I just got a 1995 Honda Prelude VTEC with a Japanese engine. It has 56, 000 on it right now and i've been using Mobil 1 Synthetic. The question is, is it really worth it? I drive in hot weather during the summer 105+ and I hear synthetic is good for high performance engines but serves no real purpose for normal engines in normal conditions. Is a VTEC H22 considered high performance? So is synthetic really worth the cost for a vehicle like mine? Thanks

 

unless if you drive ridiculous amounts, i dont see why 15$ difference is that big of a deal.. i mean regular conventional is like 2bucks per qt right? synthetic mobil1 is 5bucks..

 

ya, i know. I actually do drive a ridiculous amount, but does synthetic oil make a significant difference?

 

It's def not worth it, esp considering most of us have high mileage engines. Btw, as of a few months ago, Mobil 1 Supersyn isn't even a Group IV oil. It's not a real synthetic anymore, just another hydrocracked oil like Castrol Syntec and the other garbage out there. German Castrol, Redline and Amsoil are among the few remaining true synthetics. Having said that, I don't waste my money with 135k miles on my engine. Castrol High Mileage or whatever is on sale, for me.

 

i dont know , i changed out from castrol syntec crap to mobil1.. i dont know what the science is behind it, but im not seeing as much soot left on my car as usual and it almost feels like the motor responds better.. the castrol syntec crap wasn't in there very long, about 400miles (previous owner swore by castrol for some reason)

as for the price, i picked up my case from a guy that stocked up too much.. he had 30 bottles so i bought 6 off him for 20bucks. he showed me the receipt, he got em for 30bucks/6qt couple months before so its not that bad at all IMO

 

Vin is right. I've been saying that as well in other threads, but people ignore it. Then they still go about saying mobile1 is the greatest thing ever. If I were choosing a synthetic, I'd walk right past M1.

 

What would you choose that is in the same price range as the mobil 1?

 

^^I would try German Castrol. I heard positive things about it and it's still easy to find. Last I heard it was still a true synthetic. I THINK it's in the price range, but I'm not sure on that. On a multi-thousand dollar build though, I'd actually also test out the harder to find and more expensive stuff as well. In AZ you can find Motul sitting on shelves at a shop called SRD.

 

what about royal purple? i use valvoline synthetic blend for high mileage and i replace a quart with duralube. ive been thinking about royal purple.

 

i work for an excavating company, and our mechanics all recommend full synthetic. we use it in ALL of our equipment and they said it has shown a great increase in productivity. and some of our trucks are 200,000+miles. and being a prelude owner, if you can afford the 'premium' fuel. you can afford full synthetic.

 

Well, before Mobil changed their formula I paid about five dollars a quart and got one of the best real synthetics. I'm just trying to stay in that price range. I'm sure I could have found something more expensive before, but I'm happy paying that.

 

Running synthetic oil in a high mileage engine is not worth it, period... Unless the person that originally bought the car brand new and ran synthetic in it, there is no need to. It can cause oil leaks; the seals in the motor are used to non-synthetic oil, which works fine as it lubricates and does it's job. Synthetic oils contain a detergent which cleans the seals so good that it actually removes parts of the seals that were exposed to the conventional oil over time, thus creating oil leaks. I wouldn't worry about running synthetic unless it's a rebuilt motor and you're starting out brand new.

 

forgot to add, i only have 75k miles, i just did an internal engine cleanse and started using valvoline synthetic blend for high mileage + duralube. than i found a place that sells royal purple for 7.50 a quart and got to thinking. theres another shop that sells redline but $15 a quart is too much.

incase you were wondering i do moniter my oil levels a lot and i have minimal, almost no oil burning or leaks. i was just wondering what other lude owners think of royal purple.

 

I use Valvoline synthetic oil 10w30....and this stuff works pretty good for me i find....takes more time to heat up on cold start ups because its thicker oil but i think its better for the botom end?!....oh i have an H22a

 

Can't say much about RP. I've never used it. I'm sure you can look them on the contents of their oils. Engine cleansers though....I've heard they were bad. Mr. Spoon (that's what I call the owner of Spoon sports) himself rejected the idea.

 

So whats wrong with Mobil 1 Synthetic now?

 

^^Read the posts.

 

Is 5w30 too thin an oil for an engine with 160K?

 

http://news.hspn.com/articles/....html
If this is good enough for Honda F1 teams, I bet its pretty good for an H22.

 

not that i am going to get nippon eneos oil. but my car guide recommends 10W30. what will 0W 30 or 0W-40 do in my engine. Does that offer better protection?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Ralleh &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Is 5w30 too thin an oil for an engine with 160K?</TD></TR></TABLE>

most likely. if you wanna buy some sort of synthetic motor oil. i highly recommend castrol syntec blend. reasonable price, kept my motor oil really clean. mobil 1 has always went dirty real quick. mobil 1 is really thin for motors even have less than 50k miles. though this could of been from my weak break in or i got some bad seals.

 

Forget all the opinions.....go to bobistheoilguy.com and read they have extensive info on all types blends and weights of oils and how the perform/breakdown.....etc.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 93sivtec &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Forget all the opinions.....go to bobistheoilguy.com and read they have extensive info on all types blends and weights of oils and how the perform/breakdown.....etc.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Just don't forget mine is a fact, not an opinion.
I really don't think you're hurting/helping yourself by running or not running synthetic if you haven't since day one.

 

I use Castrol GTX3 15W-40. Been running with it for 3 years no probs. Good for multi valve engine and 15W is fine cause the coldest it gets here is about 5 degrees celcius for a few weeks of the year. I recommend changing all the oil and the filter every 5000k.

 

If you're not burning a lot of oil, you might as well switch. Cost is not a factor as you can go a lot longer on synthetic so you buy less of it. It will perform better, especially in extreme low/high temps. Mobil 1 is still good, your car will not blow up with it. THere are a lot of guys in Honda Challenge that use it without problems, let alone professional motorsports.