Dear Tom and Ray: I am 12 years old and love your column and radio show so much! We have a 2006 Honda Fit. I heard one time on your show that if you use a lighter oil, you will get better mileage. Is that true? – DJ
Ray: Yes, and we recommend switching to Newman’s Own Light Italian.
Tom: In theory, if you use a lighter oil, you will get better mileage, DJ. That’s because oil has a certain viscosity, or thickness. And the moving parts of the engine have to push the oil out of the way as they move.
Ray: The lower the viscosity (the thinner the oil), the easier it is for the parts to do the pushing.
Tom: Imagine that you have two saucepans. One is full of pancake syrup, and the other one is full of water. You take a fork, you put it in the saucepan and you try to move the fork from one side to the other.
Ray: Obviously, the fork is going to be harder to move in the saucepan full of syrup. Because it takes more energy to move the fork through the syrup, if you were an engine, you’d use more gasoline doing it.
Tom: But the viscosity of the oil is related to the protection it provides to the moving parts of the engine. That’s the oil’s primary job. Honda, which is warranting this engine for five years or 60,000 miles, has decided that the thinnest oil that’s safe to use is 5W20.
Ray: If Honda felt it could use a thinner oil, and be able to advertise higher mileage, it surely would. But it has determined that a thinner oil won’t provide enough protection to the engine parts. And it knows that it’ll end up paying for those failed parts, in money and in reputation.
Tom: So we suggest that you use only the grade of oil recommended by the manufacturer, and no thinner.
Ray: Of course, if you want to switch to a thinner syrup for your pancakes, DJ, that’s fine with us.
Dear Tom and Ray: I’m a member of a forum discussion board, the Long Hair Community. Which, of course, means that I have long hair (mine is past my waist).
One member mentioned that she removed the headrest from her driver’s seat because it wouldn’t accommodate updos (y’know, where the long hair is put up in a bun). It seems like she might get whiplash, but so long as her head doesn’t snap loose and roll around the car, I figure it’s OK. I’ve noticed that in my mom’s car, I have to sit slightly forward on the seat. If I were to sit with my back to the seat, the headrest pushes my head slightly down.
So I recline the seat back a little. And that leads me to my question: Would it be possible for someone to adjust or change a headrest so it will accommodate long hair in a large bun? Like maybe put a hole in the headrest?
– Barbara
Ray: We really can’t advocate messing around with the headrest.
Tom: I know you dismiss a little whiplash as not that big a deal, but if you’ve ever had a neck injury, you know that you’d trade your long hair in a second to be rid of it. And if your head were to snap off and roll around the floor of the car, well, try combing your long locks THEN, kiddo!
Ray: Old Volvos and Saabs used to have holes in their headrests – to enhance visibility. But they’ve switched over to solid headrests now. And some cars have headrests that adjust slightly back and forth, which might be enough for you. So you might want to seek out one of those.
Listen to the Car Guys on 1340 AM and 1490 AM at 10 a.m. Saturdays and noon Sundays. Write to them in care of The Denver Post, 101 W. Colfax Ave., Suite 600, Denver, CO 80202.
