What are 0w-16 and 0w-20?
More modern vehicles are designed and engineered to operate on lighter oils. 0W-16 and 0W-20 are multigrade viscosity oil suitable for modern engines.
Multigrade viscosity helps oil flow easily in winter temperatures, but in high temperatures, the oil behaves like a thicker oil.
This feature of multigrade viscosity ensures immediate oil flow at cold temperature and provides reliable lubrication at high temperatures.
The letter ‘W’ in viscosity grade stands for winter, not weight.
In 0W-16 viscosity oil, the viscosity indicates that the oil flows quickly and easily like 0 weight oil in cold temperature, but the oil becomes thick and viscous like SAE 20 weight oil when the engine reaches operating temperature and when the ambient temperature is high.
The higher the number is, the better oil performs in hot temperatures.
Whereas, in 0w-20, the oil also flows easily like 0 weight when it is cold outside. However, the number 20 after ‘W’ describes 0w-20 will become more resistant to thinning in response to high operating temperature of the engine and outside climate.
Difference Between 0w20 & 0w16 Engine Oil
Based on a few things, we will try to understand the difference between 0w-20 and 0w-16
Fuel Economy
As 0w-16 and 0w-20 are lower viscosity oils, both oils are impressively fuel efficient. In the modern era of engine lubricants, the demands and requirements for engine fuel efficiency increase to reduce environmental pollution.
Engines running on thicker oil burn more fuel than thinner oil. The thinner the oil is, the less friction there is on the working surface and the less fuel is consumed.
So, the main difference between 0w-16 and 0w-20 is that 0w-16 is slightly thinner oil than 0w-20 at high outside temperatures and the engine’s operating temperature. Despite 0w-20 being great for fuel economy, 0w-16 is even more fuel efficient than 0w-16.
Suitable Weather to Use 0w20 & 0w16
0W-20 and 0W-16 are multigrade SAE oil mostly suitable for colder climates. These oils flow easily to lubricate critical engine parts immediately and provide excellent cold start performance.
However, 0w-16 is slightly thinner than 0w-20, therefore having better cold start performance than 0w-20. Although both oils are great for winter, 0w-16 has a slight edge in extremely cold temperatures.
On the other hand, 0w-20 provides better lubrication than 0w-16 in hot temperature as It is slightly more viscous than 0w-16.
Sometimes the oil being too thin can cause premature wear in different engine parts. Thicker oil creates a better lubricating film between high-speed metal parts of the engine than a thinner oil. That’s why 0w-20 becomes superior at protecting engines in high temperatures than 0w-16.
Outside Temperature
Since both 0w-20 and 0w-16 are lower viscosity oil, they specially perform effectively well in colder climates. However, as thinner oil is less protective to the engine, these oils are optimized for certain modern vehicles that are designed to get maximum fuel economy as well as protection.
0W-16 oil can flow easily at ambient temperatures as low as -40°C, whereas 0W-20 can also flow normally down to -30°C.
Since both are multi-grade oils, they also have the ability to operate and protect the engine at moderately high temperatures.
However, when it is hot, 0w-20 viscosity oil is more capable of lubricating the engine than 0w-16. 0w-20 can operate well up to 25°C, whereas 0W-16 can operate and lubricate engine parts reliably up to 20°C.
