Not to sound argumentative by any means, but I was always under the impression that ALL OIL regardless of whether it's conventional or synthetic or whatever will thicken with colder temperatures and liquify under warmer temperatures...in fact, I thought that was what the oil weight was all about.

In 10w30, 10 would be the weight of the oil when cold. As it heats up, it becomes 30 weight. And what about SAE oil? It is just a standard for the flow of the oil.

To my knowledge, synthetic is said to have better viscosity, are less prone to breaking downand contributes less to sludge etc.

But here's food for thought...In 1996 Consumer reports published the results of a two year motor oil test involving a fleet of 75 New York taxi cabs and found no noticeable advantage of synthetic oil over regular oil. Granted this is city driving, stop and go...but it's something to ponder.

It all depends on who you ask but the general idea is that synthetic oil lasts longer but doesn't really do anything special to your engine in terms of protection.

 

I love the sprited discussions,
Mike,
In other vehicles I have been a 3000 mile changer, I changed the oil this time to the blend as I did not have a good feeling about when the last oil change was done, oil did not look or smell bad just wanted to get it on my cycle, but with the blend I was going for3000 milesor 3 months as my wife will be driving in townwith stop and go, with the synethic I would probably double that to6000, I know on myBMW I spilt the difference and go 7500 BMW says 15000 milles.

Paranoia is an understatement but I will get over it, I just keep thinking that everytime I start it I just wait for one of the lights to stayon. But as I saidthat will pass.Getting the disco gave me a good excuse to clean upthe garage and straighten up the tools. I just hope I do not have touse them to often.

 

Do not extend your drains past 5K in the Disco. I run past 10K in my Duramax, but the Disco's run too rich to go past 5K.

 

Good to know I will change my plans then thanks, OKdiscoguy

 

Well, I sure cannot argue with a study involving cabs that do 10-15 times the mileage I do in a year. But the synthetics keeps the same flowability in any temperature and does notliquify nor thicken and keeps its weight in all conditions. So I guess that I use it for peace of mind. It is true however that I change my oil twice a year (5W30 for winter in November and 10W30 for summer in may) but I drive about 8000 miles a year at the most. If I had to change the oil every 3 months, I'm not sure I would have switched to synthetics to begin with.

 

Just an FYI, I have done oil samples to verify. This was just a test on mine, so others may have different result. DiscoMike also recommends not going past 5K, so my test matched what he said, and his advice alone was enough for me to do it.

I know the conventional vs. synthetic topic has been beaten to death, but I have one more thing to add. I am sure most remember the Duralube bearing tester they used in the commercials. It is a way to actually see the oil being abused. The one I have has 5 weights on it. Castrol is the best conventional oil I have tested. It will get to 3 weights and lock up. Put some Royal Purple on it, and it will take all 5. You can put pressure on it with your hand, take the oil bath out, fill the chamber with water, and keep running it for hours with water. I sell the stuff, and that test made me a true believer. Synthetic is worth the added cost for the piece of mind you get.

That isn't even getting into the better flow giving you incresed mileage, and the better seal in the combustion chamber reducing emissions.