FIND THE RIGHT OIL

Finding the best engine oil for your vehicle may not be an easy task given the variety of products on the market. To answer the question, each vehicle manufacturer (OEM = Original Equipment Manufacturer) in the vehicle’s user and maintenance manual recommends which specifications and viscosities are to be used in that particular engine. But it is worth remembering that engine oil specifications set the minimum characteristics sufficient to meet the demands of that particular vehicle. Therefore, with the same viscosity and specifications, it is not said that the engine oil has the same quality and that guarantees the same coverage in relation to the kilometers traveled.

The choice of viscosity of a lubricant must be made considering both the minimum engine operating temperature (winter temperature) and the maximum temperature (summer temperature): it is essential to choose an oil that remains fluid enough at low temperature to ensure easy starting, but at the same time ensures a satisfactory maintenance of viscosity when the engine is under stress.
Specifically, the viscosity of a lubricant is the measurement of the friction between the molecules of a fluid.
The Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE J300) table classifies engine oils by viscosity. The first number of the classification followed by the letter W (Winter) and the following number, indicate the range of ambient temperature for which that type of oil maintains an effective viscosity.
It is defined "monograde" an oil that guarantees a single coverage, cold or hot (for example SAE 10W, SAE 20W, SAE 30, SAE 50). It is defined "multigrade" an oil that guarantees both a good low temperature lubrication and a high temperature (for example SAE 5W30, SAE 10W40, SAE 0W20).

The first fundamental difference between a mineral fluid and a synthetic fluid concerns the production process. Mineral oil is obtained through the process of distillation and refining of oil; synthetic oil identifies a wide family of solutions all obtained through dedicated synthesis processes from elementary chemical bricks. There are several groups each characterized by different chemical-physical properties.
Another substantial difference is the lubricity in the temperature range: when the temperature is reduced and falls below zero, a synthetic oil remains much more fluid than a mineral oil, which ensures a satisfactory lubrication even at low temperature.