How to Choose the Best Engine Oil for Your Car

Motor oil lubricates your car's engine and keeps it in condition. Therefore choosing the best motor oil is a very important thing for the continued health and performance of your car. Motor oil lubricates every moving part of your engine. It cleans the sludge, soot, ash, acid and moisture in the engines. Quality oil makes your engine run smoothly.

Oils are labeled for all kinds of specific purposes. There are different types for old cars, for new cars and for high-tech engines. Your car manufacturer will guide you about the usage of right oil for your car. You may have heard about energy conserving oil that guarantees better fuel economy. Energy conserving oil has to pass through a lab test against reference oils. But in reality there is no guarantee of a better fuel economy. The guarantee that you get is usually from the leading brand. Let’s take a look at different types of motor oils.

Motor oil also carries away heat from moving parts, which is important because materials tend to become softer and less abrasion-resistant at high temperatures. Motor oils with higher viscosity indices thin less at these higher temperatures. Motor oil must be able to flow at cold winter temperatures to lubricate internal moving parts upon starting up the engine. Motor oil may be composed of a lubricant base stock only in the case of non-detergent oil, or a lubricant base stock plus additives to improve the oil's detergency, extreme pressure performance, and ability to inhibit corrosion of engine parts. Engine oil which has been tested and meets the API standards may display the API starburst symbol with the service designation on containers sold to oil users. Many motor oils also have detergent and dispersant additives to help keep the engine clean and minimize oil sludge build-up. The higher numbers of a transmission oil (eg 75W-140) do not mean that it is necessarily higher viscosity than an engine oil. These numbers are often referred to as the weight of a motor oil.

Synthetic Oil
This oil has a superior long lasting performance. Synthetic oil is exclusively meant for high tech engines. The flow of the oil remains quite good even at very low temperatures, and the peak lubricity is not compromised even at high temperatures. This oil is pretty expensive.
Synthetic Blend Oil: This oil is a mixture of synthetic oil and organic oil. This type of oil will provide protection to your car at high temperatures, being less volatile than some other kinds. Synthetic Blend oil is not as expensive as full synthetic oil.

Premium Convention Oil
This is standard new car oil available in various viscosities. This oil has specification for either 5W-20 or 5W-30 for lower temperatures and 100W-30 for higher temperature. If you are using this oil you have to change and filter it regularly.

It is very important to choose the right oil for your car. Oil grades keep changing day by day. You must make sure that you are using the correct oil for the protection of your car’s engine. To extend the life of the engine of your car, you must change oil after every 2500 or 3000 miles. The oil gets thinner and its viscosity breaks down. If the viscosity of the oil is reduced below a certain level, it will break down at high temperatures.

It is advisable to use synthetic oil whenever possible. A synthetic oil will help the engine of your car last longer. When you start your car, the synthetic oil will flow to the engine faster and thus prevent wear. As synthetic oil circulates better and remains stable at extreme temperatures, it is ideal for cold climates.

Synthetic oil is used in high performance cars like Mercedes Benz, Porsche, Corvettes and Aston martins. It is also what racing drivers use. The negative aspect of synthetic oil is that it is may be too heavy for your pocket. But at the same time it is resistant to thermal breakdown. If you are concerned with your car’s long-term health it is advisable to switch over to synthetic oil.

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