15w - specifies the oil's viscosity at low temperatures. w=winter
50 - means the oil doesn't thin any more than a 50w oil would at 100 degrees centigrade.
In regards to most japanese four cylinder engines, which is what we're talking about here:
From personal experience, as long as the second number is 30 or 40, the oil does fine in tropical weather. 50 is too thick, even on cars which receive 15w from the dealership, it's usually 15w40 only.
And the first number, 5w-15w work fine on most engines, 15w would be recommended for a high-mileage engine. On newer engines, it feels pretty heavy. With tighter tolerances in new Japanese lumps, most dealerships stick in 5w or 10w oil, and 0w is perfectly acceptable if there's nothing wrong with the engine.
0w allows the engine to rev more freely, and will actually increase your fuel economy, but if there's any wear on the engine or loose tolerances, it doesn't provide enough protection. Thus, I don't like using it on old cars. For performance engines, though, it's preferred.
50 is too thick here for most cars. thicker viscosity means worse gas milage pa.![]()
Thick and thin,The controversial topic never ends.Whatever floats your boat, i guess.
It really isn't much of a controversy. Almost every gas powered car uses 5, 10 or 15w 40 or 30.![]()
I have no problem using 20W-50 on my ride, yung nga lang frequent OC ka, but that wouldn't be a problem anyway. Well as the old adage says,. 5k OC is recommended parin! :D
OT na bros! ...back to sparkplug na pow!
*fedski: kahit OE plugs ok na, NGK (BKR6E, I think!?) Denso or Bosch basta correct part#,.. or look for the Cross Reference of this brands.
Last edited by rayban7g; August 30th, 2006 at 12:38 PM.