Best engine oil for 2022 – Roadshow [CNET]

It’s important to choose the right motor oil for your car to keep your engine in working order. While motor oil isn’t exactly the most exciting thing to shop for, spending a little time picking the right oil for your budget, your car, and the way you drive will do wonders when it comes to maintaining your engine.

Motor oil works by creating a thin barrier between your engine’s moving parts to reduce wear and resistance. The more smoothly all those parts move, the more efficiently an engine operates. There are a mind-boggling number of options that will do the job, so I’ve sorted through them all to find the best motor oils for a variety of needs.

I considered price, availability, personal experience and consumer reviews in choosing these top picks. I also included conventional oil, synthetic oil, and synthetic blend oils so no matter your preference, there’s a motor oil on this list to fit your needs. After checking out the list, make sure to read on afterwards to learn more about the different types of oil and tips for picking the one that’s right for your ride.

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Synthetic motor oils aren’t made from crude. Instead, they’re a man-made liquid designed for lubricating engines. They offer significant improvements over conventional oil with additives and formulas that help your engine stay clean and reduce friction. They also have a longer life that ensures they fully protect your engine between oil changes and may even let you go longer between oil changes. Since they don’t require crude, they have the added benefit of a reduced environmental impact during manufacturing that extends to possible improvements in fuel economy. The biggest drawback to synthetic motor oil is that it’s a more costly option.

A synthetic blend is the happy medium between the conventional oil and synthetic oil. It costs less than a full synthetic while still offering some of the same bonuses including a longer life than conventional oil and formulas that include detergents. It’s a great choice if you want the benefits of a synthetic engine oil but you have a limited budget.

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There are several things you can look for to help determine if the engine oil you’re about to buy is going to do the job for which it’s intended. Look for the API Donut. This symbol indicates that the oil meets the American Petroleum Institute’s engine oil standards. It’s usually on the label on the back of the bottle. You may also see the API Starburst, which is usually on the front of the label, and indicates that the formulation meets International Lubricant Specification Advisory Committee standards.

Another symbol to look for is the SAE logo on an engine oil label. This stands for the Society of Automotive Engineers, which is the group that designed the viscosity coding system I mentioned earlier. Seeing SAE listed next to the viscosity information on a bottle of oil ensures that it meets the group’s standards for that grade of oil.

Written by Nicole Wakelin for Roadshow

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