Synthetic Gains

[jarrredm]

Hey all,

I am new to the hypermiling fraternity and one of the recommendations I am preparing to follow is to use a synthetic oil. I do all my vehicle maintenance myself and so when I went to Napa to get the oil I couldn't help notice the price difference. The conventional oil could be had for just over 1.50 a quart while the synthetic was around 6.30 per quart. (they had one that was 4.50 a quart but not in the right weight)

So my question to you all is this. Does anyone know what kind of gain in FE that I could see with synthetic oil? My purpose in being here is to save money so will the gain in FE offset the cost of the oil?

[msirach]

There is a FE gain of up to about 2 mpg depending on other details. The real savings for me in $$$ is the frequency. I now use Amsoil 100% synthetic with Amsoil filter and both are rated for 25,000 mile interval. I have 1 oil change per year instead of 8+ @ 3000 miles.

I drive 95% highway.

[jarrredm]

Thanks for the info!

Assuming that I do see 2 MPG increase that would work out for me to be about 40 in gas savings at the current prices here and assuming a 5000 mile interval. I come from a long line of mechanics and lets just say I could get my ass kicked for going much longer than that. Although the further I go between the bigger the potential savings, but that could come at a price of the longevity of my motor. How long does everybody else go between changes?

[krousdb]

I use Mobil 1 0W-20 in my Prius and have always changed my oil and filter at 15k intervals. My next interval will be 20k. I have 116k miles on the odo so far with no ill effects.

[slow poke]

What, they had $1.50 a quart??? Must be your area believe me around here if you can find $2.39 your doing really good.

A 2 mpg gain I would not bet on, the change in economy is normally hard to notice if staying in the same weight. My personal best mileage has been with Pennzoil yellow bottle and most recently for synthetics Pennzoil Platinum, I still have to pick up a case and send in my rebate for PP $60 free. But I also have a garage full of amsoil, I never and I mean never have seen a FE change with it. I use it for protection and durability. I have several oil analysis showing Pennzoil and several other oils where shoot just after 4-5k miles but PP was good beyond 7K as was amsoils XL line and using a formula I found my ASM 0W-20 should be good until 12-14k miles in my engine. If you live in a less mild climate then I do you maybe able to see some improvement using synthetics.

Check out BITOG and stay away from all the hooplah. Check out the oil analysis section for your type of car and work from there for your change intervals. I normally go 5k on conventionals and presently 7k on PP and soon to be onto my amsoil ASM which I plan to sample at 10k. My ASM at 10k is close in cost to buying conventional oil off the shelf in my area. I'd like to see 15k mile changes myself analysis permitting, I drive 25k miles per year in my work car.

[msirach]

I forgot to add that my Insight is at 161,000 and still uses (or leaks) no oil between changes.

Personally, I did see a little over 1 mpg in a 2001 Nissan Frontier.

I'm changing the oil in the HCHII to 0-20 Amsoil at 12,000 miles on the odometer.

[jarrredm]

Originally Posted by slow poke

What, they had $1.50 a quart??? Must be your area believe me around here if you can find $2.39 your doing really good.

Yea the Napa branded (which is actually valvoline) was just over 1.50 and the Napa branded synthetic was 4.40. I guess I thought that with a national chain like Napa that the prices would be the same.

[99HXCivic]

I'm thinking about getting Royal Purple. Check out it's website - http://www.royalpurple.com/index.html

http://www.royalpurple.com/motor-oil.html

http://www.royalpurple.com/rp-perfor...dvantages.html

Anyone use Royal Purple and how was it? It seems to be a real good oil for FASing.

Maybe I'll try 2 quarts Royal Purple with 2 quarts Castrol Syntec at my next oil change and use it for 10,000 miles. More miles if the oil still looks good, and not too dirty.

[jcp123]

I've always used Mobil1 with good results. Might think about either Royal Purple or Amsoil, but don't really know which of the two.

[koreberg]

@jcp123 mobil1 extended performance is supposed to have a similar makeup to amsoil, and also recommends extended intervals with that oil once your car is out of warranty. It is also a lot easier to get ahold of.