Is Mobile 1 synthetic oil really much better than standard oil? My mechanic flushed my 2001 Volvo Turbo and added mobile 1.
This is a widely debated issue. The way I look at it is if you take very good care of your car and change the oil every 3k miles or the equiv time period, synthetic isn't going to be much different. But if you are like most people who forget or just dont' care, it will definately help. Personally I change mine every 5k and use mobile 1 synthetic just to make me feel better. Maybe it doesnt help, maybe it does, but my car has had no issues and i've used mobile 1 from 1100 miles to 30k miles so far.
Amsoil > M1
Mobil 1 is more behind Amsoil then ever now.
0W-20, 25,000/ 1 year with an Amsoil Filter is my choice.
Mobil 1 is more behind Amsoil then ever now.
0W-20, 25,000/ 1 year with an Amsoil Filter is my choice.
You will hear a lot of things about synthetic oil. But the truth is how long do you expect the car to last. You will find that with conventional oil car engines if properly maintained will last longer then 100K. However, synthetic oil I believe has one benefit of reducing engine wear. So a engine running synthetic will burn a lot less oil then one that is not. Another benefit is less oil changes. I believe you can change synthetic every 6K instead of every 3K.
But you have a Volvo. That?s the tank baby!!!! I would opt for synthetic. I?ve seen a lot of Volvos on the road with 200K 300K on them and their body looks great.
But you have a Volvo. That?s the tank baby!!!! I would opt for synthetic. I?ve seen a lot of Volvos on the road with 200K 300K on them and their body looks great.
Zenmervolt
Elite member
- Oct 22, 2000
- 24,514
- 44
- 91
Here's the skinny:
- Non-turbocharged average street car with liquid-cooling: Engine should run for several hundred thousand miles on conventional oil with changes at 5,000-7,000 miles without any problems. Properly maintained the engine will die from unrelated issues long before you'll see a problem from the oil.
- Turbocharged engine: Synthetic helps because the temperatures in the turbine housing can get very high and turbos are incredibly sensitive to lubrication issues as well as relying on oil for some of their cooling.
- Air-cooled engine: Synthetic helps because of the unusually high oil temperatures in an air-cooled engine as in these engines much of the cooling is actually provided by the oil itself. There can sometimes be issues with conventional oil breaking down due to thermal stresses.
- Racing engine: Every last bit helps, go synthetic here.
Synthetic will NOT:
- Reduce oil consumption: Synthetic flows better than conventional oil and if your car is burning oil already, it will burn more oil with synthetic, you just won't notice it as much because synthetic will smoke a bit less. This holds true with leaks as well, if there are leaks in the system, synthetic will leak more.
- Cause leaks: Synthetic will leak more from a pre-existing leak, but it will not cause new leaks.
Synthetic MAY:
- Increase the change interval: Most cars now will last 200,000+ miles on conventional oil with a 5,000-7,000 mile oil change interval. Synthetic can allow a longer (up to 25,000 mile or one year) interval provided you perform an oil analysis every 5,000-7,000 miles and change the oil filter on the oil analysis schedule. If you're going on an extended change interval without changing the filter and performing an oil analysis at least every 5,000 to 7,000 miles, you're courting problems.
ZV
- Non-turbocharged average street car with liquid-cooling: Engine should run for several hundred thousand miles on conventional oil with changes at 5,000-7,000 miles without any problems. Properly maintained the engine will die from unrelated issues long before you'll see a problem from the oil.
- Turbocharged engine: Synthetic helps because the temperatures in the turbine housing can get very high and turbos are incredibly sensitive to lubrication issues as well as relying on oil for some of their cooling.
- Air-cooled engine: Synthetic helps because of the unusually high oil temperatures in an air-cooled engine as in these engines much of the cooling is actually provided by the oil itself. There can sometimes be issues with conventional oil breaking down due to thermal stresses.
- Racing engine: Every last bit helps, go synthetic here.
Synthetic will NOT:
- Reduce oil consumption: Synthetic flows better than conventional oil and if your car is burning oil already, it will burn more oil with synthetic, you just won't notice it as much because synthetic will smoke a bit less. This holds true with leaks as well, if there are leaks in the system, synthetic will leak more.
- Cause leaks: Synthetic will leak more from a pre-existing leak, but it will not cause new leaks.
Synthetic MAY:
- Increase the change interval: Most cars now will last 200,000+ miles on conventional oil with a 5,000-7,000 mile oil change interval. Synthetic can allow a longer (up to 25,000 mile or one year) interval provided you perform an oil analysis every 5,000-7,000 miles and change the oil filter on the oil analysis schedule. If you're going on an extended change interval without changing the filter and performing an oil analysis at least every 5,000 to 7,000 miles, you're courting problems.
ZV
lol
Mobil 1 is a middle of the road synthetic.
There are worse, and there are better. AMSOil is top of the line.
Don't go around suggesting a 25,000 mile change interval without telling them the whole story, though. Under no circumstances should you ever, ever leave the oil in your crankcase for 25,000 miles without having several samples taken during that time period.
Zenmervolt hit it pretty well. People way over rate synthetic or is it under rate dyno 
. I run synthetic in both my cars but they are both turbocharged.
. I run synthetic in both my cars but they are both turbocharged.
Zenmervolt
Elite member
- Oct 22, 2000
- 24,514
- 44
- 91
Un-true. While synthetic will help as these engines are often designed as high-performance engines, a lightly-stressed supercharged engine will be perfectly happy and reliable using conventional oil. Same with a high-compression engine.
The reason that synthetic is recommended for turbos is because of the lubrication requirements of the turbine shaft, not because of the rest of the engine.
ZV
mobil 1 has been diong my 2005 accord great since its first oil change. i change it every 5k miles and replace my FRAM oil filter
Flamebait?
FRAM makes the worst oil filters. Putting a good filter in there is just as impotent as the oil change it self.
I was going to say if your going to spend the money with a good synthetic oil why are you using FRAM. Why not use the Mobil 1 filter.
Amsoil is about as top of the line as Bose is. Their marketing department is great, but where the rubber meets the road...
overst33r
Diamond Member
- Oct 3, 2004
- 5,761
- 12
- 81
That may be true, but I would never run anything but synthetic in any forced induction/high compression car. There is no measurable disadvantages compared to regular dino oil. There is a reason most high performance cars use synthetic, for both performance and longevity of the engine.
Zenmervolt
Elite member
- Oct 22, 2000
- 24,514
- 44
- 91
Awfully big difference from "NEEDS".
I would recommend synthetic in any engine that is highly stressed, air-cooled, or turbocharged. But lots of family sedans have "high-compression" engines. It's not just performance cars.
If you're stressing your car, then it's definitely a good idea to run synthetic. But let's face it, even most of the people who own sportscars never run them hard enough to justify the additional expense of synthetic.
ZV
Based on what? Compared to what?
AMSOil is top of the line. So is Royal Purple and Redline. You can't buy better oil.
However, when compared with some of the premium brand synthetics like Valvoline, the price difference may or may not be worth it.
I admit that I'm a spec monkey. They tell a lot of the story, but not all of it. Real world conditions change an oil's specifications in different ways. It's all really quite complicated.
The best and only way to know whether your oil is doing its job in your specific engine with your specific driving habits and specific environment.. is to have it analyzed.
Everything else is just guessing, even if you opt for the margin of error oil change of 3,000 miles.
There are people that get 18,000 miles out of Mobil 1.
There are people that get 35,000 miles out of AMSOil, more than their recomended 25k interval. It really just depends.
Gillbot
Lifer
- Jan 11, 2001
- 28,830
- 17
- 81
That is my biggest pet peeve with amsoil, their blatant misinformation. Though now most manufacturers are doing the same like Mobil 1 claiming 15k.
Aslo, on the mobil 1 filters, our testing has shown them to be too restrictive for daily and hard driving use. The K&N filter is a better choice since it offers the best between filtration and flow.
Sure, there are some benefits to synthetic oil, but in general those benefits are WAY overrated and oversold. The advice given by ZV above as to when it might actually be worth the money is right on.
I use the Amsoil ea0 filter that fits my vehicle. I actually replaced my oil at 2k miles with Amsoil, then I replaced it at 12k miles with Amsoil again and a new filter. I live in a pretty dusty environment, so the extended heavy wear states 15k/ 6 months now. I was in Georgia when I added the Amsoil for the first time, and it was probably longer than 6 months between it and when I changed the oil at 12k miles out here in California.
I didn't get an oil analysis done, but the oil wasn't nasty looking either after 10k miles between changes.
One more thing I do is I have a set of 4 Neodymium Magnets attached directly to my oil filter.
TRENDING THREADS
-
Discussion Zen 5 Speculation (EPYC Turin and Strix Point/Granite Ridge - Ryzen 9000)- Started by DisEnchantment
- Replies: 25K
-
Discussion Intel Meteor, Arrow, Lunar & Panther Lakes + WCL Discussion Threads
- Started by Tigerick
- Replies: 22K
-
News NVIDIA and Intel to Develop AI Infrastructure and Personal Computing Products- Started by poke01
- Replies: 384
-
Discussion Intel current and future Lakes & Rapids thread- Started by TheF34RChannel
- Replies: 23K
Facebook
Twitter