Hi,
Tooslick - Ted, my reply was in response to your comments;
"I've generally see gains of 3%-5% with the Amsoil Series 2000, 0w-30, compared to 10w-30 conventional oil."
If you had indicated you were referring to an Official and SAE controlled Lab test to a set protocol with published outcomes using your stated oil I would NOT have responded at all
You won't though were you?? And of course the oils you refer to do not have similar viscosities
Lab testing is another thing - you said "I've GENERALLY see gains..........."
Fuel economy gains were well discussed here over a year ago and these same points were raised then
We all know that there are fuel economy gains in changing from a mineral to a synthetic engine oil of similar viscosity - Lab tests do show this. THE BRAND OF SYNTHETIC OIL USED IS TO ALL INTENTS AND PURPOSES IRRELEVANT.
Quantifying these gains in the real world is not so easy
One good measure of the potential savings (in heavy trucks at least) is to see the variance in operating temperatures (logged and rationalised) in gearboxes (RoadRanger,mineral v syn SAE50) and in diffs (Meritor, mineral 85w-140 v syn 75w-90).IMHE and in the real world these are usually reduced by 10C to 25C respectively
In trucking circles the fuel economy gains MAY be greater here than from the engine oil (of similar viscosities of course)
It is unlikely that anybody will get a "Syn payback on fuel economy" the title of this thread. Not fuel economy alone at least!
The "payback" will most likely be by a combination of things in order such as:
a) extending drain intervals (using UOAs of course)
b) extending filter use (as for a) above)
c) some fuel economy improvement
d) longer starter/battery life
e) and etc
The BRAND of synthetic used is mostly irrelevant - more religion than reality perhaps?
Regards
Doug
MY02 Subaru Outback 2.5 manual (Delvac 1)
MY98 BMW Z3 2.8 manual (Delvac 1)
MY89 Porsche 928 S4 Auto (Delvac 1)
[ January 23, 2005, 12:19 PM: Message edited by: Doug Hillary ]