Synthetic oils
Well I see it like I said it. I think for the most part, synthetics are a waste of money and a marketing gimmick to get in your pocketbook. I mean, just look at any Ford product. Their owners manuals say 7500 miles for oil changes and 5000 miles for what they call "severe service", and that's for dino oil. I'll be a sumbitch if I'm gonna do oil changes every 3K miles. It's a waste and a myth that the industry has sold to the public to sell oil. It's bullshit and can be debunked anywhere you look. And the thing is, even if you only drive the thing a few times a year, as long as you DRIVE it when you do and long distances.....long enough for the moisture to burn off of the oil, you got it made. Now I ain't against synthetics.....they have their place. But for these older engines, yall are just slap gettin sold a bill of goods if you think synthetics are the end all be all. It just ain't so. Good old 30 weight worked back in the day and it'll damn sure as hell work now. The two most important things with oil are 1) CHANGE it and 2) Make SURE the engine HAS some.
For normal service engines, yeah, go with your system.
Synthetics were developed during WW2 (the big one) for use in fighter airplanes and for tanks in extreme cold weather. Is that old school enough for you?
Hype? i don't think so. Necessity is more like it.
Mineral oil itself does not wear out, it gets contaminated and the additive package wears out.
It's the flow characteristics and the extreme protection during start ups especially in cold weather where synthetics shine. The other area it shines well is the lack of thermal breakdown under extreme heat and pressure of synthetics as opposed to mineral oil.
If you are in doubt, go ask any aircraft mechanic as i did. Synthetic oils are the industry standard across the board and have been for many years. The mechanic i talked to has been working for Pratt-Whitney for over 30 years rebuilding specifically helicopter and light to medium duty aircraft engines, i think he would be a competent source if any.
I seriously doubt that you would see anything in formula one car engines other than synthetics as well.
For daily drivers and low rev/low stress conditions like most of our daily drivers, buy what you want and change it frequently and you'll be fine.
Buzz a smallblock to 8,000 rpm with heavy valvesprings all season with out at least an additive package in your conventional engine oil, and see how long it lasts.
Hype? No.
Bullshit? Not at all.
The marketing of synthetics are fighting with each other the same as conventional oils fighting with each other for market share.
You don't see Ferrari advertising that their car is a better performance car than a Ford Focus. Same idea. Both cars are good for their intended use, same as synthetics vs conventional and their prices reflect that.
You get what you pay for.
No bullshit.
Tom.
