I am going to be traveling in a very hot area, what is the best motor oil for hot regions, hard use, a straight weight 30 oil or a 20W-50W oil.

I'd probably go for the heavier weight. When I was traveling in Baja and went looking for a quart of 10W-30 for my Jeep, I couldn't find any. The Mexicans said that 40 was the way to go. Strait 40 was all I could find . . .

I use 10-40 in both my vehicles. All year round.
AB



edited to add: oops! I didn't intend to hit "quote".

AB

Mobil 1 Synthetic 15W-50.

If you don't mind spending some money, get yourself some Redline 20W-50. It runs about 8 bucks a quart and you can buy it from Summit Racing or JEGS if your local speed shop doesn't carry it.
They made tranny fluid and gear oil that kicks ass too.
http://www.redlineoil.com  

RedLine is the best oil in the world. Bar none. The base stock It is made from polyol esters originally developed for jet engines.

Just don't use their racing oil in your street car. The racing oil doesn't have the additive package in it you need to hold all the crap in suspension while it's living in your engine for months.

I've used their stuff in a 4 cyl ford racing motor that is revved to  8500 RPM and never falls below 7200 RPM in Tucson AZ. There is absolutely no scuffing or wear ANYWHERE!

They don't sponsor me so I have no reason to recommend their products other than they really work.

thank you folks