Any benefit using high performance oil?

0W20 synthetic, it's in the manual... I also would not consider "Castrol" a "high performance" oil.. That designation usually goes on the specialty synthetic brands like Royal Purple or AMSOIL..

 

You CAN us 0w-30, but that oil you cite would not be considered high performance oil. It's a good oil, but so are the other name brand synthetics.

The US owner's manual really guilts in into 0w-20 oil. Other countries dont do that. Depending on the normal temps at the individual location the C can use any weight oil up to a 50w. Sure, you'll lose some mpgs, but use whatever you want. You might want to check with your owners manual to see what it says on all the other stuff that's in it other than your oil.

 

You own a 2012 Prius C and you are now asking what kind of oil is needed? Please tell me this is a new used car for you! Have you used the first two years of free service by Toyota?

 

Just buy Toyota oil 0W-20 oil, it is synthetic as is all 0w-20 weight oil. However Toyota oil is made by Mobil and is similar to Mobil 1 oil, but it has its own formula for Toyota. Can't beat an oil that has been designed for the Prius. 5K mile oil changes is a good idea.

 

This is one of those subjects that people always over think. The most important thing about changing your oil is that you change it. Just buy a 0w20 oil that you like. I suggest getting whatever's on sale. If you want to change it at 5,000 miles, it's your money, but you can safely use a good synthetic up to 10,000 miles. If you do this, you'll be well within the warranty requirements and, most likely, the engine will last longer than the rest of the car. If you want to use Castrol, they make 0w20 oil that will work just fine.

 

Guys,
When someone asks a simple question like this: BTW, what kind of oil needed for the C?


The simple answer is always: RTFM

And then he goes on to say he will change the oil at half the recommended mileage,,, so what're you gonna do?

 

Just FYI, you can get a 5 quart jug of Mobil1 0w-20 synthetic for about $26 at Walmart, which is a better deal than the 6 quarts in the first post.

 

This is what i did and bought an oem filter from Toyota. Cheapest way to change the oil.

 

Sorry but your advise is the worse on this thread and exceedingly ill advised.

Use anything?
W50?!?

I hope readers know, that you know nothing about oil.

The engineers state in the manual: 0w-20 for our Prius C's.

It really is that simple, and if one uses heavier, one is going to wear their engine out sooner, especially during the morning's first start. Light oil means it gets circulated high in the engine fast, and this is especially important with hybrids because our engines don't often run so hot because of the constant starting and stopping.

 

I'm SO glad to have your opinion on my opinion. I'm sure you're the expert, and I bow to your extensive and complete decades of experience. Not.

My words, "Depending on the normal temps at the individual location the C can use any weight oil up to a 50w." Did you actually understand any of that? Did you read it or scan over it?

The oil use chart for Singapore Cs clearly shows it's approved to use 5,10, and 15w oils in the 20, 30, 40, and 50 weight varieties. It just depends on where you are, what's available, and what temps you have. None will kill your C unless used so far out of temp range as to be on full retard.

You are regurgitating the usual mantra, yet don't fully understand the subject, which is, of course, MY opinion.

"Wear out the engine sooner by using an unfavorable weight?" Care to quantify that? How much sooner in time units? How many miles sooner. Can you prove it? What temps? What oil? Does the filter matter? Time on oil? Miles on oil? Please answer all those questions for each oil you have used in your life. Both of them.

 

Any benefit using high performance oil?

Absolutely!!

They generate click-through revenue for tens of thousands of web forums.
People get into daffy, data-dense but fact poor arguments about this oil versus that oil change interval....

Advertisers smell blood in the water, sensing an opportunity......

Before you can say "Marvel Mystery Oil"?
Ads get generated.


Other than that?
No.
Most of the people who swear by this oil brand...or that change interval?
Sell their cars before the 150,000 mile point.
You can use recycled oil and not change the filter at all and get 150,000 miles.

99.9999999999999999999999999-percent hype.

Budweiser - vs- Miller.

No difference for most cars.

 

I don't see the point of using a heavier-weight oil than what they recommend, especially if the stock is fully synthetic. I've heard that using a heavier-weight oil would put more stress on the seals because it's a heavier oil, so a heavier oil (especially if the car is new) would just cause more premature leaks.
I actually like that Toyota goes with a thin, fully synthetic oil as it is.

Budweiser has badass talking frogs

 

From Toyota's maintenance manual for a 2014 Prius C:

"If 0W-20 oil WAS NOT used at the last oil change, replace engine oil and oil filter. "

If you really want to educate yourself on motor oil, spend some time at

Used Oil Analysis - Bob is the Oil Guy - Bob is the Oil Guy

Once you get informed, you will see just how silly your comments here are.

Also, the best way to determine the state of used oil, and the wearing of one's motor, one can send a sample of their oil to BlackStone or other firms to get an analysis of the oil, the metals worn into it from the engine parts, etc. These test will make you see just how important the correct oil, weight, and frequency of change is to the longevity of one's engine.

 

see next post...

 

Dan, you sound like you're trying, so I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and try to explain a few things. Believe me or not, I don't care. But if you read any of this and don't THINK for yourself, you are doing yourself a great disservice.

I have been on BITOG for some time. Long enough to have gone through the varied stages of oil-mania. I have been to both extremes of heavy and light, and was steadfastly in the middle for some time as well. I have done a large number of UOAs on a number of my cars and trucks. I have used a number of oil weights in a number of vehicles and have found that none of the cars or trucks I own are as "delicate" as what a large number of oil-knowledge-deficient people think they might ought to be. And, as an owner of the C, I believe the C is also not as delicate as you would have us think.

I'll start with my truck. It's a '99 F250 Super Duty V10 4wd. 10mpg city/12-13mpg hwy. Every day, all day. I do 5k mile changes on everything I own. I have used 5w-20, 5w-30, 10w-30, and 15w-40 in the V10. Heavier oils made the truck slow and tired feeling until the oil was warmed up. Thin oils made the truck feel zippy and under-served. But the UOA's? The were absolutely no different. Same wear numbers. Same good-to-go ranges for the weight being tested. The engine had to work a bit harder for the thick stuff but the samples were extremely similar. The truck is rated for 5w-20, but the ONLY thing I saw that make any numbers go up was 5w-20 in the iron count. And even that wasn't alarming.

The '89 CRX. Same thing.

The '91 Ford F150 302ci V8 4wd 5sp. Same thing.

The '98 Z28 LS1 Automatic. Same thing. The LS1 is purported to be VERY sensitive to light oil damage. Most (oil deficient) people would believe that unless you used Castrol German 0w-30 or some 40w something, or even M1 0w-40, it would blow it's heads clean off the first time you punched it, had a track day, or were just a bad a## MoFo in general. I tried 15w-40, 10w-30, 5w-30, and the absolutely thinnest 5w-30 I could buy. As with the truck there was absolutely zero difference between the UOAs for each of those oils at 5k mile intervals.

Which brings us to the C. The NORTH AMERICAN C. Versus all the other Cs in the world. The N.A. C is the only one with the 0w-20 Or Die dictum. Do you think there is any other reason other than marketing and corporate MPGs? When the same car, same engine in any other country has no eco-brow-beating in their books? Puh-leez...Liberal Eco-Kool-Aide, anyone?

I'm not saying heavier oils won't lose you some mpg's. I'm not saying you won't FEEL some difference, maybe. I'm saying that it won't make your car self destruct and it won't make it lose life time units. You should put that maintenance warning on the door next Halloween to scare all the people that don't understand yet.

 

Mr. I, the reason Toyota specs different oil weights for different countries is because of availability, pricing, and smog laws differences (particulates, etc).

Lighter oils means less wear during cold morning starts, and less drag during warmed up driving. Its about less wear and higher MPG, even if that increase in MPG is only 1% to 2% model depending.

I too have several UOA's for my now gone Yaris, and I have seen wear numbers differ significantly as I have tried several weights and brands.

We agree to disagree. For our two 2014 C's, we'll keep it 0w-20 and trust the engineers.

 

Have fun with all that.

I agree that we'll have to disagree. In the vehicle's I've UOAd, I haven't seen anything to worry about between the different weight oils. You say you have, could you describe the different oils and how much the UOAs differed? Were the iron numbers something 5parts and 8parts, or 5parts and 80parts? The latter, serious. The former, nothing to worry about. If you have the time, please explain. I, for one, seriously wish to see how much of an issue you were looking at.

Yes, the reason for the differing specs are for availability and smog laws. A no-brainer there. EPA numbers are a big selling point, too. It behooves Mother Toyota to keep their averages up and their normal, everyday unknowing users happy, and every portion of an mpg matters to their sales. But the actual physical (and every day working) viscosity difference between the differing brands of oil of 0w and 5w-20s overlap. If they overlap, how can you make an overarching claim that can be definitively measured that every 0w-20 is better than every 5w-20 for both mpgs and for longevity?

As far as there being a difference between the wear numbers for a 0w an a 5w-20. I say, "you've got to be kidding." There is no way you could quantify any definitive number of lost engine life of any sort that you could lay on the table for me or anyone else to be concerned about. Simply no way. Pure conjecture and conjuring.

No, I am unmoved. We shall disagree.

Happy motoring.