Popular misconceptions about viscosity

In this section: 7 articles
  1. What is oil viscosity? What it's for
  2. How to decode the viscosity index
  3. Which viscosity is better for the engine?
  4. Popular misconceptions about viscosity
  5. Viscosity value table
  6. What is oil viscosity? Myths and truth
  7. Once again about oil viscosity

Instead of an introduction:

  1. "If I like driving fast, a standard engine oil won't do for me — I need a sportier oil" — a real loss of power and a quick engine overhaul are guaranteed — go right ahead!

  2. "When my engine was designed, there were no modern high-viscosity oils yet, so the carmaker simply couldn't have recommended them" — back then there weren't just no modern engine oil brands; there was no engine-building technology designed for today's oils either, so you might as well start looking for a good mechanic for the overhaul.

  3. "With mileage the engine wears and the clearances grow, so an old engine needs a thicker oil — even thicker than the carmaker allows" — you really can choose a higher viscosity from the manufacturer's approved range for a high-mileage engine (that's covered in the fifth step of choosing an oil), but going beyond that range is a bad idea. Oil consumption will most likely drop at first, but far from every engine is designed for that viscosity, so all it does is bring the overhaul closer.

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