At 7:03 PM 8/4/98, John H. Rodgers wrote:
>-- [ From: John H. Rodgers * EMC.Ver #2.5.02 ] --
>
>August issue of Motor Trends magazine carried an article titled "Synthetic
>Motor Oil - Is it worth the price?"
>
>In summary:   Synthetic Oil -  good for extreme conditions.
>                     Regular Oil - Good for normal use.
>                     Blends - they are O.K.
>
>You can make your own synthetic/regular oil blends that work just fine.
>
>In wear tests there was no difference in performance between synthetics and
>regular oils.
>
        That's not quite what the article says:

        "...So should you use a synthetic oil? Despite the wider performance
        envelope, most owners don't operate their vehicles in conditions that
        will take advantage of this. In fact, we recently ran a casual test
        between a petroleum and synthetic oil, running each in a vehicle used
        only for a regular commuting routine. Each oil was run for 3000 miles,
        after which we had samples of each analyzed by a lab. There was
        virtually no difference in engine wear between the two samples.
        Admittedly, this anecdotal test is not conclusive, but it does
        illustrate the fact that conventional oils are usually more
        than enough to handle normal driving conditions..."

        So if you change oil at 3K frequency, stick to the cheap stuff...
        however, they did add:

        "...On the other hand, owners who tend to run their engines in extreme
        conditions-such as very cold or hot temperatures or for extended
        towing-or tend to let oil changes stray beyond the recommended
        intervals, would probably benefit more from a synthetic or synthetic
        blend. A simple way of looking at it is that synthetics and, to a
        lesser extent, blends provide extra insurance against engine abuse.

        How much is that worth to you?..."

        Is "very...hot temperatures"  100+ ambient and a high engine load at
        highway speed with airconditioning while climbing long grades? I'll
        stick to the Mobil1 15W-50 I use in the Vanagons, thank you, AND
        change them at my convenience and/or interval that depends on my
        interpretation of the severity of our driving.

>Very good article!!
>
        It really doesn't do much except point out a possible reason for
        someone to shell out more $$ for potentially better protection.
        They also mentioned Mercedes and BMW's use of syntehtics on their
        V8s allowing the lengthening of oil-change intervals to 20K miles.
        I wonder if 200kph on the Autobahnen qualifies as "extereme"
        conditions?

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