Is synthetic oil really worth the extra money??
11-24-2009, 03:51 PM
#1
1st Gear Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Illinois
Posts: 59
Is synthetic oil really worth the extra money??
So I hear all kinds of things from all kinds of people. Some say it really doesnt matter that much if you don't get synthetic oil and some other people are really hardcore about getting the synthetic oil always. My 06 Mustang GT has about 42K miles on it and has been always had regular oil...but I have been reading that alot of mustang gt owners get synthetic oil. So is it really worth the extra money ? Is there any quantitative difference in the long run between consistently using one or the other? I don't have alot of spare money on me but if it really really helps it last longer in the long run, I suppose it might be a good idea.
11-24-2009, 04:08 PM
#2
6th Gear Member
I've had over 1/2 dozen cars that went over 200,000 miles on dino oil, Fram filters and 3,000 mile oil/filter changes and not 1 burned or used oil nor had any compression issues.
To answer your question, the difference in wear is negligible providing oil change frequency is correct for the type of oil. Dino will shear and lose it's protective packages faster than a blend. Blends will degrade faster than full synthetic. If you don't want to get under your car every 3,000 miles for dino or every 5-7,000 miles for blend, then full synthetic will have you under there at 8,000-10,000 mile intervals.
If I didn't mind doing oil changes at 3,000 miles and, providing it was cost effective, I'd run regular oil. And I have no problem expecting to get equal life out of my engine then if I had used blend or syn. I currently maintain 5 vehicles, 2 using full syn, 1 using blend and the other 2 with dino.
To answer your question, the difference in wear is negligible providing oil change frequency is correct for the type of oil. Dino will shear and lose it's protective packages faster than a blend. Blends will degrade faster than full synthetic. If you don't want to get under your car every 3,000 miles for dino or every 5-7,000 miles for blend, then full synthetic will have you under there at 8,000-10,000 mile intervals.
If I didn't mind doing oil changes at 3,000 miles and, providing it was cost effective, I'd run regular oil. And I have no problem expecting to get equal life out of my engine then if I had used blend or syn. I currently maintain 5 vehicles, 2 using full syn, 1 using blend and the other 2 with dino.
11-24-2009, 07:24 PM
#3
5th Gear Member
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: New Orleans
Posts: 4,491
11-24-2009, 10:10 PM
#4
3rd Gear Member
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: PA
Posts: 750
Years ago I swore up and down synthetic was a waste. The engine builder that I was dealing with at the time said he'd show me the difference between dino, and synthetic over the long haul.
He had two gm 350's with similar mileage, one with a lifetime of synthetic and the other with a lifetime of dino oil. When the synthetic oil engine was disassembled it was "clean" inside. By clean I mean, no baked on oil, so stains, no tar appearing old oil. Almost looked like a new engine even though it had well over 100,000 on it.
Second engine spent its life on dino oil. Upton disassembly it had all the typical signs of an old engine. Baked on oil, stains through out, and thick sludgy oil. It also had that foul smell.
I dealt with him for years, and the same results constantly repeated themselves. Engines with synthetic were always coniderably cleaner inside than dino engines.
From that point on, I switched to synthetic. I figure it's cheap insurance. Why cheap out on the life blood of your vehicle? The long term cost of sythetic in my opinion is fall less expensive than a early engine rebuild.
But ultimately the choice is yours. You'll probably find a 50-50 split on the opinions you'll receive.
He had two gm 350's with similar mileage, one with a lifetime of synthetic and the other with a lifetime of dino oil. When the synthetic oil engine was disassembled it was "clean" inside. By clean I mean, no baked on oil, so stains, no tar appearing old oil. Almost looked like a new engine even though it had well over 100,000 on it.
Second engine spent its life on dino oil. Upton disassembly it had all the typical signs of an old engine. Baked on oil, stains through out, and thick sludgy oil. It also had that foul smell.
I dealt with him for years, and the same results constantly repeated themselves. Engines with synthetic were always coniderably cleaner inside than dino engines.
From that point on, I switched to synthetic. I figure it's cheap insurance. Why cheap out on the life blood of your vehicle? The long term cost of sythetic in my opinion is fall less expensive than a early engine rebuild.
But ultimately the choice is yours. You'll probably find a 50-50 split on the opinions you'll receive.
11-25-2009, 08:00 AM
#6
2nd Gear Member
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Louisiana
Posts: 246
I've had over 1/2 dozen cars that went over 200,000 miles on dino oil, Fram filters and 3,000 mile oil/filter changes and not 1 burned or used oil nor had any compression issues.
To answer your question, the difference in wear is negligible providing oil change frequency is correct for the type of oil. Dino will shear and lose it's protective packages faster than a blend. Blends will degrade faster than full synthetic. If you don't want to get under your car every 3,000 miles for dino or every 5-7,000 miles for blend, then full synthetic will have you under there at 8,000-10,000 mile intervals.
If I didn't mind doing oil changes at 3,000 miles and, providing it was cost effective, I'd run regular oil. And I have no problem expecting to get equal life out of my engine then if I had used blend or syn. I currently maintain 5 vehicles, 2 using full syn, 1 using blend and the other 2 with dino.
To answer your question, the difference in wear is negligible providing oil change frequency is correct for the type of oil. Dino will shear and lose it's protective packages faster than a blend. Blends will degrade faster than full synthetic. If you don't want to get under your car every 3,000 miles for dino or every 5-7,000 miles for blend, then full synthetic will have you under there at 8,000-10,000 mile intervals.
If I didn't mind doing oil changes at 3,000 miles and, providing it was cost effective, I'd run regular oil. And I have no problem expecting to get equal life out of my engine then if I had used blend or syn. I currently maintain 5 vehicles, 2 using full syn, 1 using blend and the other 2 with dino.
I agree 100%. Also, I've never kept a car long enough where any issues would come into play. I used conventional oil in my wife's last vehicle running 5k mile oil changes, and traded it at 102K miles with no issues! I run synthetic in my vehicle for added insurance because I run it a little harder (@ drag strip, etc.).
11-25-2009, 09:10 AM
#7
2nd Gear Member
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Florida
Posts: 479
i don't think it really costs you any more money. for ex. if you buy dino oil, about $3 a quart, whereas mobil 1 fs is usually $6-7 a quart, if you change the dino every 3000 and the fs every 10000 the fs price is $6-7 a quart, whereas the dino is $9 for the same 9000. blend if you go 5000, then it is about $10 for the 10000 compared to the $6-7 for 10000, plus i don't have to crawl under my car as much
11-25-2009, 10:20 AM
#9
6th Gear Member
I began using Amsoil oil and filter in my GT at my first oil change mainly because I was putting over 20,000 miles/year on it and it wasn't even my DD. She used to sit in the garage sometimes for 2 weeks or more between runs but, when i DID drive her the trips were typically 400+ miles one way with speeds in excess of 100 MPH. Oil and filter changes were at 8,000-10,000 miles. Since I moved about 6 months ago, I have barely put more than 4,000 miles on her in these past 6 months and that was mainly from a trip to central PA and another to the Detroit area. I may consider going back to the Motorcraft blend and go to a 5,000-6,000 mile or 6 month change; whichever comes first, depending on my job status in the next couple of months. I've been using the Motorcraft blend and filter in the g/f's '06 V6 since she barely puts 6,000/year on her Stang. The cost of the Motorcraft oil and filter is about 1/2 the cost of M1 and about 1/3 the cost of the Amsoil oil and filter. I have no issue with any type oil in the Stang. I simply was using full syn to keep from being underneath any more than I had to since I'm currently maintaining 5 vehicles.
Last edited by Nuke; 11-25-2009 at 12:08 PM.
11-25-2009, 10:31 AM
#10
1st Gear Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Illinois
Posts: 59
Thanks guys!! Really helpful! So what I've been reading is Mobil 1 synthetic and Mobil 1 filters seems to be the best bang for my buck. Does anyone know how much it would cost to just walk into a jiffy already having the 5 or 6 quarts and filter? It is about $35 for a dino change (quarts and filters included in price). I would use their synthetic oil but they use Penzzoil and I have heard that it is sub-standard.