Well I am a chief metalurgist and your blowing smoke (and I won't say where) , same old tales of slick oil making bearings ride over the top of each other ROTFFLMAO

 

Synthetic Oil is synthetically blended hydrocarbons that is virtually identicle chemically to Fossil / Dino / (insert your favorite term) oil with the exception of having less impurities and inert ingredients in it.
Synthetic oil is more stabile over a more broad temperature range since its blending can be controlled to a far greater degree.
Synthetic oils viscosity index improvers are blended in during the process of it's creation rather than after is being refined.
Synthetic oil will cling longer to metal than will it's non-synthetic counterpart due to it's smaller and more precise molecular makeup.
This makes synthetic lubricants more resistant to dry starts than non-synthetic lubricants.
This came from a senior petro-chemical engineer for Ashland Oil Company. The oils they blend are sold under a variety of labels. The most common are Valvoline and Quaker State (licensed producer).

My money's on Synthetics. I use them exclusively in my racecars and street driven vehicles. Matter of fact, I've even taken to using synthetics in my Air-Compressors in the shop and trailer.

 

1. Possibly improved fuel efficiency at extremely low temperatures (< 0F) and improved cold weather pumpability. For a lot of people, it's also peace of mind knowing that they are using a top quality oil that has a greater margin of error compared to a lesser oil.
2. I currently use Chevron 5W30 in the other vehicles as I do not own a TCH. I can buy this at Kragen Auto Parts for $0.59/qt after rebate, $1.09/qt before. I haven't seen any 5W20 at the store, but I'm sure they could order a case for me.
3. I would probably use 5W20 for cost reasons. See above.
4. (Read what I wrote below)
Doesn't really exist, so to speak. From my talks with an oil blender, he states that the viscosity properties of 0W20 requires mostly Group III base stock to blend, so at the very least, the oil will be mostly synthetic. However, not all synthetic oils are identical. Oil companies will generally use the top notch additive package in their synthetic oils as they are their flagship products. The additive package will be better than those found in their entry-level mineral oils. For the Toyota 0W20 found at the dealership, ExxonMobil may or may not be using their top notch additive package in that oil...I'm suspecting not as they are not marketing that product to satisfy long drain intervals needed by some other makes/models using 0W20 (i.e. Honda)...only Toyota's 5000 mi drain interval. This may be why the product costs much less than Mobil 1 0W20. (My local dealership (Maita Toyota of Sacramento) has Toyota 0W20 on sale for $2.99/qt quite regularly, compare this to $5.99/qt for Mobil 1 0W20 at Walmart.)
If anything, synthetic oils have better film strength than conventional oils.

 

Yes, yes, & yes. Except Nippon Oil supplies the factory fill 0W-20 to Toyota as well as the 0W-20 genuine fluid in quarts at the Toyota dealerships. www.eneos.us

 

Well, your metalurgist is obviously not a triboloigst, and doesn't know his oils... Please do tell us who this "expert" is and what major "motor company" he works for?

 

Here is the JDM owner's manual for the Prius in Japan.
Note page 390 where they specify various oil grades including 0W-20 across all temp ranges as long as it meets the API "Starburst" certification.

I do not speak for Toyota. But my personal opinion is that if 0W-20 were readily available globally, they would recommend 0W-20 across the board because of better fuel economy & better cold start performance.

In the United States, 0W-20 was not readily available - until recently.
In fact, many Toyota, Lexus, Honda dealerships now have 0W-20 in bulk.
Primarily through Nippon Oil - ENEOS www.eneos.us

And yes. Nippon Oil - ENEOS is API approved: http://eolcs.api.org/FindBrandByVisc...iscosity=0W-20

 

skoh,

Enough already with the eneos. How much are they paying you to promote them on EVERY site that you belong to?. There are a LOT of oil producers that have 0w-20 oil. I found 6 in Wally World last night just wandering around.

And talk about bringing a thread back from the dead.....

 

Hey GeorgiaHybrid. I understand that you are a Do-It-Yourself-er and that's fine.

But, for those people that prefer the convenience of getting their oil changed at the dealership, I am merely trying to let them know to specifically request 0W-20 - because it is available in BULK.

And yes. There are many manufacturers of the 0W-20. I attached a link to the API certified 0W-20 in my previous post. http://eolcs.api.org/FindBrandByVisc...iscosity=0W-20

 

skoh:

Really, do you not understand that it's fundamentally unfair of you (whether you're a seller or not) to use other peoples' sites to advertise a product if you don't pay for the advertising??? We banished you from Bobistheoilguy.com because you wouldn't follow our rules in this regard (yes, I'm one of the admins over there). But you keep taking advantage of others wherever you seem to be able to get away with it.

At this point, I don't think I'd ever consider using an ENEOS product, even in my lawnmower, and that feeling is totally based upon your unethical attempts to secure free advertising for ENEOS everywhere and every time you can. Never ever.

Everyone reading this, please don't ever purchase an ENEOS product. If they deserved your consideration, they'd approach their advertising in a legitimate manner.

 

Sorry for coming on so strong, everyone.

The ENEOS brand is new to the United States and as far as I know, I'm the only one promoting it on the forums. I'm really excited about it!

We are in discussion with GreenHybrid.com to become a site sponsor and we are also interested in BITOG as well.

I'll try to tone it down a bit...