i'm swapping a '95 z6 of unknown mileage. should i use synthetic oil or not? i do not race, but i commute into washington dc every day.

 

if you change your oil religiously i would not go synthetic. i did so in my race car and that **** is leaking out everywhere (mostly my fault, but whatever ).

 

i use synthetic in my b16a, because i get so many dumb asses strying to race my car that need to be taught a lesson, I guess it depends how hard u r going to drive the engine. One thing I have found out about synthetic oil is that it does not seep into the engine seals like petro-oil does (which keeps the seals healthy). so if u r going to use synthetic it might be a good idea to use a quart of regular oil every once in a while, or use synthetic blend.

 

Synthetic, definitely...The only disadvantage would be the price, which isn't much considering u only do it every few months, and if you really care about your engine, this isn't an issue....

If you start getting leaks because you put synthetic oil in it, that's a symptom of another problem...

 

Definitely synth! Simply put, synthetic protects an engine that is driven hard MUCH better than conventional oil does. Conventional oil might be fine for conservatively driven cars. But if you drive hard, definitely use synthetic.

 

I think whether you drive hard or not, you should use synthetic oil. Why you ask?

Because Honda recommends it!

Synthetic WILL make your motor last longer in every aspect, it WILL also increase gas mileage, and it WILL increase performance (slightly).

Plus, you don't have to change it as often as regular crappy oil. But some people even change top quality full synthetic oils every 2.5k miles.

 

I can't agree with you on this. 2 of my dealships said that 10w-30 is perfectly acceptable even for harsh driving.

Also on the Legend R video about the Type R's the developer? or engineer.. I forget his position, was being interviewed and he said: "There are people that put expensive engine oil in their car that costs up to 20$ a quart but I say, it isn't Whiskey so don't waste your money." He then said, "The formula of 'expensive equals quality' doesn't work here. If you're concerned about what oil to run in your 'R' just go to the dealership and get the oil that the manufacturer recommends.. I'm sure that would be one of your better choices."

He later says that you don't need to over prep your car for races but he did have a few suggestions.
He suggests using an oil pan with baffles and replacing brake pads for race pads.. that's it.

Just remember to change oil regularly.
btw: On my old d16a6 motor I ran 60k miles on it, all hard in both winters of Utah and summers of phoenix. I raced it and revved it alot and I changed the oil every 3k. When the tore the motor down it was clean as can be.. It never burned any oil either not even at 160k miles.

 

if the motor has more than 50k on it, dont use synthetic, period. you will burn more that you can imagine. syth is way too thin for motors with high miles. its not going to hurt if you use syth but its way more expensive and youll be adding a quart every month or so.

 

Run a compression check and a leakdown , post the numbers , that would help.

 

i say just get some quaker state high mileage oil

anyways, if you haven't used synthetic on that engine before, stick with regular 5w30 oil. synthetic is so thin it will slip through the rings on both new and old, high mileage engines...this is just my 2 cents so doesn't mean you gotta follow...but i say stick with regular oil

 

if you got the cash go for synthetic by all means, i unfortunately dont have cash burning in my pocket. cheap oil for me but more often, by going the cheap route i can change my oil way more consistently. But then again i am cheap as all hell.

 

I'm running Synthetic in my Wagon. I weaned it on synthetic at about 150K miles by using blends and then went to full synthetic...

Synthetic quality depends on brand though. I had Castrol Syntec and it burned off like a quart per 1000 miles.. I switched over to Mobil 1 and its more like a quart per every 5000 miles. (I'd never go more than that, even though the sticker on the air cleaner says 7500 Miles.)

The engine doesn't leak at all, and doesn't burn that much, for an engine running 175K miles and climbing... Although I switched to 20w50 just in case because I overlooked replacing the crank seals when I did the timing belt and clutch.

 

WTF i know u did not just say that., the weigh of an oil is not determined by wether its synthetic or not! the wight of the oil is derived from the bases and additives in it. thicker base stocks make for sthicker oil
do YOU really wana know about oil?
https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=163845
the best oil thread ever

 

dont open your mouth unless you know what youre talking about. i used to work at the penzoil plant, so i think i know the advantages of synthetic and conventional. fact, synthetic oil molecules are 3 times smaller than conventional oil molecules, so if you have a motor that tends to burn or leak oil, youre going to have a problem. dont confuse viscosity with consistancy.

 

Is it really that bad to switch back to regular oil after using sythetic?

 

Ummm... It sounds like you just contradicted yourself here. I said that Honda recommends using synthetic oil. You said you can't agree with me on this, then you quote a guy who says to use the oil that your manufacturer recommends! What?? Didn't I just say that?

On both of my Honda motors, they say to use synthetic 5w-30 oil. I usually put in one quart of 10w-30, then the rest 5w-30 (Mobil 1, the best)

I dunno, use whatever you want, but using a full synthetic oil will reduce wear and tear on your Honda motor - I've even seen dyno sheets proving an increase in HP with synthetic over regular oil.

When I had my old A6 motor (170k+ miles) I used Mobil 1 synthetic 5W-30 oil. I burned about 1/3 quart of oil every 3k miles. That's about right.


[Modified by MrTodd, 7:16 PM 9/27/2002]

 

im using 10-40 non syth. (burning oil) hehe but i was told to go with regular oil for my car.. so thats what im using.