Originally Posted by dedwards0323
When a car engine is cold, you really want an oil that is 'thin enough' to rapidly move thru the engine during start-up to avoid significant wear. Maybe the single worst time for engine wear.
When I was into Merkur XR4Ti's, this was even highlighted in Ford's recommended oil change procedure. It specifically stated that after changing the oil, the coil wire was to be removed and the engine 'turned over' a few times to make sure oil was pumped over to the turbo to lubricate the bearings. Then you could reconnect the coil wire & start the car normally.
Now this was back in the late 1980's/early 1990's and I used the recommended 10w30 oil in all three of my cars throughout ownership. No synthetics, oil changes every 3000 miles, and never had any issues.