Originally Posted By: Cujobob
While there are certainly different grades of synthetic oil, synthetic is generally better for the engine. Conventional, modern conventional of any reputable brand, is quite good these days...but you can maximize your dollars by going to longer OCIs and using a better quality filter (which is always better). It means less oil changes which means less potential for screwing something up or having an oil change place screw something up. They generally clean much better, are better in cold start situations, and can be used longer. The cost, when you purchase using appropriate deals, is not so much more significant that it's worth arguing over, either.
Positives +
Less frequent oil changes
Better cold start
Cleans the engine better
Negatives -
Short term cost is higher
Everything is worth discussing.... everything....
But here is where application hits those pro/cons
Quote:
Less frequent oil changes
If and only if you are collecting enough miles to warrant the extended change. If you are doing 5K or less per year, there is no additional benefit for the "extra" range of the Syn. The benefit is even worse if you use the vehicle like I use my beater... 30min-hour-ish trips over highways for 90% the trips but infrequently to keep the mileage low.
Quote:
Better cold start
Not all locations have -30 degree temps. May folks, even 40F degrees is about as low as they normally see so that fractional cold-start benefit is mute... especially if the are running a thinner mix to begin with. Even in my "cooler" NC climate, it is a normal 10-30 degree winter morning for me and that is easily handled by conventional. Even the high temp advantage for Syn is negated if you have the "vanilla" grocery getter that might see 3500 RPMs once in a blue moon.
Quote:
Cleans the engine better
Again, if you are adding fewer miles the frequent oil changes based on a calendar interval negates this as relatively fresh conventional would be plenty. Heck, even of you are doing decent OCI on conventional, you are not going to have any problem unless it was a known coker.
Quote:
Negatives -
Short term cost is higher
Longer-term cost are higher too. If conventional use was causing failures, then you could recoup the added cost...even for few-milers. However, engine failure related to oil, including conventional is as rare as an US Public High School using manual gearboxes for their student driver courses. At most, Syns are going to be scratch with cost. With many Conventional being able to do 5000mi+, especially with highway warriors, you really have to watch you data. If Mobil 5K gets 5,000mi per oil change @ $13 per 5qts, M1 @ $23 (regular) must get 8846 miles per OCI to be as cost effective. However, if your vehicle is easy on oil, know your UOA, and can get say 6500mi from M5K, you must get 11,500mi from the regular M1. Actually, the easier the vehicle is on oil, the more conventional become cost effective. Now, if you can get Syn on significant discount, it helps a lot but then a bargain quality conventional gets a better cost/benefit ratio.
The trick is that to get the benefits of Syn, your application must warrant the additional cost. For my fleet, some vehicle which run 10 hours / 165 miles a day between 0-35mph with constant stop/go... yeah, they get syn with an extreme service schedule. Others that get only 1000 highway miles a month get Dino/SynBlend and 7500 OCI.
You don't use a 40 foot ladder to fix a 8' lightbulb...
