My HCH experience with 5W20 instead of 0W20
 

I couldn't find 0W20 oil in my local retail stores for my 04 HCH except for Mobil1 synthetic at almost $6/quart. And rather than paying almost $5/quart to a Honda dealer for conventional 0W20, I switched to synthetic Pennzoil 5W20 at less than $4/quart on sale. According to owners manual, 5W20 is an acceptable substitute so I decided to try it for this oil change. This will cover me from spring, summer into fall. I may then switch back to 0W20 for the colder weather.

Others have wondered whether gas mileage drops with the higher viscosity oil. My empirical observation (not scientific) is that my mileage did drop about 0.4 mpg on my daily trips in the morning when temperatures were in low 50s. This is intuitive from observing the MPG display. I expect that with warmer weather on the way, my MPG should be as good as with 0W20. I may even do some rough calculations to estimate whether the better MPG would offset the highest price of Mobil1 synthetic. - VW

Re: My HCH experience with 5W20 instead of 0W20
 

Agreed. I really doubt your car cares whether it has 0W or 5W in it. I DO believe in synthetics though. I can tell no difference between 0W or 5W. I have over 165k miles on my '04 HCH.

Re: My HCH experience with 5W20 instead of 0W20
 

It should only make a difference in short trips, the first number is the viscosity before the oil warms up
Every little bit helps so I'm sticking with 0W-20

Re: My HCH experience with 5W20 instead of 0W20
 

Where are you buying your 0W20? My local WM used to carry it randomly and I would buy all of it whenever I found some. Last week I found 2 quarts in their clearance pile, so I am kind of thinking it has gone from "random" to "never". :(

BTW, if I can get it for $5/qt at the Honda dealer then that would be ~$1/quart cheaper than WM...

Re: My HCH experience with 5W20 instead of 0W20
 

"BTW, if I can get it for $5/qt at the Honda dealer then that would be ~$1/quart cheaper than WM..."

Honda will just have the conventional oil and not synthetic. I found 05-20w Mobil 1 at and Auto Parts store. for $6.50

Re: My HCH experience with 5W20 instead of 0W20
 

Dang, I did not realize you could get 0W20 as anything other than synthetic, but I guess so. That would make sense. :)

I have been meaning to swing by NAPA, but the other local chain auto parts store (name escapes me) does not carry any brand of 0W20, but I have yet to ask if they can order me a case.

Re: My HCH experience with 5W20 instead of 0W20
 

When my Walmart ran out, I discovered that NAPA carries as a regular item at their distribution warehouses, at least here in the northeast. I don't remember what I paid for it exactly but it was actually LESS than Walmart, thanks to it being on sale at the time. But even NAPA's regular price was pretty close.

Re: My HCH experience with 5W20 instead of 0W20
 

0W20 seems to be completely irregularly stocked by both Wal-Mart and the auto parts stores. Do the newer hybrids not use this viscosity of oil? You'd think with more hybrids/fuel efficient cars hitting the market, demand for ultrafine motor oil would lead to greater availability.

Re: My HCH experience with 5W20 instead of 0W20
 

According to my Honda dealer, 0w20 is only synthetic and cannot be made conventionally.

Re: My HCH experience with 5W20 instead of 0W20
 

Hmmm...I looked again at the Honda 0w20 container and it does not say "synthetic" anywhere on the label. Strange that if it is synthetic, why not say so on the label?

The only 0w20 I've seen in stores has been synthetic but conventional 5w20 is quite available. My Honda dealer carries 0w20 Mobil 1 synthetic for anyone that requests it, but the parts guy made no claim that Honda's was synthetic.

Anyone else have info on this?