South Florida 0w-40 or 5w-30?

[Oner001]

Hey everyone! While I got my '09 Brabus on jacks waiting for it's front 17" Monoblock VII's to come in I have some free time to ask a question that I hope a bunch of ya Smarties can help me out with! I live in SWFL and Summer is basically here (just about hitting 90's already) and I wanted to know what would be the better, more protective weight oil for my area ~ the standard 0w-40 or a 5w-30 (or something else)?

I must note that I use my car for M-F daily driving stop & go route work about 30 Miles on a highway @ 70mph and 30 Miles on streets (with some traffic but nothing too bad) ranging in speed from 35-55mph on the way back. I will be doing my own oil changes on it since the price for a shop to do so is outrageous and will be doing them at about a 5k-7.5k frequency... I am leaning more towards 5k if 5w-30 is better for my application (as it is also a bit cheaper and thus doing them more often is better/safer etc and a write off for me either way).

I have been through quite a few threads/posts reading as much as I can but couldn't find anything specifically for a REALLY hot climate area as I live in ~ so any help, information & suggestions are greatly appreciated!

[jwight]

From the owners manual. Several grades are good for above 86 degrees (F) - 5W-30 apparently isn't one of them.

[Oner001]

Originally Posted by jwight

From the owners manual. Several grades are good for above 86 degrees (F) - 5W-30 apparently isn't one of them.

Ahhh good to know! I stumbled upon this video and some info that states ~

Now we're in a hotter climate zone around here, so that's a 5 -30 weight that you can use on a car if it's extreme weather. If you're in a colder, more average climate, you're going to want to use 0-40 weight.

Which is why I wanted to confirm with the Smarties here @ SCOA before making a misinformed purchase/decision.

[jwight]

0W-40 seems to be the best "all temp" oil - good for extreme heat & cold.

[Oner001]

Originally Posted by jwight

0W-40 seems to be the best "all temp" oil - good for extreme heat & cold.

It's actually quite amazing the properties & capabilities of the oil, but the price for it comes at such a premium that I wonder if it may not be beneficial for me since I prefer to err on the safe side and do a more frequent oil change just in case...

[jwight]

It's your money - the 10K interval is pretty cheap when you average out the cost.

[Oner001]

Originally Posted by jwight

It's your money - the 10K interval is pretty cheap when you average out the cost.

I factored that as a large benefit but I have read so many threads/posts of owners switching to a more frequent schedule on the 0w-40 which made me wonder if I could do the same but with a less expensive (yet still quality) product (say even 5w-40, maybe a part synthetic or whatever) then I kinda think I can get the best of both worlds with a fair compromise? No? Or am I just crazy

Found this as well in the Technical Stickies ~

APPROVED ENGINE OIL- MUST MEET SPECIFICATION MB 229.5
Mobil 1 Formula M 5W-40
Mobil 1 0W-40
Labco MB 229.5 5W-30
Total Quartz 229.5 5W-30
Elf Excellium 0W-30
Shell Helix Ultra AB 5W-30

[jwight]

Oil preferences and change intervals are up for grabs here and on any other car forum. Everyone has their own idea of what the "best" approach is. About the only thing agreed upon is the days of the 3K mile oil change are over (using a synthetic oil, of course.)

BTW, I'm hard pressed to see how the M-B 229.5 spec applies to a Mitsubishi engine...

[deepblueQ]

I would stay far away from anything xW30. What the hot climate basically means is that the second number is far more important than the first.

The first number is the viscosity at 104*F, the second is viscosity at 212*F. In that kind of climate, you'll be very near 104*F right when you start up, and you'll spend most of the time closer to 212*F.

According to the chart in post #2, MB doesn't think xW30 will reliably keep bearing surfaces in the engine from touching each other in those temps.

If you do use 5W30, I think you should use a much narrower rev range... use manual mode, and keep an extra 500 RPM away from lugging and 1000 RPM away from redline...

[Brabus007]

Originally Posted by deepblueQ

I would stay far away from anything xW30. What the hot climate basically means is that the second number is far more important than the first.

The first number is the viscosity at 104*F, the second is viscosity at 212*F. In that kind of climate, you'll be very near 104*F right when you start up, and you'll spend most of the time closer to 212*F.

According to the chart in post #2, MB doesn't think xW30 will reliably keep bearing surfaces in the engine from touching each other in those temps.

If you do use 5W30, I think you should use a much narrower rev range... use manual mode, and keep an extra 500 RPM away from lugging and 1000 RPM away from redline...

And how do you explain Ford & Honda using 5W20...?