[ElectricTroy]

I read on the front page of the Money section in USA Today yesterday that Shell is planning to release a new 0w20 synthetic oil "designed" for hybrid cars (gas / electric). It's meant to handle the frequent turning on and off of the gas motor in city driving.



Sounds like hype to me. There's no difference between revving 1000 to 2000 rpm... or 0 rpm to 1000 rpm. The engine doesn't care, and neither does the oil.

I just use standard 5w-20 amsoil in my hybrid. Works beautifully.

 

[Hambone]

I would probably give it a try. I like synthetic oils (from my use in other cars, I've always stuck to the Honda 0w20 in my Insight), although I really couldn't point to any measurable difference. I had a Nissan truck in college that I swear ran better when I used the Mobil synthetic blend, but never got around to trying to quantify any improvements in oil longevity or enhanced engine performance. Maybe Shell's oil has additives that help the oil adhere to internal engine parts during those times when the engine is off and gravity would cause the oil to drain towards the bottom of the engine, preventing some amount of wear during the albeit short period of time when the engine recranks and may be a tad starved for lubrication momentarily. Other than that, at least it will offer an additional choice of 0w20 oil in addition to the Honda or Mobil alternatives.

 

[Insightful Trekker]

A high percentage of "normal" engine wear ocurrs on cold start. Some studies reportedly indicate up to 80%. Its really a difficult item to quantify so even more so than normal YMMV. <g>

I have noted that the new Accord hybrid has an electric oil pump. Seems to confirm these generally accepted theories. Again because of the complexity involved any true "study" on this topic will have to be extensively qualified as to the specifics. Which will likely not be seen with as much frequency in the real world. So how accurate can the conclusion be? The answer: YMMV!

Any oil that has improved properties such that it "sticks" to surfaces a wee bit longer _without_ sacrficing other qualities would be desireable for any vehicle subjected to frequent restarts.

Yah it's marketing "hype", but with some truth behind it.

HTH!

 

[Delta Flyer]

A high percentage of "normal" engine wear ocurrs on cold start.

An engineer put out in an out-of-circulation book Drive It Forever, citing the first ten seconds of wear equals 500 miles on the interstate once the car is up to normal operation temperature. Note this was circa 1978.

 

[ElectricTroy]

A high percentage of "normal" engine wear ocurrs on cold start.

Yes completely true but hybrids don't engage auto-stop with cold engines. So the real question is:

- Does revving a HOT engine from 1000 rpm to 0 rpm (autostop) and then back to 1000 rpm cause excess damage?

I suspect no.

 

[Aaron Cake]

Sounds like hype to me. There's no difference between revving 1000 to 2000 rpm... or 0 rpm to 1000 rpm. The engine doesn't care, and neither does the oil.

There's a HUGE difference. At 0 RPM, there is no oil pressure. Oil pressure doesn't really build until 500 RPM or so. Obviously, our engines are designed for this...

 

[Insightful Trekker]

ElectricTroy wrote:

- Does revving a HOT engine from 1000 rpm to 0 rpm (autostop) and then back to 1000 rpm cause excess damage?

I suspect no.



I would tend to agree that the time in auto stop has much to do with restart wear. Until the oil film has time to drain away the amount of additional wear would be less than a "cold" start.

One counter measure that Honda incorporated into the Insight is shot peened pistons. This provides a precision textured surface that both reduces friction and increases oil retention.

But apparently for reasons not fully clear Honda chose to make the new Accord hybrid's oil pump electric so that no oil pressure will be lost in autostop. Maybe its cheaper than improved pistons etc.

I'm not overly concerned about this being a critical wear factor in our Insights, but an oil designed to provide additional protection isn't all hype.

With as small as the hybrid market is for oil its hard to imagine this being much of a money maker in itself right now. So they are trying to hype something! <VBG>

HTH!

 

[Guest]

Hi All:

___Insightful Trekker, double the longevity with 3,750 mile changes? I have never ever seen that in print and I can tell you from experience that regular dino changes at 7,500 miles will take an automobile well beyond 150,000 without any problems whatsoever. Synthetic’s at 7,500 are that much better! BITOG is the place for that discussion and although heated, even those working in the industry are saying 7,500 mile changes and the darn things will last forever …

___To get back on topic … We shall see what the kinematic viscosity is equal to at 0 and 100 degrees C for this new Shell 0W-20 oil. Then we can directly compare to Mobil1’s 0W-20.

___Good Luck

___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Hunt Club Farms Landscaping Ltd.
___[email:1inzqwjz][email protected][/email:1inzqwjz]