65fastback2+2 said:
Im 19, what more do you want than for me to speak from my experience?
Maybe you shouldn't make recomendations then. Just a thought. Don't wanna be harsh, because you appear to know a lot more than most 19 year olds, but there are a lot of people here with a vast archive of knowledge. You should be asking questions, rather than telling others what to do.
Hack, synthetics have a number of benefits. First, they are far more slippery. Anyone who has tried to use a full synthetic oil in a bike with a wet clutch can tell you that. Because they are so slippery, your engine offers less friction or resistance to turning, yielding more horsepower and better fuel economy. It varies by engine design, but all engines can benefit.
The other benefit is that it doesn't break down under somewhat harsh conditions, like high heat, dirt contamination and age. If you have dirt particles of any size floating around, you have other problems, but the stuff that can get through a good filter is pretty harmless. Because of the durability, you can run them for extended periods of time, helping to off set the higher price of the oil. You can easily run full synthetics 10,000-15,000 with no worries, if you change the filter every 5,000 or so, depending on your driving conditions. I do it all the time, and have on many vehicles.
There are some downsides too. Because the oil is so thin, it does a much better job of escaping. Older cars with looser tolerances will leak more with it, and cars that burn a little oil will burn more with a thinner synthetic.
The other downside is cost. If you change your oil every 3,000 while running full synthetic oil, you are pouring money down the drain. The peace of mind is worth it to some, especially those who don't put a lot of miles on their baby, but it's not necessary. People who recommend changing full synths every 3,000 miles are just trying to sell you more oil.
When Mobil 1 first came out in the late seventies, they recomended that people run it 25,000 miles, changing the filter every 5,000. We had some problems with the early Mobil 1 oil changes. Most American cars in the seventies would leak the stuff. People hated that. They also didn't feel like it was any convenience, since they had to change the filter at 5k anyway. But I never saw any engine wear or failure on any of those cars, even when they ran it that long. Also, up here in the northland, a fair amount of fuel gets into the oil, and while a full synth will handle that far better than dino, 25k is two years for some people. I would never run oil in cold climate for two full seasons, synth or not.
In conclusion, I would highly recomend a full synthetic oil for a fresh or modern engine, and I wouldn't for an older engine. And don't be fooled by semi-synthetic oils. They just dump some synthetic additives into dino so they can use the name. A complete waste of money.
