Educate me on synthetic oil

[AlanP1964]

I have been considering changing over from Dino to Synthetic but not really sure what brand, weight or change interval this will mean. To start, '95 non turbo or supercharger etc. Just regular old motor. 6ok miles. I drive from North Richland Hills to Richardson/Plano 5 days a week, so a mix of highway and city with frequent stopping in rush hour traffic. @#$@# LBJ freeway and DFW connector.. Anyway, recommended brand? Weight? Change interval? Something I left out or should also consider?

[Titus]

I have used Mobile-1 5w-30 in all my cars for almost 10 years now. For the Miata, I change it when the lifters start getting noisy.

[trickyrix]

I switched from Mobil 1 to Rotella T6 synthetic - it's not just for diesels any more! Seems to be good stuff, and it's a good bit cheaper than M1. Plus, it comes in big 1 gallon jugs which happen to be perfect for the Miata.

I run 5W-40, BTW...

[POS Racing]

Why Rotella over Mobil One?? Why is it more better??

I run Mobil one and change it every 5,000 miles on both my miatas.

[Matt V]

Been using Mobil 1 10W-30 in my NA since I got it with no issues.

[Rob®]

... it's a good bit cheaper than M1. Plus, it comes in big 1 gallon jugs which happen to be perfect for the Miata.

FWIW, Mobil1 jugs are fairly easy to get from Walmart for like $22. In fact, I think the full price is $25?

And I run Mobil 1 in my Miata, but it's boosted so my opinion doesn't matter.

[trickyrix]

Last time I bought Rotella it was $19.

[Rob®]

Last time I bought Mobil 1 it was $20 on sale. $22 is the "normal" sale price, hence being fairly easy to get.

Again, just putting that out there. Not saying one is better than the other.

[POS Racing]

OK Rob we get it but tricky's car actually runs so maybe he knows something that he would like to share with the rest of the class on this Rotel Oil!

[cleave]

For the most part, people's opinions on oil are just that, opinions. Basically, from what I've read is that if you are experiencing ticking in your HLAs, synthetic seems to help with that. You can change the oil when it starts ticking again.

For most people, if they change the oil in a reasonable period, it doesn't much matter what kind of oil you use. The only possible exceptions to the rule would be driving often in really dusty conditions (like, every night down a dirt road) or putting lots of stress on the motor by tracking it.

For more information (data) than you ever wanted to know on oil, you can go to http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/. There is a thread where a guy left Mobil 1 in his Toyota Tacoma for 5 years/10,000 miles and saw no ill effects. If you really want to know what your oil is doing, you can have it tested for $25 by http://www.blackstone-labs.com/.

[Rob®]

I have 3 vehicles. haha

And from what I know, Rotella used to be a supped up Dino 3 oil, not a true synthetic. But that was years ago.

EDIT: Never mind, the T6 is a true synthetic. Know I'm curious too.

[trickyrix]

Wags put me on to it, so let's just blame him... :)

[Rob®]

I just found hustler's oil analysis online somewhere - looks good to me. If i can find my sheet from Mobil 1 on my last motor, I'd love to see the comparison (not that it'd mean much since they're two totally different motors and set of conditions).

But I'm with cleave on this one, for a nonboosted nontracked car.

[Rogue]

I have seen a test of Royal Purple vs Mobil 1.
The results astounded me, and I used to run Mobil 1.
I get gallons of RP, and its pretty easy to find.

[jakepkoe]

I switched from Mobil 1 to Rotella T6 synthetic - it's not just for diesels any more! Seems to be good stuff, and it's a good bit cheaper than M1. Plus, it comes in big 1 gallon jugs which happen to be perfect for the Miata.

I run 5W-40, BTW...

I had HLA tick at start-up and when HOT (two drivers back to back autoxing). I normally run regular Rotella-T in everything but wanted the thinner cold rating for start-up, so I went with the T6. I might get a few seconds of tick at start-up occasionally but seldom, and the hot tick is gone altogether. The cold tick got better and better, not sure if it is cleaning the lifters out or what. I checked out as many used oil analyses as I could find before switching over to this stuff and all of 'em I saw were surprisingly good.

[gabkwong]

M1 is what I use in all my cars, 4 of them. When I opened the valve cover of the 155K miles Miata, there was no yellow/golden color burnt oil or any deposit on it! It was so clean that after I wiped off the oil, the metal looked they just came out from the mill! I can only infer the rest of the engine is no worst than that! M1 from Worly World is the TCB way to go!

[Radio-Active]

I put M1 in a previous car(T-bird) and my friend used straight penzoil in his. Both started smoking around 110K. I used penzoil in my '82 Chevy Luv Diesel until they changed the formulation in 1995 and then switched to rotella. I sold the truck with 285k still running on the original engine.

That said, I use Amsoil in my Miata because it is turbo charched and the syntetic is suposed to keep from Cokeing in the turbo like regualr oils.

[HudsonHawk]

I use RP too in all my cars. I have seen the tests that Rogue is talking about and firmly believe in their product.

[Rob®]

Where can you get RP around here? I've wanted to switch to that for a long time, but put it out of my mind since I could never find it locally (not in Texas obviously). They carry it at O'Reilly's and places out here?

[AlanP1964]

I was just looking and Autozone sells a 1 gal container of Royal Purple for $36.99. They have 5W-20, 5W-30, and 10W-30 in 1 qt bottles for $8.99. O'Reilly's-none.