What is the best motor oil?

By maash
in The Neobahn

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Grand Master

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What is the best motor oil especially for winter weather and what is the best time interval (or mileage) for oil change

it all depends really, there are lots of debates about the issue and depends what you want/need

Do you want dino oil or a synthetic, performance or prevenative care, newer or older car....

but honestly, the best advice can be found in your owners manual...it should tell you what your engine needs

Grand Master

maash

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the last oil change i did on my car was at 39840 miles, now it was 436547 miles on it, thats slightly over 3000 miles since the oil change. I also notice in winter, even after i warm up my car until I move it, it still is doing lesser fuel economy wise than before the winter season started. I was thinking it might be the oil, its certainly not the tires because I had them checked.

Grand Master

MR_Candyman

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I use amsoil, used to use Mobil 1 (have no problems with it, I just find my car revvs a bit more freely with amsoil). Synthetic oil IS better, much better. I used to have aa bookmark using a whole slew of bearing tests to test a wide selection of car and motorcycle oils. Basically what it came down to is any synthetic is better than conventional, but there are synthetics that are better than others, as well as normal oils that are better than other normal oils.

Just want to say though, you will ALWAYS get worse mileage in winter, and not just because of your fluids being less viscious. The air is coler, so you will get more air going into the engine. Because of this, you need more gas going in as well. This diminishes your fuel economy

Grand Master

revvo

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Yeah many people swear by Mobil 1, and by many I mean many who have sports cars like Subaru's, Type-R engines and other high revving engines.

My mechanic shoved some Castrol gtx in my car this time. I'll see how that works out until the next oil change, probably in late winter.

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gollux

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If you are truly into having a very dependable lubricant that will keep the inside of your engine clean, use Chevron Delo 400 Fleet Oil. It's available in either multigrade or synthetic. Use the recommended weight for your driving conditions as per your vehicle's manufacturer. Your manufacturer also has a pretty good suggestion when it comes to time interval/mileage recommended between changes. Rarely have I ever seen anyone save money by skimping on oil changes. It's one of those false economies, pay me now or pay me lots more later.

Oil doesn't wear out, what creates the need for oil changes is carbon contamination and mineral ash (Oil detergent cleans the inside of the engine, who knew?), acid buildup from moisture reacting with internal metal solids and fuel dilution. In wintertime fuel dilution can thin your oil and cause engine damage (why carburetion is a bad idea, extremely bad cold fuel mix). With cleaner running engines (fuel injection and EEC, less carbon) that are made to run hotter (14 psi coolant pressure, 195 degree F thermostat) and the removal of lead (mineral ash) from your fuel, you can go longer between oil changes.

The absolute worst driving is short run, start/stop driving where the engine never really gets warmed up. Here you run into trouble with acid, sludge and fuel contamination. The oil never heats up enough to drive off water vapor and fuel vapor so your crankcase ventilation system draw off these substances. Also, the oil never gets hot enough to activate the detergent to clean out carbon and varnish so it will flush out during oil change. If you are running a vehicle under these conditions, you must change your oil on time, not mileage.

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Symbiotic Hat

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Amsoil Synthetic is by far the best of the best. I use 5w-20 in my truck and change it every 3-5000 miles (close change intervals due to the fact it's supercharged).

Amsoil is quite good ... However I use Motul. Amsoil is probably just as good but for some reason I like Motul better. Either way you can't go wrong.

Grand Master

SoCalledChaos

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I would never have any of my vehicles use anything but Synthetic.

Better for cold starts in winter.. better protection under higher revs.. just better all around.. I can go 14,000km per oil change.. so I only have to change the oil about 2 times per year.. yeah, it costs more.. but you get what you pay for.

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rathefeare

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I'll agree with everyone else and say synthetic. Actually make that full synthetic. Be aware that some companies market a synthetic that is in fact just a synthetic blend. Read the label and make sure. I have had good luck with Mobil 1 made in Germany. It seems to be made in enough quantity that you can often find it on sale, especially if you are willing to wait and to buy in bulk. If you happen to find another full synthetic for cheaper go for it though.

Two words of caution. If you are doing your own maintenance or have a trusted mechanic use a synthetic. If you are pulling up to a chain and dropping your car off; there is nothing to stop an unscrupulous mechanic from charging you for synthetic and using dino. In that case it is not worth it. Second, the old 3month/3,000 mile schedule ensures that you or a mechanic was getting under your car more often than new synthetics do. Just because you are using synthetic there are other maintenance items that need to be done. In any case, oil change or no, I would make it a point to crawl under there every 3 months or 3,000 miles.

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