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Driving conditions in Europe are very different than those in North America and that could easily account for the difference, they also likely have slightly different ECU tunes for emissions reasons. Generally though, the most knowledgeable people don't put to much consideration into the debate between following Honda's recommendations or switching 5w-30. You'll get the best mileage by varying the type of oil you use to the time of year and the style of driving you do.

I'm not going to go into detail explaining full synthetic oil, someone else might, but the oil marketed in the U.S. as being full synthetic is not truly full synthetic. True full synthetic oil is $15+ a quart, any synthetic less than that is generally only partial and a technicality allows it to be marketed as full synthetic. I notice a difference in fuel mileage and performance using synthetic versus regular oil

 
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You can count me in that group. As far as I am concerned, if Honda makes two different oil viscosity recommendations for the same engine, all the other considerations are secondary.

 
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Most people use 5w-30 in the summer when it's warmer and 5w-20 in the winter, but if I were doing strictly stop and go city driving and generating a lot of heat in the trans I would probably use 5w-30 year round.

 
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I live in Southern California, the Civic never sees outside temperatures below 60 degrees F, and does 90 % city driving.

It used 1 qt oil in the first 3,000 miles when new. I drained the oil and put in 5w-20 Honda oil. I changed the oil every 5,000 miles since with 5w-20 dino oil, when the oil life monitor gets down to 10 %. Now at 27,000 miles, it still used 1/2 qt in 4,000 miles. Excessive oil consumption is why I am considering changing to 5w-30 oil.

 
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Changing from 5w-20 to 5w-30 has helped a couple people I know solved oil consumption issues on Honda engines. Considering your driving conditions I think it would definitely benefit you to switch to a thicker oil, give it a shot on your next oil change and post an update if it solved the problem.

 
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ottotheclown is one of the smartest oil guys on the forum. he just posted that as info and not a question. yes the engine was designed for 5w30 no matter where you drive it, but honda decided to change it to 5w20 to get little better mpg and meet CAFE standards. its just a political thing. if you want the proper oil for your car, its 5w30. you can get away with only using 5w20 if its always below freezing outside, but 5w30 will work fine too. i had all sorts of problems with 5w20 including oil leaks and vtec malfunctions among others. changed to 5w30 and all problems solved.

i also find it hilarious that honda needs to lower the oil viscosity to increase mpgs, instead of building the car better. hondas from 20 yrs ago get the same gas mileage as cars built today, maybe better! try and figure out why that happened lol. there is no reason for technology to move backwards in such a long time period. and dont blame it on all the new "technology" like airbags (which weigh next to nothing) and more powerful engines (1.5L to 1.7L is hardly an improvement).

 
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I just purchased my first Honda which is a 2008 Civic LX. I plan to use 5W 30. What brand oil does everyone use? The Honda dealer used 5W20 conventional - Honda oil or Mobil. I am considering changing to semi or full synthetic 5W30 (38,000 miles on the car). Thoughts? I use Mobil One in all of my other vehicles.
Thank you.

 
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stick with 5w30, and you can use synthetic if you want. ive had good luck with valvoline maxlife synthetic and got some cheap redline synthetic for the summer. i

 
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The last time I looked there are, or were, 3 Mobil 1 oils. The cheapest is 5,000 mile all dino, next most expensive is 7,500 miles blend, and 15,000 mile and most expensive full synthetic.

I just changed to Amsoil 5w-30 on my wife's 2007 Civic with 27,000 miles and bad oil consumption since new. The engine had a ticking sound that totally went away after the change. I am not sure if it was a valve adjustment or not. It will be 6 months before she gets enough miles on it to tell if the oil consumption is reduced. Even if it does, there is not any way I can say for sure if the Amsoil or the increased viscosity actually made the difference. I'll probably change the oil filter in 5,000 miles, look at the filter media under a microscope to see how plugged up it is to determine how often to change the filter. Except for topping off, I probably won't change the oil again for 12 or 15,000 miles.

 
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if it is burning oil, shouldve done auto-rx treatment first. just oil will not significantly affect burnoff.

 
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What is that?

http://www.auto-rx.com/

I googled and found this link.

I suspect the oil consumption problem in my 07 Civic is due to piston rings not sealing very well since it had the problem since new. The oil consumption continues to decline as she gets more miles on the car. I have done frequent oil changes with Honda dino oil at first, and then synthetic blend up to now to prevent the build up of sludge or varnish in the engine, so I am sure that is not contributing to the problem. It now has 27,000 miles. To be on the safe side, I used the Amsoil flush this time before changing the oil. I suppose it is the same, or close to the same as auto-rx.

Anybody have any other ideas what causes high oil consumption in 07 Civics?

 
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You mean to tell me that the magic additives won't give me an extra 50hp???? :O

 
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Sure they will, especially if you let your engine get so sludged up the rings stick and loose compression and you also let the fuel injectors get so clogged up your engine will barely run.

I meant to add Amsoil and other companies are also making different formulations so it is hard to tell the quality of the "synthetic" you are paying for. I can't remember if that was mentioned earlier in the thread or not.

 
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What gearbox said is correct about the 5w20 in US vs 5w30 in other countries. it is done to meet the CAFE standard. They even use 10W30 in 7th back in Thailand which has a pretty darn hot climate. But, 5w30 synthetic is also popular back there.

I used to fill up my Civic with Syntec 0w30. The engine was very quiet and smooth. : )

However, today I got some juices for my wife's CR-V 2008



It is said on the back that it has lower viscosity so it will give better mileage... nah...

it didn't said ATF-Z1 compatible but we all know from the Service Bulletin so I will try on Civic this summer and see how my transmission reacts to the DW-1. I am looking forward to eliminate that winter shift (stuck) by using the DW-1.

 
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be careful with that, remember the cr-v trans fail story after switching to dw1?

 
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gearbox, apparently, I missed that story. i'll do some research. Oh my

 
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search around bobistheoilguy forums.

 
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Best synthetic oil out there right now is Amsoil I don't use it because I think
its overkill at the cost I do use currently a Pennzoil platinum 5w20 with syn Puralotor oil filter and add a can of BG MOA additive in my engine sounds quite and has plenty of protection in the winter heres the the BG Demos product line there the best at protecting your investment

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ci58...588C74&index=1

 
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...you don't need anything like that for a basic civic.
IMO.


As long as it's API approved and 0w20,5w20,5w30 you can run what ever is the cheapest.

Been running Motorcraft Formula 1 blended for 5 years with no leaks, no burning as long as you swap it every 5k.


You only need the top stuff if you're starting to leak and want to swell your front main or rearmain, or if you need the oil to function as part of your cooling system like you would with a boosted or high comp. engine where the oil has a higher chance of burning ffrom the added friction/stress.

 
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i agree....frequency is more important than quality

use the cheapest oil and filter possible as long as they meet spec and are APPROVED

your chances of an oil related failure in these engine is next to zero....your body and frame will rust away before that ever happens

 
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Hello, I drive a 2012 Civic EX Sedan with 36,000 miles. I misplaced my users manual. What weight oil do you recommend? Should I start using Synthetic blend or full synthetic, right now I use a good quality dino oil like Valvoline, Quaker State or Pennzoil. I truly believe in you get what you pay for but I forgot the weight/viscosity. Thanks