Hi Keith,

We are going to leave AGAIN in a week, this time to Overland Park KS, approx 1400 miles each way. I hope to get better mpg as the car wont be so loaded as it was this last time.

The very ONLY reason I use 5w-30 is because its quieter upon start up in the morning. Nothing rattles, nothing bangs it just seems to sound like maybe a chain like sound, it sounds like every other HAH I have seen and am positive nothing is wrong.

When I first got the car, some folks swore by 0w-20. I like max mpgs as much as the next guy. I tried it, saw no increase but increase in noise. I drained it about a 3 weeks later not noting any enhanced mpg.

Then, with the noise on my mind, I threw in 4 qts of 5w-30 and it was like a completely different car when my wife started it and left for work in the morning. Seeing as the mpg did not suffer one bit, I just continue to use it.

When it comes time to change oil again, I will use what I have bought over time on sale. I will most likely use all the 5w-20 I have around here just to get it out of the way.

We are still burning the gas-a-hol we bought on the way home and the exhauset smells sweeter to me, kinda reminds me of living up north where they used 10% alc 25 yrs ago already.

So, in a nutshell, 5w-30 is for noise only, nothing more.