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synthetic oil or regular?

Posted: Thu Aug 03, 2006 1:48 pm
by bombtrack07
whats the big difference between synthetic engine oil and regular oil? i know that you can go for longer periods between oil changes with syn.oil but thats about it.

Posted: Thu Aug 03, 2006 1:58 pm
by neon god
theres a sticky in genral questions about synthetic oil, my question is why do people say not to switch to synthetic, after using regular for a wile?

Posted: Thu Aug 03, 2006 2:05 pm
by neontj
sport compact car magizine did a good article on it i tried to find it but ran out of patcence sorry.[url] but there is alot of difference i run mobil 1 in my neon and it does make a difference my mpg goes up 1-3 and belive it or not my 0-60 drops a couple of .10s too. so in my opinion yes its worth running syntheic. i even run it in my lawn tractor and it does better on gas and oil consumption too.[http://www.sportcompactcarweb.com/features]

Posted: Thu Aug 03, 2006 2:20 pm
by bombtrack07
awesome. its almost time for an oil change (maybe 500 miles or so) and i think i'll change to syn.oil this time. thanks guys.

Posted: Thu Aug 03, 2006 6:50 pm
by skuttler
just buy a 5 quart of mobil 1 from walmart for $20 a $2 supertech 3614 filter and do it yourself. You don't even need to jack up your car just drive 2 wheels up on a sidewalk or something change oil and filter and dump your used oil at an autozone. This is how my lazy ass does it.

Posted: Thu Aug 03, 2006 7:13 pm
by bombtrack07
yeh ive been changing my own oil for about 4 years now. the last time i took it (my old mazda626) to a place to get it done, the whack-off broke my antenna (what does an antenna have to do with an oil change?) and that was when i was 17. my neighbor has a ground-level basement and a shitload of tools and other play-pretties :lol: its hard to do it now that the neon sits 2" lower (yeh ramps dont work no more) but ive got an interesting brainstorm going on and all i need now is some various length 2x4's. also thinking of doing a side-exit exhaust but then again, i need money :cry:

Posted: Thu Aug 03, 2006 9:24 pm
by racer12306
if you are going to change it every 3000 miles still dont worry about it. the savings in gas will not equal the extra cost spent on the oil.

5000 miles will be fine. i am doing 5000 mile intervals while i am under warrenty, then im going to go up to 7500 mile intervals.

Posted: Thu Aug 03, 2006 9:35 pm
by SlvrACR
Mine has always had Amsoil since first oil change. I get a discount on it so price isnt really a factor. I ran Amsoil in all the fluids poss on my Cherokee and it had 150,000 something miles. It made my transfer case quieter and trans shifted great. For the little bit more I believe its better

Posted: Thu Aug 03, 2006 9:35 pm
by fixitmattman
Dino oil for me. Synthetic does last longer and doesn't break down as much, but for what it's worth I don't see any extra value in it at this point.

Back when I was driving to work everyday, I was doing 6000mi changes on dino oil. Now that I don't drive as much and it's mostly city stop and go I'll have to drop it down to 5000mi.

Matt

Posted: Thu Aug 03, 2006 9:38 pm
by racer12306
i know dino is a lot better than it used to be but i still have a hard time going that long on dino oil.

supertech 5w30 - $7/5qts
purolator - $3.5
total = $10.50 not too bad for a 3000 mile oil change.

Posted: Thu Aug 03, 2006 10:13 pm
by jonnymopar
I go 5-6000 miles on Mobil 1 5W30. I'm happy with it. Obviously the big test would be to pull the engine apart after a buttload of miles and see how everything looks, but I don't think I'll be doing that personally. There's a guy on neons.org that retired his 1gen with over 200k miles. Changed the oil once a year with Mobil 1 and when he tore the motor apart, he said it looked fine inside.

Posted: Fri Aug 04, 2006 4:44 am
by BlackRoseRacing
I'll never personally switch back to conventional oil in my personal car. From owning a turbo car and seeing what the turbocharger does to conventional oil Vs synthetic, I'll only use conventional oil if I have a fresh motor needing to break in...
Our local NAPA here in Niagara Falls, NY has there trucks running Mobil 1 and there highest mile GM pickup has over 250,000 miles on the odometer and still has the factory timing chain....

Posted: Fri Aug 04, 2006 5:06 am
by skuttler
a lot of people that know a lot more about cars than me swear by mobil1. I figure it's worth $10 extra for the extra 2000 miles I can go between oil changes and piece of mind. plus my engine seems to run smoother (placebo?).

Posted: Fri Aug 04, 2006 8:08 am
by bombtrack07
after this change, i'll start doing it every 5k miles so that it will make up for the cost. i was just wondering if there was a big difference that wouldnt be worth the change, but now i know that itll be worth it. maybe now i'll actually keep up with the miles between oil changes...

Posted: Fri Aug 04, 2006 10:28 am
by Wisher2
I would never put crappy Mobil 1 in my car.....Royal Purple or Redline for me

Posted: Fri Aug 04, 2006 4:33 pm
by kc2005ptgt
Yeah, RP is good stuff, but for 20$ Walmart stuff, Mobil1 works just as well for 5k miles. My wife added it up and we figured it does not save any money using synthetic twice a year or dino 4 times a year.

Dino, at $16 from the guy who does her oil = $64 p/yr

Mobil1 = $20
Filter = $6
$5 shop fee for placing on rack = $5

Total = $31 or $62 per year, but then there are taxes involved, so it actually goes up higher. I told her I want the stuff, so I am gonna do it, she is not.

As of last oil change though, the shop changed its price to 21 because of oil prices, so now she will save money so we will probably run mobil1 in her hyundai too. Akthough her car has 31k miles on it, but the bottom end only has 6k (new block)

Posted: Fri Aug 04, 2006 5:30 pm
by WiTeOuT
I've been running Mobil 1 Synth for over 3 years now. Saw and felt an immidiate difference and will never go back. Like everyone else has proven....go that route.

Posted: Sun Aug 06, 2006 2:55 pm
by scneonchic
I use mobil 1 synthetic also. Been using it for a couple of years w/ no problems. I changed my oil in january, barely drove the car 2k miles and changed it in the begining of july.

Next oil change ( around christmas maybe :lol:) Im switching to royal purple. They have some at advance and we can get it for pretty cheap because it was special order and they havent come for it in months.

Posted: Sun Aug 06, 2006 4:57 pm
by Wisher2
I use royal purple and I noticed about 2mpg difference as well as smoother takeoff and I dont get the knocking as much