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There are literally dozens of threads on this forum on the subject of these two oils so you may benefit from a search. Basically though, the 0w-40 offers marginal cold start/wear protection. So if you only start your C7 periodically over the winter months you may want to consider it.0w-40
The 5W-30 is less expensive and easier to obtain. If you do elect to go with the 0w-40 ESP dexos2, do not confuse it with the Mobil1 European formula 0w-40 and note the 0w-40 ESP dexos2 is available in both quarts and liters, so take care not to over-fill.
Last edited by Kevin A Jones; 03-10-2019 at 11:29 AM.
In the (just over) two years I have owned my new 2017 'wet sump' non-Z51 Stingray, I have had it to the dealership for my three "free" oil changes. They used Mobil-1 in the 5w30 viscosity because that is supposedly what GM calls for. I know that "0w20" synthetic is being used in a lot of cars today as well. My daily driver is a 2018 Honda Accord and it calls for 0w20 (which I use in it).
Since I don't "track" my car at all and never drive it on extremely cold days -- the 5w30 should be just fine AND still provide good protection during our hot Virginia summers, IMHO. Full synthetic oils today are very good and I have never had an oil-related problem in any vehicle at all during the past 25+ years I have been using Mobil-1, Castrol Syntec or any other full-synthetic motor oil.
If I lived in Alaska, though, maybe a thinner viscosity might be better.
Here we are well into 2019 now and they haven't kept their promise of ESP Formula 0w40 being "available where you purchase your motor oil currently" What we have is certainly not "widespread availability" by any means, not even close.
Manual recommends SAE Mobile 1, 5w-30...Good enough so why change?
Because the new recommendation is to use ESP Formula 0w40, and it's the new factory fill, so GM must have done a lot of testing and found it to be a better choice.
Because the new recommendation is to use ESP Formula 0w40, and it's the new factory fill, so GM must have done a lot of testing and found it to be a better choice.
LOL, they GM Needs to send a new manual and oil cap.. Where does it state that it is the new recommendation and what do you think will be different besides more money for mobile oil company, lol? Thanks
Because the new recommendation is to use ESP Formula 0w40, and it's the new factory fill, so GM must have done a lot of testing and found it to be a better choice.
A better choice why? Perhaps for marginally better mileage, which most C7 owners couldn’t care any less about. For track use perhaps, which the vast majority of C7s will never see. Either is fine and meets warranty requirements.
LOL, they GM Needs to send a new manual and oil cap.. Where does it state that it is the new recommendation and what do you think will be different besides more money for mobile oil company, lol? Thanks
Tadge has stated that they now recommend the ESP Formula 0w40 for all previous years of the LT1/LT4.
Originally Posted by Steve_R
A better choice why?
For a number of reasons. ESP Formula is a low SAPS oil which is better for direct injected engines (as well as being better for your catalytics). The thicker viscosity helps even if you're not tracking the car, especially if your oil is thinning out due to fuel dilution (something inherent in a lot of direct injected engines) This oil was also originally a formula coming out of Europe, and they tend to "overengineer" their oils due to the more stringent certfications for a lot of European cars. I've used a lot of these types of oils in my cars over the years and the used oil analysis reports always look impressive. They generally retain their viscosity much better than the oils developed in North America.
I'm not saying that regular M1 5w30 is a bad oil, it'll still get most people's engines well beyond 100k. But it's not the #1 recommendation from GM anymore, so that has to count for something. They have probably done long term testing and tore down a bunch of engines and found the new recommendation either shows lower engine wear or cleaner internals (or both)
I switched to 0W/40 for the reasons Patman just articulated above. I'm sure you'd be fine continuing to use the previously recommended 5W30, but technology marches on, and if GM has decided the new formulation is better for direct injection engines, I'm going to use it.
Seems to me the only clear and obvious advantage for the new 0W40 is to avoid oil switching for those who do both street and track. Yes, I hear Patman and Foosh and Tadge, and yes, I concede that there are some minor advantages in other areas. But assuming you can even find it, the price of the stuff remains grossly excessive, and given its obvious need for VI improvers, viscosity retention for full 10,000 mile change intervals remains at least somewhat uncertain.
Having sat through a career of high level decision making meetings in a big corporation, I can imagine the way this one probably went down. The gigantic elephant in the room almost had to be the embarrassing and widely despised street/track oil swapping. The high mucky mucks in the room had doubtlessly been pressuring the engineers for a way out ever since the oil swapping started. The engineers finally came up with a solution they could live with, so came to the room with a lengthy presentation all ready with figures and charts to support it. The first slide said the topic of the meeting was a possible way to eliminate the oil swapping. They might have gotten through the next three or four slides that said the 40 in the 0W40, combined with better VI making flatter vis/temp slope, gave enough protection for the track. At that point, the mucky mucks probably said hurrah, do it, leaving the remaining 20 or 30 slides covering all the other details and tradeoffs unseen and uncared about.
The prior paragraph may be a bit cynical, but I’d put a fairly heavy wager on it having significant elements of truth. What does that mean in practical terms for someone who drives only on the street? If/when the 0W40 becomes readily available at a competitive price, and assuming it is shown to hold viscosity for full 10,000 mile change intervals, by all means use it. In the interim, don’t lose any sleep over continued use of 5W30. And for those like Patman and Foosh who are willing to go an extra mile for the very latest and greatest, that’s fine too. But keep it all in perspective. Odds that a street driver will see a performance difference or experience an extra repair due to using 5W30 instead of 0W40 are extremely low.
03-10-2019, 11:05 AM
