The Right Motor Oil For Your Engine Spells Excellent Fuel Economy and Wild Horsepower
More horsepower and better fuel economy is just an oil change away. All oil is not the same; for various reasons, your engine performance is going to differ depending on the oil you use. The wrong type of oil could damage your engine, so be mindful of the motor oil you are using.
You have probably been to the Royal Purple website where they have a nice video of some dyno testing to prove their motor oil enhances horsepower at the wheels.
So you might be wondering how that’s possible. Just surf the web a bit and you’ll see that a number of AMSOIL dealers are arguing that since synthetic oil has “uniform” molecules that make the oil more “slippery”. That sounds like horse shit to me.
Tribology (which is the study of the effects of friction on moving machine parts and of methods, as lubrication, of obviating them) goes above and beyond “uniform molecules”; it includes factors such as the additive package and viscosity to determine whether or not the oil allows for more horsepower.
I do agree oils can be formulated to provide the best lubricity but I don’t think it is as easy as the explanation of uniform molecule length.
With that on the table, the quickest way for your engine to kick out that intense horsepower would be to run a lighter weight motor oil in your engine and through your entire drive train (differentials etc.). But don’t get me wrong…I’m not recommending this in any way, shape or form! I just thought I should point that out since the automotive companies had to get pretty imaginative to improve gas mileage.
If you take a 5W 30 viscosity rating, and know that it means that the motor oil viscosity falls into a specific range, then you can imagine that some oil companies out there are placing the viscosity at the lower end of the spectrum to create a lighter oil, as light as it can be to still be considered 5W 30. Sounds pretty sly.
Why do you suppose that auto companies have been switching to 5W 20 in the past 5 years? If your guess is CAFE standards in the US then your in the right ballpark. The fastest way to get better gas mileage is tweak the engine design for a lighter weight oil and reduce engine losses with less oil resistance in the engine.
Can motor oil really promote better engine performance and improve engine output? The answer is yes. Are the reasons for this simple no. And is there any proof to back this up? Yes there is. You can see the proof with your own two eyes by checking out the motor oil testing report.
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