Originally Posted By: mpvue
you'll notice 'seem' is the functional word in my statement; this thread is all about feeling good w/ a clean well maintained car.
I understand that this is truly about subjective user experience but I still say it's a big placebo - you feel better about having done vehicular maintenance so you phrase the vehicle's response to your inputs in a more positive light. IMO, given a large enough sample size no one who claims that their car 'drives better' after an oil change would be able to tell if it was or not with any statistical significance - and likely would do much worse!
Originally Posted By: mpvue
OTOH, for all the people who say they 'can't tell a difference'; perhaps you've never changed the oil on a car that hadn't been changed in awhile, or had 'thinned out' (for lack of a better term) and the car got quieter and ran better afterwards?
you 'should' be able to tell the difference w/ new oil if the old oil was well past its prime.
I don't let my cars go 'too long' on an oil change that the oil wasn't doing it's job.
I've never, ever, even once noticed a subjective (or objective) difference in the way any of my cars ever performed before/after an oil change... even when switching from a 0w30 to 5w40.
Brake fluid, PSF, MTF; absolutely a difference noticed after a change - but I interact with those fluids almost directly (and receive feedback from their systems). Engine oil? Never.
I'll say it again, if you enjoy driving your car more power to you; similarly if you feel better after having maintained your vehicle then bully for you.
But don't personify the car - it's just a pile of machinery!
you'll notice 'seem' is the functional word in my statement; this thread is all about feeling good w/ a clean well maintained car.
I understand that this is truly about subjective user experience but I still say it's a big placebo - you feel better about having done vehicular maintenance so you phrase the vehicle's response to your inputs in a more positive light. IMO, given a large enough sample size no one who claims that their car 'drives better' after an oil change would be able to tell if it was or not with any statistical significance - and likely would do much worse!
Originally Posted By: mpvue
OTOH, for all the people who say they 'can't tell a difference'; perhaps you've never changed the oil on a car that hadn't been changed in awhile, or had 'thinned out' (for lack of a better term) and the car got quieter and ran better afterwards?
you 'should' be able to tell the difference w/ new oil if the old oil was well past its prime.
I don't let my cars go 'too long' on an oil change that the oil wasn't doing it's job.
Brake fluid, PSF, MTF; absolutely a difference noticed after a change - but I interact with those fluids almost directly (and receive feedback from their systems). Engine oil? Never.
I'll say it again, if you enjoy driving your car more power to you; similarly if you feel better after having maintained your vehicle then bully for you.
