honda says my accord requires 5w20 but on the tsx it's 5w30.

this is a bit confusing
http://www.vtec.net/articles/v...14692

 

Just use what it says to use although you can use either one.

 

recommended oil is 5w20, but the talk is that the only reason honda uses this instead of 5w30 is to meet some federal gas mileage threshold. there is an ongoing debate about this, but using 5w30 definitely wont hurt your engine. it should do a better job of protecting your engine at operating temperatures, esp if you choose to drive your 7th gen hard. i personally use 5/30 year round

 

yeah, someone mentioned to me 5w20 is thin and i really don't want to see metal fragments in my oil so i think i'll switch to 5w30.


What is hard driving? I rarely go over 5000rpm. try not to.

I stay at 3000rpm in 5th gear for at least 25-30 min for my highway commute. I'm hoping to protect my engine because i may have to downshift sometimes for sudden back ups and passing up hills. But i don't think i generally hard drive but moreso than an old lady i guess.

 

If you're going to do any kind of performance oriented driving I'd stay away from the 20w stuff.

From Amsoil propoganda:

http://www.synthetic-oil-tech....0.htm

The main reason 5W-20 was specified for your engine is to increase the CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) reported to the Federal Government. CAFE is the combined average fuel economy of all of a vehicle manufacturers product line. Minimum CAFE levels are specified by the Federal Government. In order for a vehicle manufacturer to continue selling profitable large trucks and SUV's, which typically have poor fuel mileage ratings, as compared to smaller cars, and still meet mandated CAFE requirements, they must also sell enough of the smaller cars which have much better fuel economy ratings to offset the poor fuel economy ratings of the larger vehicles. For model year 2001, the change to a 5W-20 oil will allow Ford and Honda's overall CAFE to increase by a very small amount, typically in the tenths of a mile per gallon range. 5W-20 oil is a lighter viscosity than a 5W-30 oil and therefore has less internal engine frictional losses, or less drag on the crankshaft, pistons and valvetrain, which in turn promotes increased fuel economy. This increased fuel economy is virtually undetectable to the average motorist without the use of specialized engine monitoring and testing equipment under strictly controlled test track driving when compared to a 5W-30, 10W-30 or a 0W-30 viscosity motor oil.