motor oil

Motorcraft is not bad oil at all,but is syntactic bland,if you want to switch to full syntactic go with Mobil 1,I use Mobil in everything I got.

mboil 1 ismuch better than castrol

Mobil 1 or Royal Purple synthenic. 5w-30 for the summer, 5w-20 for the winter...

mobil 1 or Royal Purple gets my vote

I say stick with the motorcraft I actually liked it better than the mobil 1 but if you must switch go with the mobil 1.

I only use Royal Purple 10W30 in my mustang it's great stuff!

Mobil 1 5W-20 Synthetic

Crzyhrse said:

Mobil 1 5W-20 Synthetic

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and I use a K&N Oil filter.

Depends on your driving habits mostly. If you're the type of person who drives on the highway on long trips, and tends to put off changing the oil, a full synthetic would be great for you. I've been reading several UOA's over at the Bobistheoilguy forums, and seen Mobil 1 come back recommending 15,000 mile+ oil change intervals in the future. Great stuff.

That being said, if you're like me, you drive mostly stop and go, and change the oil by the amount of time it's been in instead of the mileage, MC blend is probably fine for you. Every time somebody posts an oil analysis of that stuff on those forums I was talking about, people always comment "Another great result from Motorcraft oil, etc, etc." It's really great stuff and is good for much longer than the 3k interval most people do.

Any full synthetic that meets the requirements for our engines would be fine, even if you change it after 5k and don't get your money out of it. Just remember, you may gain a pony on the dyno switching all your fluids to synthetic, but in the end, as long as you change it regularly, your engine should last a very long time.

People get engines to 300k on dino oil.. you can bet we're going to start seeing much higher than that with these full synthetics down the road.

And use Motorcraft filters.. they are excellent. Most studies place them in the top few every time.

I've used Amsoil for years in many vehicles, long before ever becoming a Dealer, and have been happy. My Dad even before me back in the 70s soon after they first came out. Of the two choices you mentioned though, Mobil 1 would be my choice over Castrol Syntec. Syntec is a Group III oil which is made from petroleum but the API allows to be called synthetic. It goes through a different refining process that makes it better than the standard Group II petroleum oils, but it still in the long run has the same characteristics due to the limitations of molecules that make it up. Most Group III synthetic oils use a base stock that barely makes it into the Group III range that the API says they need to be in. The higher the quality of the Group III base stock, the more it costs the manufacturer selling the oil. In many cases, they aren't much better than a good Group II oil, but you'll pay more because it says "synthetic" on the bottle. A Group IV oil is PAO based. This is what most Amsoil and Mobil 1 products are still made from, and used to be the norm until Castrol changed to Group III and the API allowed it to be called synthetic back around 99.

As for extended drains, Mobil 1 has had an extended drain oil out for a little over a year now, but this isn't something new. Amsoil was the company to first use the phrase "Extended Drain" back in the early 70s when they came out. One thing to note with the new Mobil 1, their warranty for this milage is only on vehicles outside of the manufacturer warranty. Until then, they recommend normal drains. True most oils can run beyond the normal drain interval, however, should something go wrong, then you are on your own. I'd at least use oil analysis to determine how the oil is holding up in your vehicle, unless the oil company says to run it that distance, then you can feel more safe, since you know you are under their warranty.

If you're looking for the extended drains for highway driving, yes, synthetics, in particular one offering extended drains, will save in the long run. However short drives are harder on the oil than highway driving. Each time you start and stop your engine just to run to the grocery store two miles down the road, your oil is going through a cycle. In many cases, the engine might not even reach normal operating temperature, which can be even harder on the oil. In cases like this, a good synthetic would also be a good choice because it remains more stable and typically the extended drain ones have more additives to handle the stress, since they need them to last longer to begin with. This is why Mobil 1 EP promotes drain intervals of 15,000 miles or one year and Amsoil 25,000 miles or one year. You might only drive 5,000 miles, but if they are the result of a few hundred short trips the oil could be just as worn as someone who drive 20,000 miles that year with only 50 startups. Also consider where you live. Many states, like here in Florida, are considered Severe Service due to the heat. This beats up on an oil as well. In many cases this even lowers the drain intervals on those oils offering it.

I also agree with sgarlic, a good filter is a must have, especially for extended drains. If a poor quality filter is used, with any oil, all you might be doing is circulating the the contaminants and particles.

You should use the most expensive oil you can possibly find and change it every 1500 miles

I've been using Royal Purple for quite a while now.

Ive always used Mobil1. I guess there is no way to tell whats better unless you take your motor apart and look at it.

Kilgore Trout said:

You should use the most expensive oil you can possibly find and change it every 1500 miles

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So THATS where all your mod money goes!

I use Castrol GTX 5w30, changed every 3000-3200 miles