What is the best kind to use? Is it really worth all the money? Is Royal Purple any good? I believe they have it at PEP BOYS.

 

I use Mobile 1 in my Z-28 and Firehawk and all I can say is that i'm satisfied overall with the synthetic oil. Royal Purple is also a great oil, however I prefer Mobile 1.

 

I've used Mobil 1 in my car for a long time and have had no problems, but I'm going to try Castrol Syntec 0w-30 this time around because I've heard so many good things about it.

 

0 weight is incredibly thin, I don't know why you would want to use it unless its -40 degrees out. Synthetic oil is worth all the hype, it's by far the best oil on the market.

 

ive been running amsoil 10w30 i love it...

 

Well I read in some street tuning magazine that synthetic oil isn't any better than regular... so now I'm confused...

 

synthetic doesnt break down under high temp conditions regular oil will break down under extreme heat... synthetic is definitely better in certain situations

 

It all comes from the same ground, from the same dead dinosaurs. Sure, synthetic goes through more stages of refining, but it's not a "man-made" product ... it's still just a form of dino oil.

We've run several cars to 300,000 kms + (~185k miles) on just regular oil, and had no problems. Do regular oil changes, and save yourself about ~3X the cost for oil.

I helped my Dad tear apart a 305 out of a friend's full-size van one time. This guy swore up and down by his Mobil 1 and just how great it was ... that motor didn't have real high mileage, and yet it looked (and smelled! ) just like any other motor I've seen torn apart ... all sludged up in the corners, and the pistons were all scored really bad. He said he only ran Mobil 1, and he did regular oil changes.

I've also seen inside motors that have been run on regular oil, and they look just fine. Regular oil changes are the key, IMO.

 

I think synthetic has been scientifically proven to be better than regular oil but at the same time if you keep your engine running good and change the oil regularly I doubt you will be able to tell any difference. I do use it but I think proper maintenance plays a much bigger part in how long an engine will last and not the type of oil.

 

Castrol Sytec, 10w-30......good stuff

 

Like many other topics, misinformation about synthetics is rampant.

[QUOTE=Capn Pete]It all comes from the same ground, from the same dead dinosaurs. Sure, synthetic goes through more stages of refining, but it's not a "man-made" product ... it's still just a form of dino oil.[QUOTE]
That's what the "wannabes" want you to believe. Mobil 1, AMSOIL, Redline, and (I believe) Royal Purple, are true synthetics. The base does not come from petroleum. Castrol, Penzoil, Valvoline, QS, etc., use highly refined petroleum and are allowed by court order to call them "synthetic", when in truth they are not.

[QUOTE=NOS2006]I read in some street tuning magazine that synthetic oil isn't any better than regular.[QUOTE]
Consider the source.

 

Well then, where does true synthetic come from??

 

Let me explain how synthetics were explained to ME in an in-house meeting with two of valvoline's top engineers.

You have four stock grades, D,C,B, and A

D and C are "non-synthetic"

B and A are considered "Synthetic"

D is low-grade oil, a jumble of molecules, most regular oils fall into this category

C is what most high mileage oils fall into

B is what most synthetics and some part synthetics use

A is what top of the line synthetics use


The way they grade these is by the length of molecule strands. Oil is madeup of certain molecules, etc. Low-grade oil is just a mess of molecules, nothing selective, D and C grades can be found naturally, which is why they are known as conventional oil. As we move up the list (b and A grade) the organization and molecule content becomes purer and purer. The high grade (synthetic) is machine filtered, selected, and cycled at a molecular level until only the longest, complete molecule chains exist in the oil and none of the incomplete or individual molecules exist. This ultra pure oil base is what eventually makes it into top of the line synthetics, and is why it is known as synthetic oil. It is machine synthesized, and does not exist naturally. Because of more refining time needed, and the science there, it costs more then other oils. Additives and detergents go in AFTER the base stock refining, and are combined to make what we think of as motor oil. That is mostly what makes each manufacturer's oil different.

 

I'll go further with this. The longer, pure and complete molecule strains are what make synthetic oil more durable then regular oil. They can resist higher temperatures and harsher conditions because the long molecule chains are more robust then the impure and individual molecules found in conventional oil.

 

Hey Spinner, that's exactly how my friend at work explained it to me too . He didn't get into detail about the A - D grading, but he described the difference in molecules as the determining factor for lower - higher grade oils, just as you did. He used to work as a marine engineer on large ships, and also had a seminar/info session from an oil company on the "science" of synthetic oils . He's a smart guy, and I trust him on that. Seems a little more than "coincidental" that I'd hear the exact same explanation from 2 independent sources.

SO, if what you're saying is in fact true (which is what I already believed to be true) then it would stand to reason that ALL OILS COME FROM THE SAME GROUND, FROM THE SAME DEAD DINOSAURS!!! (they're just "processed" differently).

So where did you get that mis-information???