Thinner oil, anyone have experiences to share?

[quagss]

I'm wondering if anyone has experiences to share of one of the following:

1. Using a thinner winter weight oil (0w-30 instead of 5w-30, etc)

2. Using 0w-16 oil

I ask because my Subaru is specced for 0w-20, but I am considering going with 0w-16 next change interval.

[ksa8907]

At 0w20, I wouldn't bother going thinner. Almost no benefit to be gained.

Even going from 10w-30 to 0w20, I highly doubt you would be able to measure a difference in efficiency.

[Ecky]

Not long ago I ran Honda's Green Oil in my Insight over a winter. It's still a ~w20, but it's thinner when cold than a 0w, making it very appropriate for northern climes. You might call it a -5w20?

Over that winter I also had the hybrid system disabled for part of it, and my driving patterns changed, so it's very hard to say what the impact of the lighter oil was. I did however send off an oil sample to Blackstone, and they mentioned slightly elevated wear levels compared with the Mobile One I had been using previously. This also might have been due solely to driving patterns though - without the hybrid system enabled, I was more frequently wringing the engine out to get up to speed, and had more short trips.