you're concerned with protecting the warranty.

No need to start another oil debate thread here.

Thnx for the answer about the filters... with economy oil did you see any increase in MPG?




I agree, no need for debate, just looking for a little advice. I just wanted to see if the Econo oil made any increase on the cars MPG (significant or not) Just to see.

But I'm guessing running Mobil 1 5w-20 and OEM Filter should do it every 3K miles.

JJIN: let me know if you saw an increase on your MPG.

Great oil choice, but every 3Kmiles is crazy. Follow the MM oil life, learn to trust it. Average oil changes are 5-6Kmiles. I just did my first at 9K.

Here's the scoop. The L15 Fit engine comes w/ dino and Honda recommends using dino oil. I plan on switching to syn oil, most likely Mobil1. Thing is Honda tech suggests switching after the second oil change.

The engine will break-in nicer running dino oil. Even syn oil guys admit to this. Once that's complete then switch to syn. Two oil changes will out the engine about 10Kmiles and this will get all those moving parts well acquainted.

A more important thing to understand regarding high MPG is the way you drive your Fit. The ECU responds to driving style. Drive for economy and the Fit will provide.

The type of oil or fuel is of little importance if you don't understand the real importance of correct driving style, and I'm not talking hyper-milling.

I drive an MT Sport and get 40MPG average w/ 9200miles on my car. First oil change was at the 9Kmile mark following the MM. Was still showing 20% oil life. Car is 7months old.

Get to know your way around the forums - search terms issues and such. Tons of info here and most everything's been debated and kicked around. Figure out how to gleen the facts.

KC hit it in the head with the mpg dilemma.

even wit the economy 0w-30 i havent seent much increase in mpg because im the sporting driver which does not drive to gain mileage.

ill try and run a tank's worth with moderate hypermiling techniques and will report back. also noticed increased mgp with 91 octane.

We have not noticed any significant MPG improvement running Mobil1 AFE 0W-20 over Pennzoil Platuinum 5W-20.

It's good oil, though, IMO. Didn't hurt that it was heavily rebated by Mobil about a year ago (I picked up several jugs at that time).

:popc:

i wouldnt run the economy oil in the summer time as i think the viscosity might be too low for the heat. I wouldnt mind trying it in the winter to help for quicker warmup

If the second number [XXw-20] is the same, then the oil will protect at operating temperatures whether it is warm or cold outside.

So a 0W-20, or 5W-20 will work the same. Usually the additives or base stock are more robust if the low and high numbers are more different.

I'll look into hyper-milling, it looks a little interesting. This is my first car and I don't really pay attention to how i drive. My BF was the one with this question, he drives really conservative in my car and hes always in the 36+ MPG range in the Economy meter. (I guess he apparently does some of the hypermilling techniques) I guess i'm usually under the 30 MPG range cuz the average is about 31.5 MPG right now. My BF being the much more experienced driver always pays attention to how he drives and his pedal/acceleration control.

I was just really wondering if there's any change as to increase in the mpg, it doesn't look like it from what you guys say. Then what good is that oil really for? I guess I should pay attention to the way I drive more often. I should switch to Syn oil after the 2nd oil change? I guess i'll change my oil change schedule to 5-6K miles.

:wavey:

It is possible, in spite of the marketing hype, for a 0W-30 to get less mileage than 5W-20. I think if you read ExxonMobil's "fine print", you will find that they are comparing it to 5W-30 or 10W-30 and only under short trip and/or cold weather conditions. High Temperature High Shear viscosity (and friction modifiers, which all passenger car oils have) are important to mileage for an engine at normal operating temperature. xW-20 has an HTHS vis of 2.6, xW-30 is 2.9.

:D

Oil Data Sheets

I have 0w30 Mobil 1 in my car right now. I changed over to synthetic at almost 15k and plan on leaving it in for 10k or so. I also am running a quality oil filter along with it, Mobil 1 synthetic filter. There's a posting somewhere on here that shows what the Mobil 1 filter looks like at 5k compared to the Honda filter, no comparison IMO, the Mobil 1 is the way to go if your going to go the full 10k that the mileage minder tells you to do. Sure, the Mobil 1 filter is more money, about $12.00 but this is cheap insurance IMO and if you want something even better, get yourself the Royal Purple oil filter, its 100% synthetic media compared to a synthetic blend like the Mobil 1.

As far as the grade being ok, well, the 0w is for start up and that means the oil will flow waaay faster than 5w, no matter where you live and once it warms up, the oil turns into the needed 30 weight.

Happy motoring:vtec:

I found this and this might help with oil and filters.

http://cartersauto.com/files/Oil_Drain_Interval.pdf

- Dirt Road Magazine - The Synthetic Advantage - (dirtroad.com)

Vintage Triumph Register - VTR

I am going to use synthetic next oil change.

We use the M1 0w-20 and a good filter like M1 or Wix. Whatever mileage increase we get is so small we're only seeing it over thousands of miles. Maybe a tank of gas saved over the duration of the oil change.

The Fit sounds better at startup with the 0w-20 than with dino 5w-20. And it's definitely moving around the engine faster than a 5w-20, even if only by a split second.

I sleep better at night running a very good syn oil that can stand up to running the 12k miles the MM has us running it.

How is it better for fuel economy to run thicker oil?

This is likely to do with the fact that Premium fuel often has no ethanol added, unlike regular fuel with often has ~10% ethanol. Ethanol has less caloric energy then gas, so more of it is needed to produce the same amount of power. Most cars noticed a 1 or 2 mpg hit when they went from real gas to ethanol.

I have heard that ethanol is starting to be added to premium fuel, though. the only way to know for sure is to test it at the pump.

Zach

Exactly right, on E10 pump gas you should see an average drop in fuel economy to the effect of 7-8% depending on actual constituents.

I do like E10 93oct around here for my boosted applications because it provides slightly more knock protection (because of ethanol's incredible cooling properties) at the expense of energy density.

This doesn't apply to the Fits because they come with 0w20 and 5w20, but if the Oil in the car doesn't keep the necessary oil pressure and rate of increase in oil pressure (rule of thumb is 10psi/1000rpm) for your environment, that would hurt fuel economy to an extent.

Dr Haas on oil:
FerrariChat.com - FAQ: Motor Oil Articles by Dr. Ali E. Haas (AEHaas)

But no one here is logging oil temp or pressure so it's hard to say where we stand in that regard.

I feel real stupid now!
 

I thought the Fit came factory filled with 5w30 and now I see its 5w20. Had I know that or paid attention to my stock oil fill cap, I would've gotten Mobil 1 0w20 instead of the 0w30, oh well, next oil change I'm putting in the correct weight, 20....NOT 30:o

If there's any saving grace for me is the fact that I have a 45 minute drive to work and let my car warm up now that its very cold now, so atleast the oil and engine are warmed up real good, not to mention the 2 trips back home to Detroit and my 1,750 mile drive down to Deal's Gap in the spring where the engine was run pretty hard, can you say "VTEC kicked in YO!":vtec:

It's easier on the engine and oil to drive it gently for the first 10 minutes when it's really cold out. Let it idle for about 10-15 seconds while you put on your seatbelt, fiddle with the radio, and plug your handsfree into your cell phone. Then drive. The engine warms up faster by driving than by idling. Plus the oil is moving around the engine faster, lubricating everything better.

Forecast for next week is lows around 0*F. I'm feeling pretty good about having 0w-20 in the Fit.