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What Oil Do I Use in my Car?

24 Feb

It might seem easy to pick the right oil for your car. After all, without oil to both lubricate and cool the engine’s moving parts as well as keep the engine clean and assist in sealing the pistons inside the cylinders, the engine will run for only a few seconds, then seize up.

Oil is so important to the engine of your car that you will want nothing less than the best your engine can possibly get–for the lowest price possible, of course. If you look around in auto parts stores you will see all sorts of oils for all sorts of purposes. There are oils made for high-tech engines, as well as new cars,and even SUVs. Additionally, you’ll see a wide variety of oil viscosity in the brands of oil that are available. You will know what type of oil your vehicle manufacturer recommends for best performance when you review the owner’s manual. The owner’s manual might also include references to “Energy Conserving” oils. Energy conserving oil is not an ironclad guarantee of a better fuel economy in your vehicle. However, a majority of the leading brands of oil have some containers with that label. Let’s take a look at the different types:

Premium Conventional Oil is the standard oil for new cars. Most brands come in service level SL. Car manufacturers will usually recommend either a 5W-20 or 5W-30 oil, especially for engines running with lower ambient temperatures. A 10W-30 oil is usually optional, in particular when it is being used in higher ambient temperatures.

Full Synthetic Oil is a type of oil that is made for high-tech engines, such as the kind that you might find in a Chevrolet Corvette or perhaps a Mercedes-Benz. These types of oils are fully synthetic. If these oils pass certain manufacturer tests, this means that they have superior and longer lasting engine performance in all the critical areas of engine performance, from resisting the formation of deposits to a good viscosity index. These oils will flow better at low ambient temperatures as well as maintain their peak lubricity at high ambient temperatures. So why doesn’t every vehicle use these oils? In short, these oils can be very expensive and not every engine is going to need them. In fact, there may be some oil-specific features that your engine will need that a synthetic oil does not have.

Synthetic Blend Oils have a combination of synthetic oils mixed in with organic oils. They are generally formulated to provide stronger protection for engines that will carry heavier than normal loads and drive through higher ambient temperatures. This generally means that these types of oil are less volatile. This in turns means that they will evaporate less, which will reduce oil loss and increase the vehicle’s overall fuel economy. This type of oil is popular with drivers of sport utility vehicles and pick-up trucks that want high-load protection for their engines.

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