oil: synthetic vs. conventional

[Matsuda03]

It's time for my 03 P5's first oil change since I've owned the car. The last owner used only synthetic oil.

Will it hurt the motor to switch to conventional oil after all this time on synthetic?

What if I use a synthetic blend?

Is it really better to run synthetic oil?

 

[D3monix]

Go synthetic or go home.

Synthetics are more expensive but it's worth it. The oil changes are far more infrequent (twice a year)
Also synthetics have the advantage of there's nothing in the oil that shouldn't be there. Regular oils are purified and there can still be some impurities in the oil and thus causing possible build up in the engine.

 

[bgibb68]

just stay full syn dude

 

[Flash5]

just get full synthetic, but unless you get an extended mileage oil your changes should be changing it the same amount.

 

[sube]

Synthetic is way better for you motor, viscosity doesn't change much at lower temperature like regular dino oil does. So you get oil circulating much faster. You can actually prove this with an oil pressure gauge.

At cold temperatures it takes a little while for pressure to show on the gauge using regular oil. with synthetic you have oil pressure instantly. This makes the case for me. Synthetic FTW.

Pat.

 

[wiprotege5]

Synthetic.

Mobil One.

Both engine and transmission oil.

Period.

 

[808MP5]

Mobile1 Synthetic

 

[ForceFed]

Egh...I'd stay with teh syn if thats what its had all its life...but if it doesnt bother you...DIno will work fine as well.

 

[mrpopo573]

Synthetic is proven to be better in every way. If the previous owner was smart enough to care for your car in that way why end the trend? Preventative maintenance is worth a ton.

 

[flash75]

Synthetic oil is fine and keeps the engine clean but it will not harm a car to use dino oil. I use dino oil and have never experienced any problems using it. I keep some cars as long as 10 years and never an engine failure. I tried synthetic oil in my Tacoma pickup and switched back to dino oil because there was no noticeable difference in engine performance or fuel mileage. It is OK to switch from synthetic oil back to dino oil. Synthetic blend is probably a waste of money.

Clifton

 

[Dom 2.0L]

I'm going to change my oil in like 300 miles so the question is coming soon for me too. I bought my car used with 42k miles on it and it never had syn before... I wasn't sure if I should swap because now that I know how to change the oil, it won't be such a big price difference (not getting robbed at Mazda dealer anymore!!) Still, I don't want to spend for the fun of it... so would the syn really help after so much time?

 

[sephiroth]

Synthetic oil is fine and keeps the engine clean but it will not harm a car to use dino oil. I use dino oil and have never experienced any problems using it. I keep some cars as long as 10 years and never an engine failure. I tried synthetic oil in my Tacoma pickup and switched back to dino oil because there was no noticeable difference in engine performance or fuel mileage. It is OK to switch from synthetic oil back to dino oil. Synthetic blend is probably a waste of money.

Clifton

acutaly, if the car has significant mileage on synthetic, switching to dino oil could cause enough shock to the seals that it could cause the engine to leak from multiple places. This is because the conditioners and detergents in synthetics are of a much higher grade and when you remove those all of a sudden, it causes the seals to shrink and leak. If you wantto use conventional, use a 50/50 blend for two changes or so, to prevent or ease the transistion.

 

[mp5streetracer]

it depends on your application. if you keep in a high rev state then yes synthetic is the best way to go but if not then regular motor oil is the better bet. granted synthetic does do a better job of protecting the engine since its molecules are much smaller than regular oil. if you want to use synthetic good but i will warn you if you have a little leak with regualr oil you will have a bigger leak with synthetic. n know cause of school training and seeing for my self on guys who complain about there car. but its up to you dude. i would go with regular motor oil like penzoil or something like that. used penzoil forever and never had a problem. and really for everyday driving synthetic isn't worth it. synthetic is proven to have more of a result in higher revs or in race conditions. now i would run it if i had a turbo or a built engine or something like that since you would be spending alot of money on it but for every day driving with no engine mods then regular is the way for you to go.

 

[dxaveP5]

syn ftw.
i had 70K when i bought the car, only used dino type...engine was running crappy. but when i went mobil 1 extended full syn, the engine actually runs alot smoother.

 

[el_Don]

Yea, I haven't done it yet, but I think I'll be switching to syn next oil change.

 

[ericw]

Mine runs pretty good right now but it sounds like a smart idea to change. My question is the comment about the longer mileage synthetic. I need more info on what to get and does it use the same oil filter?

 

[m626gt]

I am thinking about switching to Amsoil that has a year oil change interval. Special oil and filter.

 

[Guvner]

I use extra virgin olive oil, works wayyyyy better than that sludge called synthetic oil.









...seriously how many synthetic oil threads do we really need.

 

[MazdaSpeeder]

...seriously how many synthetic oil threads do we really need.

QFT. I burn enough oil between normal changes that it's not worth it for me to spend the money on synthetic. Plus, I bought this car used and did not know what the previous owner put in it, so I use a semi-synthetic (Durablend). It's not too expensive and I'm very happy with it.

 

[18psiWhiteMS3]

You better stay synthetic or D3monix will punch u in the face