Greetings~

My question is which oil is better to use in a Hybrid?

I know you need to use the manufacturers oil wieght But what is the best oil to run in your engine?? What about additives & cleaner/flushers ?

AMSOIL

MOBIL 1

PENNZOIL

QUAKER STATE

KENDALL

RED LINE

TOYOTA

ROYAL PURPLE

TEXACO

VALVOLINE

CASTROL

ECT. ECT.

04' # 5, W/leather & JBL omitted.
"Prius, Just ask the person that drives one"
04' Tundra, 18mpg city & 22mpg hwy.
04' Prius, 60mpg city & 53mpg hwy.

Kenstyle NHW20 AERO Kit

I have used Redline, Amsoil, Mobil 1, and Castrol synthetics in my cars - past history. I prefer Mobil 1 today, mainly because you can get it most anywhere.

The bottom line, in my opinion, is to use a good quality synthetic. Change the oil per the manufacturer's specification, and you probably get the most life out of your engine.

Modern oils are all pretty good today, so the secret to long engine life is changing the oil and filter - thus removing the dirt and grime from the engine in the process.

Synthetics cost more, and some may argue they are not worth the extra $$$, but I still use them. I have never had an engine failure in any of my regular cars, even after 200K miles.

My turbo charged Honda Civic (1985) - I blew up a few times, but it was not the oils fault. Something about not having a waste gate and running 30 psi caused it to melt the pistons.

Hi;

I take it that you are just looking for Opinions here?

So here is my 2-Cents:

Take it to your Authorized Toyota Dealer. They have the {Correct-OIL}.

Terry

BTW, Just remember that when the Dealer does your Service Work. They are Liable not you or the Quick-Lube ran by High School Employees.

It all depends on who's your favorite NASCAR driver. Ryan Newman? Casey Mears? Scott Riggs? Penzoil and Quaker State are associate sponsors of several drivers.

I don't know which oil is best but I have two recommendations:

1) oil testing
2) include transaxle oil

I have been using an oil testing service to check the transmission oil. Unlike engine oil, transmission oil is scheduled for change only every 60,000 miles and has no oil filter. I changed mine at 53,000 and had a real eye-opening experience with the silicon levels way too high. Scroll down a bit from that web page and you'll see what happened to the viscosity of that worn out oil.

It costs about $15 for a basic oil test. My recommendation is to also send off a virgin sample when you change so you can compare it to the used oil later. For $30, you will know what came out (and any potential problems) and have a baseline for your next test.

Now I'm am interested in the oil performance across different temperature ranges so I've added an additional $5 viscosity test at 100 (C). With two points and the Andrade formula, I've been able to compare relative oil viscosities.

Oil vendors usually have their oil specifications posted somewhere including the 40 (C) and 100 (C) viscosity measurements. Using the Esko URL, you can make your own plots and draw reasonable conclusions about the relative oil characteristics.

I am not a lubrication engineer but the arguments for synthetic oils make a lot of sense. A synthetic oil will have a more uniform molecular weight which should lead to uniform performance between batches. The problem is we don't know the fundimental lubrication property, 'film-strength'.

The one oil characteristic I am most interested in, film-strength, has not been readily available from the affordable oil testing services. The film-strength is a measure of how well the oil keeps parts apart, the fundimental lubrication property. Viscosity has more to do with what it takes to pump and push the oil about. But when viscosity changes a lot, the oil has been substantially changed and one can expect that the film strength has suffered. It is film-strength that keeps metal parts from rubbing and wearing against each other.

I don't have an oil vendor recommendation other than make it a synthetic. I would recommend backing it up with oil tests to confirm it hasn't changed significantly between oil changes and to look for unusual wear patterns. If you should find an affordable 'film-strength' testing service, let me know.

GOOD LUCK!

Bob Wilson

Operation Iraqi Oil Freedom:

Automatic, stock, project car.

My other 1500 cc car:

Automatic, stock, backup car.
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Very subjective... you will have 1,000 different answers I'll bet with someone even saying a blend of them

IMHO, Mobil 1 is my choice. 1) Easy to get; 2) Many manufactures (Porsche, Corvette, most highend vehicles) already use Mobil 1 in their cars and recommend it.

I'm sure they did more testing then anyone and determined that Mobil 1 provided the best coverage. If you look at the individual tests on the web it's confusing because every manafacture touts their own strengths, and not their weaknesses.

All I know is when using Mobil 1 on very cold days my oil pressure is right there at start up, unlike Dino oil.

Not to offend any of the die hard Amsoil or other users here, I believe all the Synthetic oils are probably just as good as the other in a passenger car, so it then becomes a matter of personal choice.

2005 Prius - White, Gray Interior, Option Package 6, Mud Flaps & Auto Door locks from Coastal


2006 Highlander Hybrid - Limited, White, Tan Interior, Nav, 4WD, Trailer Hitch

NOTE: On both the Prius and HH batteries are included with your purchase !

Here's the thing. The purpose of oil today isn't just to lubricate parts, but also to trap contaiminants and keep them in suspension until the oil is removed. Filtering oil is essential for solid contaminants, however disolved contaminents remain in suspension in the oil till it is removed. Just about any oil, dino or synthetic, will do that job for you. However, synthetic is formulated to be more consistant on teh molecular level which is where most lubricants do their actual work. Synthetics also usually have a higher proportion of detergents in them and those detergents are the substances that are keeping contaminants and soot in suspension and preventing them from sludging up.

It has been said:
Hybrid drivers come in 3 flavors, greenie, techie and cheapie. Pick any 2.
2005 Prius, Melinium Silver over gray, package 5 (AI)