pffft. Anybody can do that......
As I've already mentioned in one of these seemingly weekly oil change conspiracy threads, I like to err on the side of caution and change my oil every 100 miles. (you know....to be safe). What I have not previously disclosed is that I perform these oil changes only after slipping my wife 3 -5 Tylenol PM's, at which point I use her Kitchen Aide 10 quart slow cooker to heat my fresh oil up to 182F (that's 356.48K), which not surprisingly is the exact temperature that BITOG has decided is best for changing oil. I drain out the old 182F (356.48K) oil, and pour in the new 182F(356.48K) new oil, using a clean funnel. I then wipe out the Kitchen Aide slow cooker with a FOTL 2XL 100% cotton tee shirt that I keep in the 3rd drawer of my Craftsman rolling toolbox. I use the slow cooker to heat the oil up to temperature over a period of 3 hours, as I don't want impart any type of heat fatigue onto the oil, which could happen if I were to use gas heat and a frying pan, as some may foolishly advise. I then install a new Fram filter and am good to go for another 100 miles.
That's some funny stuff right there.
Long story short, is that the RTFM (read the friggin manual) comments basically are suggesting the cookie cutter approach to vehicles. IE - Every driver is the same, every driving condition is the same, every thing for everyone is the same.
The consensus from many individuals on the Internet and elsewhere (and I have seen enough information from many of the posters on here to determine they are in fact real people and not just 15 year old jack asses blowing smoke) is that many conditions are different.
For the common person, following the OLM or manual is a solid approach. They drive their car like 90% of the rest of the world. The difference, however, is there are many who have odd or less than usual driving habits that may impact their oil usage differently.
I know people who drive 5-10 miles to work, and 5-10 miles back, every day, on city streets with a lot of stop and go. I myself drive upwards of 30-35, mostly highway, with an average speed of 60 mph. If we each owned the same model vehicle and the manual told us that we should change our oil after 5000 miles, it would be applying one general assumption to two completely different scenarios. Take that a step further and add another driver who takes his car out to the track.
End point being, my 5000 miles differs from my buddies, which all differ from the guy who takes the same vehicle to the track. I would guess, from these scenarios something along the lines of the following:
1) Guy who takes his car to the track and pushes his car quite a bit could be best served with 3000 miles (max) intervals using synthetic oil and a good filter depending on how hard he pushes his car.
2) City driver guy could probably do 5000 miles easily with conventional and a standard filter.
3) Long commuter could probably extend his interval to 7500 miles or better with quality oil and filter.
Also, a used oil analysis would probably give each a very different report on what they should be doing after 5000 miles.
End point being, while RTFM is a cute way of saying just do what you're told, the reality is, there are many different driving styles that could potentially under or over use the oil in their vehicles and risk additional wear or waste by following the RTFM approach. If people want to invest the time and effort in getting a UOA done from time to time to make sure their engine is adequately protected, why not?
Clearly the guys doing the UOA can get specifics out of the oil they receive to give the end user a guide line of how they can maximize the protection of their engine without over or under servicing.
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