Synthetic Oil vs Regular Oil. Which One to Use?
Synthetic Oil vs Regular Oil. Which One to Use?
What is synthetic oil?
Synthetic oil are man-made oils using synthetic compounds or made from base oil but with a very high degree of refinement. Regular oil is just what it says it is, oil pumped from underground and traditionally refined. Both synthetic and regular oils contain additives which make them stable at high temperatures and help clean engines.
Most important advantage of synthetic oils vs regular oil is molecular composition. Molecular uniformity composition of synthetic oil gives an advantage at lubricating and resisting high temperatures. Especially in a used car with a turbo engine where oil is used to lubricate high temperature turbos.
Synthetic oil vs regular oil: Synthetic Blends
Synthetic Blend is a blend of synthetic and regular oil, probably just a marketing scheme. Not sure if a blend will perform better than good regular oil as molecular consistency will suffer because of the blends itself. Anyways, they are cheaper than full Synthetics and more expensive than regular pol.
Is it Worth it to Use Synthetic Oil?
Synthetic oils are proven to offer less resistance improving lubrication and fuel efficiency. Although, fuel efficiency of synthetic oil is a laboratory statistic mostly, you will probably never notice it in real life. Depending on a used car driving conditions (which in Toronto /Ontario are quite harsh) synthetic oil are recommended to be changed at 15,000 to 20,000 km, which is too much.
More on Oil Change Intervals.
Synthetic oil lubrication will last quite while and will not break down easily, but it will get dirty. Oil filter can only handle so much and once oil filter get clogged, it will stop filtering causing engine sludge. Instead, 10,000km should a good point between oil changes.
You still need to follow manufactures recommendations but mostly depends what kind of car you have and what kind of oil changes frequency you can tolerate. If your car is a turbo then yes, Synthetic oil will be superior vs regular oil. As turbo engines operate at higher temperatures and pressures synthetic oil is a must or you run risks of engine sludge.
If you are driving a quiet/slow family sedan, build for efficiency and economy then synthetic might be unnecessary expense and a waste of money. Unless manufacturer calls specifically for it, of course.
Regular oils are pretty good too and getting better with time, a 7,000km oil change interval using regular oil will keep your engine and your used car running for a long time.
Switching from Regular to Synthetic
Switching from regular to synthetic on a used car won’t help anything, you just wasted your money. If your car has been running on regular for 100,000km changing to synthetic will do more harm then good. Used cars which have been receiving regular oil all their life do not like changing suddenly to synthetic. Leaks might develop.
Synthetic oil has uniform and smaller molecular composition vs regular oil and it goes places regular oil can’t. That translates into oil leaks and a dirty driveway. If you switch to synthetic in a high mileage car, almost guaranteed you will get those leaks. If your used car was regular then keep it regular.
With engine oil covered how about your automatic transmission fluid: Transmission Flush vs Drain Refill.
(If you are also looking for a fast and easy solution to sell your car, more here on “How To Sell Your Car Fast In Ontario” )
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