False. Read your owner's manual. Syn is not required. Won't hurt, might help, not required.The different guy said that CX-9 uses synthetic oil.
The term "synthetic" is a marketing term, not a technical term. In the U.S. and Canada very highly refined petroleum oil, refined to the standards of Group III base oil, have the legal right to be marketed as synthetic. Group IV base oil, polyalphaolefin (PAO) and Group V (other base oils) might be called "true synthetics."5w30 (Castrol, Shell and others) is not a fully synthetic oil. Here in Europe....
http://www.machinerylubrication.com/Read/29113/base-oil-groups
Group III base oils have a sulfur content less than 0.03%. Saturates (hydrogen molecules vs. oxygen molecules) greater than 90%, and viscosity index greater than 120 (relative change in viscosity between 40C and 100C). The very top Group III base oils are very good. So are PAO and Group V synthetics. It is very difficult to find the type of base oil in the synthetic oils on the shelf. Base oil makes up most of the motor oil. Added to the base oil is the essential additive package...anti wear agents, anti oxidants, anti foamants, viscosity index improvers, pour point depressants, detergents, dispersants, friction modifiers. These are not like the over the counter additives (if you want better oil, buy better oil--don't try to home-brew; we cannot create better oil than the oil company organic chemists). These additive packages are essential parts of the engine oils approved by the engine makers. They come from companies like Lubrizol, Afton Chemical, Chevron Oronite, and Infineum (Exxon/Mobil & Royal Dutch Shell).
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