05s197

whipplegt

the 4.6L 3V has VVT and its necessary to run 5w20

281boss

Erm lots of cars have VVT and run high grades. If anything since I live in PR I would use 5w-30. Just because the car having vvt is not a valid argument as why it is necessary to run lower viscosity. A better reason would be that these modular engines are designed with much wider bearings than older motors. Also they have roller cam followers instead of flat tappets. They need a thinner oil so that the cam phasers and the hydraulic rocker pedestals can function properly. Either way I think 5w-20 was mainly for mpg reasons since the new epa regulations are much stricter and they have much more incentives to companies that have a higher mpg on their fleet. If anything if you are gonna run 5w-20 run either redline or amsoil all other oils are CRAP.

cobra6

Being in Montreal, Canada about half of the time the temperature is below 75F which is why I'm running 5W20.

I use Mobil 1 and since I change it every 4,000 miles I don't believe there would be any benefit to using redline, amsoil or anything else.

If it's good enough for an AMG Mercedes or an Aston Martin it's good enough for me.

project07

Dont confuse branding with product quality. Mobil1 is the best oil out of the main stream ones available but if you are going for a racing oil it is either redline or amsoil and stay away from that royal crap. That crap sucks royally.

donp

Also look at Joe Gibbs Racing's line of oils... Not sold by weight or grade, but by intended purpose. "Break In Oil," "Qualifying Oil," "Speedway Oil," "Short Track Oil," etc... EXTREMELY pricey, especially if you have a 5gal dry sump tank for a back seat...

ponyman

Which Setrab oil cooler are you running?
Is it on the stock oiling system?

mach1

5w20 in the 05 GT
5w30 in the 06 S281E

Why? Because that's what the manual for each car called for. No problems so far running 5w20 on the GT with 46k on it.

MustangJohn09

Amsoil! The only way to go, OW-20 is what i have been running in my 09 GT, 06 Fusion, 01 F150. I have some friends that run OW-30 and that works great too. The biggest advantage to Amsoil is that the interval between oil changes is 25k or 1 year.

cameron55

Ford does their durability tests on NA 4.6 with 5W20. So for normal use, why not use it? What is the debate? If your use is not the "normal" use Ford had in mind, then use what your use requires. Keeping in mind the first principal of lubrication is to always use the lightest lubricant that will do the job.

If I were pumping a bunch of heat into the engine with a power adder (or towing a heavy trailer), I would use 5W30. Ford puts 5W50 in the Shelby GT's, I imagine for this reason. In foreigh countries, maybe 5W20 not readily available, so Ford says 5W30 OK. In countries where you maybe can run flat out (Germany), I would probably run 5W30. It just depends on your use of the car, and climate.

At start up.....5W20, 5W30, 5W50 all the same when cold. When hot (very hot), 5W30 has slightly better protection in a couple areas than 5W20. BTW....if doing serious drag racing with NA engine, I would also investigate using some of the 0W10, or 5W10's....for a couple extra HP.

I don't see how VVT has anything to do with which 5W (or zero W) you use.