In recent years many people have expressed interest in synthetic oils and have wondered what all the hoopla was about. Now with many different brands of synthetic oils on the market it bears looking into. One of the main questions people ask is whether or not synthetic oil is really better for the vehicle. Before the advent of synthetics the main thing that concerned people was the type and weight of the oil. The S.
A.E. system grades regular oil and gives it a rating such as 10W40. The scale is used to help you decide what oil to use for particular climates. The example given here is multi-viscosity oil acting like a 10W flowing easily when starting and then becoming thicker and acting as a 40 weight when the engine warms. Synthetic oils have been used for a long time in military vehicles and fighter planes and before being released to the mainstream was used by airlines who continue to use them.
The reason these organizations use synthetic oil is because it is designed for all weather conditions and does not break down easily. Synthetic oils also contain more engine protecting additives allowing you to go longer between oil changes as well. This concept alone is a good reason for using synthetic oil.
Even though synthetics cost up to four times as much as conventional oil the benefit is that you don't have to change your oil every 3,000 miles as recommended for traditional oils and may be able to go as long as 50,000 miles as long as you change the filter every 10,000 miles. This doesn't mean that you don't pop the hood and check the oil and other items every 3,000 miles, just that you should not have to replace it that often. For most people these days synthetic oil should be considered. It is recommended even more so for extreme driving which is stated as short driving of two to twenty miles which is tough on your vehicle and will cause a faster breakdown of the conventional oil. With conventional oil impurities are just the nature of the beast and it is almost impossible to remove them while synthetics contain almost none. This fact is one of the reasons you can go longer between oil changes with synthetic oils.
You have to be careful in making changes on older cars as the switching to synthetic could cause oil leaks due to their not interacting with seals and gaskets in the same way as conventional oils. The best thing to do is to use synthetic oil in a brand new car; this is what I did with my Nissan Titan when I first bought it.
Gregg Hall is a business consultant and author for many online and offline businesses and lives in Navarre Florida with his 16 year old son. For car care products for your vehicle go to http://www.carcarewizards.com
