Fuel economy race brings expensive oil to inexpensive cars
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Lately, we’ve seen a proliferation of cars in our test program that require extra-thin 0W-20-weight synthetic oil. And while this was pretty exotic engine lubricant just a duo of years ago, the cars requiring this expensive synthetic oil are often much less than exotic.
This point hit home recently when I was driving our Subaru Impreza test car on the highway and the low oil warning light came on.
Some digging through the possessor’s manual exposed the petite sedan requires SAE 0W-20 synthetic oil. Driving around checking service stations in our Impreza late on a Saturday night exposed no such motor oil on local store shelves. It’s possible that these stores tend to stock oil for older cars that are more likely to have developed leaks or begun searing oil. Later, we found that some stores that car this skinny oil only sell it in gallon jugs, rather than by the quart–not much help if you’re running low.
Checking out some other cars in our test fleet exposed the Subaru isn’t alone. The fresh Honda CR-V and Toyota Camry both call for 0W-20 motor oil.
In checking various sources online, we could find no 0W-20-weight oil that wasn’t synthetic. What we did find cost $7.17 to $8.79 a quart. (Buying ten quarts at a time could bring the price down to as little as $Five.87.) That compares to a range of $Trio.99 to $6.29 a quart for very slightly thicker, non-synthetic 5W-20. This cost is similar to that of other synthetic oils.
James Linden, chairman of the SAE Fuels and Lubricants Council, says that while oil companies could theoretically make 0W-20 non-synthetic oil, in practical terms it requires a synthetic process to make the oil meet all the relevant standards automakers require.
While such low-viscosity oil had been limited to high-end and European cars just a few years ago, Linden says Japanese automakers have recently approved the use of ultra-thin motor oils, spreading the requirement to more popular cars. Even still, 0W-20 presently makes up less than one percent of oil sales according to George Morvey, an energy project manager at Kline consulting, up from almost nothing three years ago.
Our own challenges finding 0W-20 led us to wonder how hard it is for owners of these cars to find it when they need to have their oil switched. So we also called Jiffy Grease, the largest independent instant oil switch franchise in America.
Spokeswoman Michele Herskowitz says most of the chain’s franchises do stock 0W-20. Pricing varies by store, but we called around and found oil switches for a car that requires 0W-20 cost $30 to $40 more than for one that takes conventional oil, or about twice the cost. For a typical possessor, that adds $60-$100 in maintenance cost per year.
The good news is that modern cars, those that require synthetic oil as well as those that don’t, can go almost twice as far inbetween oil switches as older cars. Herskowitz says Jiffy Oil has begun recommending oil switch intervals based on automakers’ owners’ manual recommendations, which can range from Five,000 to 7,500 miles inbetween oil switches. In addition, Linden points out that many fresh cars include oil-life monitors to take the guesswork out of oil switch timing.
But what’s behind so many makers of ordinary cars requiring expensive synthetic oil in the very first place? Linden says automakers can save inbetween 0.Five and one percent on EPA fuel economy tests compared with 5W-20 motor oil. The tests are run beginning with a cold engine, so the lower viscosity reduces friction until the engine heats up.
Indeed, when Honda very first introduced us with details about the two thousand twelve CR-V, company engineers emphasized that they had gained two mpg in EPA fuel economy ratings mainly by reducing friction in the engine and other mechanical components, not by introducing fresh technologies like direct fuel injection or continuously variable transmissions.
We generally support any technology that can improve fuel economy. But in this case, we wonder whether some consumers who purchase fresh cars may feel blindsided by the enlargened cost of their oil switches. And since 0W-20 mainly only improves fuel economy for the very first few seconds of driving, we question whether the fuel economy gains are truly worth the added costs for consumers over the life of the car.
Regardless, it is fairly possible that your next fresh car will require ultra-thin, synthetic 0W-20 motor oil. That is, until fresh standards come along. Linden says SAE is already working on standards for 0W-16 and 0W-12 blends, as well as what to even call thinner oils. No word yet on how much those will cost the consumer.
