5w....

[blankets3]

I been so confused and told 1000 diffrent things

some say 5w50 is fine some say no no no it will blow ur car up only use 5w20

than they say 20 is to thin

i keep getting diffrent things from everyone...

can everyone else chime in?

anything that actually says from mazda or a reliable source that says 550 is bad?

[condor888000]

Why would you use 5W50? That is FAR thicker than our engine is designed to take, will likely reduce fuel economy, and all around is not needed.

5W20 is Mazda North America recommended for the 2.0L and 2.3L. The 2.0L in Europe is the same, but Mazda recommends 5W30.

Those, along with 0W20 or 0W30 are the only oils I would use in my NA 3.

You can go to a 0 weight oil (especially in the winter) because it will provide better start up lubrication, meaning it will flow faster. However if you're using synthetic, you might as well just stick with 5W20 or 5W30 and use it year round.

For the love of god, don't use 5W50.

[aris]

i been using 5w20 for the last 56,000km...but when i change my oil at 62,000km i am going to use 5w30 for now on...i prefere the 5w30 over the 5w20

[aris]

Why would you use 5W50? That is FAR thicker than our engine is designed to take, will likely reduce fuel economy, and all around is not needed.


For the love of god, don't use 5W50.

+1

don't use it

[blankets3]

not that im not going to go back to 550

but why?

i have some ppl that are 100% sure that its fine if not better

n use it in their cars.

im just wondering why not?

[condor888000]

Because Mazda specified an oil to suit your engine. That oil is not 5W50. That oil is not even close to 5W50.

Do you understand what the viscosity index is telling you? Just in case you don't...

The first number is the cold viscosity, the thickness of the oil when it is cold. The lower the number, the thinner the oil. The thinner the oil, the faster it will circulate and lubricate when the engine is cold. This is why you can get away with a 0W in the winter, the cold weather means a 10W and to a lesser extent a 5W take longer to flow properly. A 0W will flow quicker. A synthetic 0W will flow faster than a conventional 0W as well.

The second number is the viscosity when at operating temperature. If this is too high the engine will have a harder time reaching operating temperature and will also have to work harder to get there, so you may see some fuel economy loses. Indeed, the big rumour as to the difference in oil requirements between Europe and NA for the 2.0L MZ3 is that the US CAFE standards mandate fuel efficiency, thus every 0.1% matters to the manufacturers, and they use the slightly thinner oil to pad fuel efficiency numbers a bit.

Bottom line, what Mazda recommends is the right oil 99% of the time. If you're really paranoid about wear (or run hard for extended periods in the summer, like lapping) then run 5W30 instead of 5W20.

If you have a MS3, Mazda is now recommending a 5W40, but not for the MZ3, just the speed.

Those people that use 5W50 in their cars, well unless they drive a MZ3 it doesn't matter. Different engines are designed to use different oils. And if they do drive a MZ3 smack them and call them an idiot.

So yeah...don't put XW50 in your car. Don't even put XW40 in your car.

And stop writing 550. That makes no sense, it would be 5W50.