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Dear fellow MCFers, For those who drive the FL N.Sunny, any idea what viscosity & type of engine oil used during the first 3 free servicing (1000km, 5000km & 10000km) & following Nissan Preventive Maintenance Program, NPMP, (20000km, 30000km,40000km & 50000km)? What I heard is - mineral 15W50 for 1000km, 5000km & 10000km (For 10000km, need to top up in order to use synthetic. If not, following NPMP will be 15000km, 25000km, 35000km & 45000km) - synthetic 5W40 for 20000km, 30000km,40000km & 50000km Any idea?

[extract] A collaboration between research teams at Shell and Gordon Murray Design (GMD) recently led to the development of an innovative concept engine lubricant capable of achieving a 6.5% improvement in fuel efficiency on an urban cycle, and a 4.6% benefit on a combined cycle. Using GMD

Hi all, I happen to came aross some interesting data on the subject matter, and would like to share with you all. Data was collected for Y2008. Refer: http://www.instituteofmaterials.com/collection.htm IOM they purchase the engine oil from the market around the world, and do their own testing. Sort of like an independent organisation. We can see the viscosity trend among Asia-pacific, Europe, and North America in the charts below. Asia Pacific Europe North America Notice that in Asia Pacific countries, the engine oil is more spread out. 50 weight account for 23%, 40 weight account for 40%, and 30 weight account for 18%. Nevertheless, still slightly towards thicker side. In Europe countries, the engine oil is mostly 40 weight which account for 67%, and 30 weight 19%. Perhaps this is why most continental cars specify ACEA A3, because of their preference for thicker oil. In North America, the engine oil are mostly at the thinner end, with 20 weight account for 11%, 30 weight account for 52%, 40 and 50 weight account for 26%. Also note that their oil there are very cheap as compared to Asia Pacific and Europe countries.

Hi... just bought myself a civic esi and it is about to be due for a oil change. Want to ask the brothers here or those who own this car... what thickness of oil you use and whether you use semi or full synthetic oil on this old car. Thanks for any input.

I have just realized this and also in part from our dear Tien's usage of 5W20 oil in our climate. If you frequently cruise at 3kRPM (around 110+kph). A 40wt oil is pretty good for you. If you frequently cruise at 2-2.5kRPM (around 80-90kph), a 30wt oil is pretty good for you. If you drive really really slow constantly stuck in traffic jam, short distance runs. A 20wt oil is good for you. If your car got 6 gears, woohoo! Can use 30wt oil for cruising at 110+kph because the RPM is lower.

Granted that this might be marketing hype from Silkolene but it is worth a read. The test is done on motorcycle engines and can relate to passenger car engines Taken from here: http://www.silkoleneoil.com/techtip6.htm The place to look for extra power is in that 6% lost as oil drag. In a well-designed modern motor, the oil doesn't have to cover up for wide clearances, poor oil pump capacity or flexy crankshafts, so it can be quite thin. How thin? Well, take a look at these dyno results. A few months ago we ran three Silkolene performance oils in a Honda Blackbird motorcycle. This fearsome device is fitted with a light, compact, naturally aspirated 1100c.c. engine which turns out 120+ BHP at the back wheel. The normal fill for this one-year-old engine was Silkolene Turbolene GTI 15W/50, so the first reading was taken using a fresh sump-full of this grade. (The dyno was set up for EEC horsepower, i.e. pessimistic.) Turbolene GTI 15W/50 Max power 127.9 BHP @9750 rpm Torque 75.8 ft-lbs @ 7300 rpm After a flush-out and fill-up with Pro S 5W/40 the reading were; Pro S 5W/40 Max power 131.6 BHP @ 9750 rpm Torque 77.7 ft-lbs @ 7400 rpm Then we tried a new experimental grade, Pro R 0W/20, yes, 0W/20. This wasn't as risky as you may think, because this grade had already done a season's racing with the Kawasaki World Superbike team, giving them some useful extra power with no reliability problems. (But it must be said, they were only interested in 200 frantic miles before the engines went back to Japan.) Pro R 0W/20 Max power 134.4 BHP @ 9750 rpm Torque 78.9 ft-lbs @ 7400 rpm In other words, 3.7 BHP/2.9% increase from GTI to Pro S, a 2.8 BHP / 2.1% increase from Pro S to Pro R, or 6.5 BHP / 5% overall. Not bad, just for changing the oil, eh? More to the point, a keen bike owner would have paid at least

Is it true that the lower the viscosity of the engine oil, the sooner you would have to replace it assuming driving situation/condition remains unchanged? For eg: Mobil 1 is rated at 5W-50 while the Tri Syn is rated at 0W-40. Does this mean that it is wiser that the Tri Syn be replaced at a sooner interval than Mobil 1 Silver? Ok to use Mobil 1 Silver on relatively new cars? (10 months old)