Synthetic, and why didnt I do it sooner?!

I just converted my car over to Mobil 1 10w30 today, running my trusty FL-1a filter and a pair of magnetic drain plugs... The motor's got maybe 10k on it, not much at all....

I have to say, I'm entirely impressed driving it with the synthetic for the first time. I've never noticed any power gains from an oil change...but after running the Mobil 1, I swear it pulls *that* much harder. It surprised me because I was expecting basically zero gains...I'm assuming the reduced friction amounted to the seat of my pants increase.

Never switching back! And for $20 for a 5 qt. jug at Walmart...hey, it's not that bad!
 
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Of course there are other stories - the only two changes to mine between two sets of dyno runs were trading the stock headers for Ford Racing shorties, and I splurged and filled the pan with synthetic for the first time. We lost 3 HP across the range. Go figure.
 
I've heard that running synthetic engine, differential, and trans oils will give a noticable gain such as about 5-10hp. This is very possible. Running thinner fluids also helps get the power to the wheels. Synthetics flow thinner even at the same viscostities (sp) and synthetics also lubercate better, so put these two togeather and yes it will add a few horses.
 
I've also heard ~5hp gain from Mobil 1 but never believed it... I could be convinced otherwise though

After rebuilding a car engine and breaking it in I switched to the synthetic 5w30... It most certainly DID run a bit different, but back then I didn't beat the hell out of it so I wasn't able to observe any significant full throttle seat of the pants power gain.
 
haha heyyyyy man i work at a lube shop and thats what we have, good ol' quaker state. andddd even though im running that ****ty oil id still tear your car up, lol, i hear what you're sayin though but god free oil is nice.
 
you guys have sensative butt dynos. i doubt i would feel but a 15-20 HP gain.
for me, i run syn's for the protection, not for a theoretical HP gain. it is the oil sticker that frees up the HP. :)

Michael, you are certainly not the first guy to lose HP with exhaust mods - even some cat backs show a loss. you gonna open an exhaust shop - i think you have gone through a few combos. :)
 
According to the 'data' in this thread, I gained anywhere from 5-10HP from the synthetic, which means that replacing the stock headers caused me to lose 8-13HP. LOL I don't think so. Gains (if any) from synthetic lubricants vary from situation to situation. There's not a one-size fits all that's gonna apply in every case. If someone is considering a switch to synthetic - there are benefits that come with it - especially if the lube is subject to extreme temps. But banking on any significant power gains isn't one of the possible gains that should be counted on. A viscosity change can result in different power outputs - I've seen dyno data on that. They started with 20w50, and worked their way down to 0w20 or something like that. There weren't significant differences until they got to the thinnest viscosity synth - 0w20, but they picked up 6 or 7 HP with that change. This was in a 400HP engine. What doesn't get talked about as often is that their oil pressure also dropped with the thinner viscosity oils - they were in the 40psi hot range with the 0w20 --- fine for the test, but not something that was recommended in normal driving (unless you live up near the Arctic circle).
 
Oil is oil..if you change it often and use a good filter you will be fine!!my car has 200,000 miles driven HARD miles...it has overheated 2-3 times, and just seen some really hard days...all in all it saw dino oil from the previous owners and NO synthetic untill I took over..which was short lived cause I went to Max life 2 changes ago. Clean oil with apropriate viscosity from a reputable company is all you need. I would never expect a synthetic motor would have done me any better.
 
I've also heard that sometimes by switching to full synthetic you can cause a leak where you didn't leak before on older high milage engines, is that true? Thats why I switched back to regular oil on my car which has about 135xxx, I used to use full syn on my 01Gt everytime I needed a oil change though.
 
D347643 said:
haha heyyyyy man i work at a lube shop and thats what we have, good ol' quaker state. andddd even though im running that ****ty oil id still tear your car up, lol, i hear what you're sayin though but god free oil is nice.

i bet your car would kill mine, but i understand where youre comin from with the free oil. i used to work at jiffy lube before they stopped using a huge selection of oil and used to change my oil every 1500 miles for free
 
Wil said:
I've also heard that sometimes by switching to full synthetic you can cause a leak where you didn't leak before on older high milage engines, is that true?

Yes, that is true. But, really, it is just showing a problem that should be taken care of.
 
as has been said so often before, synthetic oil does not CAUSE oil leaks - the detergents clean the debris in small leaks. true, the syn may 'show you' where all your leaks are, but there is no causation.
 
....to DMAN's point, the highest mileage car on the planet (documented anyway) is Irv Gordon's 2+million mile '67 Volvo P1800. He's got about 2.2 million on it now. I met/talked to him about 2 years ago here in K'ville at the local Volvo dealership. Back in the 70's they pulled the motor with about 700,000 miles on it. Expecting to do a full overhaul, they found the bottom end in such good shape that they left it alone, and just did a valve job. The motor has not been out of the car since then. That's right - 1.4 million miles on the head; 2.2 million miles on the block/bearings/rings. All on regular old dino oil with oil/filter changes as prescribed in the owner's manual. In my mind, using syn. or not is much less critical than simply keeping whatever you're running clean (or/and analyzed) regularly. The only exception about that for me would be if you're running high oil temps (racing, desert, etc.) or if you have very low temp starts to endure (winter cold starts with temps regularly below 0-10F). In those cases I'd take advantage of synth's properties. Unless of course the manufacturer specs synth (as in my wife's car). And then I simply buy whatever synth WalMart has on sale in the proper viscosity for the season. I'll leave the synth in hers for 4-6K miles, and change the filter every 3K.