what conventional motor oil are you using for your PRIUS and why ?

[smokey1]

Let the fun begin .

[Blegate]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(smokey1 @ Jul 9 2007, 11:12 PM) [snapback]475947[/snapback]</div>

Let the fun begin .
[/b]

Whatever 100% Synthetic is on sale made by a recognized brand (MOBIL, Penzoil, etc). Won't touch the cheapo Walmart Syn.

Why? Because I have to???? No brand loyalty here.

[jrmgkia]

I use plain old 5W-30 Napa brand oil, yes I could spend more money on branded oils or synthetics but with modern oil additives being so good you never hear of car engines needing to be rebuilt because of worn out piston rings or valve guides. I have owned multiple cars with over 250,000 miles on them and still showing perfect compression on all cylinders. Unless it is a high stress, high compression motor (definitely not a Prius) I simply don't see any added value to using branded oils or synthetics.

[Godiva]

Mobil 1 synthetic.

[morpheusx]

[quote=jrmgkia @ Jul 10 2007, 02:20 AM) [snapback]475994[/snapback]</div>

I use plain old 10W-30 Napa brand oil, yes I could spend more money on branded oils or synthetics but with modern oil additives being so good you never hear of car engines needing to be rebuilt because of worn out piston rings or valve guides. I have owned multiple cars with over 250,000 miles on them and still showing perfect compression on all cylinders. Unless it is a high stress, high compression motor (definitely not a Prius) I simply don't see any added value to using branded oils or synthetics.
[/b]

You should try using 5w 30 instead, especially in the colder months. Plus 5w 30 is what the engine calls for, NAPA is a quality brand, I plan on only using synthetic oil on my Prius, but I agree that conventional oil will be just fine. My thinking on my Prius though is
reg. name brand oil] $2.25 qt X 4 (3.5 qt actually) = $9 + filter
syn name brand oil $4.50 X 4 = $18 + filter
You save just $9 on the most critical maintenance that you can do.
And I hear that alot of priuschatters only use 3 qts and it gets you half way up the safe cross hairs on the dipstick. Meaning you could use full syn for under $15

[JaviNOS]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Godiva @ Jul 10 2007, 02:46 AM) [snapback]475998[/snapback]</div>

Mobil 1 synthetic.
[/b]

same


It just feels like the right thing to do haha

[chuck_k]

http://www.synlube.com/synthetic.htm says:

Many consumers are not just surprised but quite often shocked to learn that the "Synthetic Oils" for which they pay premium price (3 to 9 times that of Petroleum Oil) are not only not performing any better than average Petroleum Motor Oil, but also are not "Synthetic" at all!

How had this happened?

SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) deleted any and all definitions of "synthetic" from all specifications relating to oils.

API (American Petroleum Institute) never defined what "synthetic" is.

NAD (National Advertising Division of the Council of Better Business Bureaus) ruled that "Synthetic" is a marketing term and that it is the responsibility of the Marketer (the one who labels and markets the oil) to define what it is.

Back labels of Mobil 1 products for many years had following statement:
" * exclusive of carrier oil" in substantially smaller print.
While at the same time the front label declared the Mobil 1 as:
"100% Synthetic * ".

The "synthetic" oil business is regarded by many in the oil industry as a "religion" whose followers are holding a belief that "synthetic" is somehow superior, but lack the actual proof.

The information on following pages has been provided to enlighten the average consumer of Motor Oil, Gear Oil, ATF (Automatic Transmission Fluid) and Grease with information, which is seldom made publicly available by the oil industry.
[/b]

[jayman]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jrmgkia @ Jul 10 2007, 01:20 AM) [snapback]475994[/snapback]</div>

I use plain old 10W-30 Napa brand oil, [/b]

As a child I lived in St George, and later went to U of U. SLC and Provo/Orem may never see -40 like Winnipeg does, but it really wasn't unusual to have lows of 5-15 F. Around 10 degrees colder at Park City, Kimball Junction, Heber, Alta, etc. At that temp, a 10W-30 gets a bit too heavy especially for overhead cam motors.

As far as high temperature "protection" a 10W-30 offers little advantage over a 5W-30, with much poorer low temperature protection.

I recently purchased a 2007 FJ Cruiser, and was *very* surprised when I sampled the oil at 2,000 km. The factory oil had badly sheared already. I changed the oil using Mobil 1 0W-40, and will sample again in October when I have perhaps 5,000-6,000 km on it.

[priussoris]

I have been using 5 w 30 Trop Artic Synthetic Blend since the first Oil change , at $1.68 a quart and it gets replaced every 5k, why buy the more expensive stuff.
Also when I compared to Amsoil it was a pretty close race.
So I think it is a pretty decent product.

[jrmgkia]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jayman @ Jul 10 2007, 11:21 AM) [snapback]476250[/snapback]</div>

As a child I lived in St George, and later went to U of U. SLC and Provo/Orem may never see -40 like Winnipeg does, but it really wasn't unusual to have lows of 5-15 F. Around 10 degrees colder at Park City, Kimball Junction, Heber, Alta, etc. At that temp, a 10W-30 gets a bit too heavy especially for overhead cam motors.

As far as high temperature "protection" a 10W-30 offers little advantage over a 5W-30, with much poorer low temperature protection.

I recently purchased a 2007 FJ Cruiser, and was *very* surprised when I sampled the oil at 2,000 km. The factory oil had badly sheared already. I changed the oil using Mobil 1 0W-40, and will sample again in October when I have perhaps 5,000-6,000 km on it.
[/b]

My mistake I do use 5w-30 I just got in a hurry and had a brain fart, I've now edited the post. I agree that 5w-30 is a much better choice with todays tight clearances and the lighter weight oil should get a few more MPG's over the life of the car but I doubt it is much.
P.S. I am a BYU grad student, but right now I am in Cupertino California doing an internship with Apple Computer.