Just serviced the car using oil Redline Synthetic 0W20. This is a cold start and run for about two minutes. Sound of engine running at idle / tick over.
The car has done 40,000 miles
The engine is a petrol 3 cylinder 1.1 (1124cc) 75PS (Mitsubishi 3A91) MIVEC DOHC as used in the Colt.
It has a high compression 10.5 : 1
These are cracking little engines using a timing chain for minimal maintenance.
This car is so economical. I get an average of 50 mpg (UK) combined driving normally with two passengers as well, and have had 60 mpg on a gentle steady run. (Equivalent to 5.6 L/100km combined & 4.7 L/100km)
Excellent economy for a car this size.
Update march 2013 - The last oil change, I tried using 5w40 bog standard Asda's own brand £20 synthetic and it found that after a cold start, the hyraulic tappets were tapping for the first 3 minutes. 5w40 oil is TOO THICK for this engine!! I drained it and refilled with Tesco's 5w30 and it is feeling better.
I found the 0w20 suited the engine quite well and ran quite smooth, and the 5w40 made the engine 'chuggy'
For now, I will stay with the 5w30 oil until I change it next, and I will go back to using 0w20. With the 0w20 oil, the engine turns over faster and fires into action quicker.
I only poodle about on short journeys to work and back. If I was commuting any distance, I would probably use 0w30 oil as the engine will get hotter and the 0w30 would be better suited..
