# Synthetic vs. reg. oil??



## pitchindad (Oct 14, 2004)

Has anyone ever experienced an increase in mileage when they changed over from fossil to synthetic oil? 
My dad and I switched to Royal Purple in our cars and I haven't seen any difference. 
I was considering changing my MH with a Cummins 8.1 over to synthetic but if I don't get any improvement I can't see spending the extra money for the six gallons of oil it takes to change over in the Motorhome.
What say you, any improvement or just a slicker oil?


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## catchysumfishy (Jul 19, 2008)

what kind of cars are you running it in?


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## pitchindad (Oct 14, 2004)

*Cars*

08 Ford Edge and 06 Ponitac G6 both have v-6's.


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## catchysumfishy (Jul 19, 2008)

I have ran RP for 7 years, in numerous vehicles at that, the only one that didn't show a performance increase is my '05 Harley TC 88 which burned the oil up so i switched over to amsoil and that is sweeeeet oil, i just have to change the filter and add a little oil from the change out! i send in a sample to Amsoil every filter change out and they tell me whether my oil is holding up or not. 3 filter changes and the same oil, IMO amsoil synthetic is the best on the market, my harley idles smoother and definately has a quicker response! since then , i have swapped over completely to amsoil! i have an '05 6.0 powerstroke and drained that DELO crapp out of her , flushed it out and replaced with Amsoil at 61,000 miles, the same here, smoothed out cold starts tremendously and smoothed out the sluggish hesitation when standing on it! Also, you don't actually have to flush a motor out before changing to amsoil and if you get in a bind on a trip or whatever and for some reason need to add oil and do not have amsoil with you, it will not hurt it to add non syn. to it, but you do have to flush with RP! Maybe this will help you!


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## Harley (Jul 5, 2007)

I'm running Royal Purple in a V-6 Toyota Camry and the new 5.7 Toyota Tundra. Both vehicles gained 1 to 2 MPG. The wife's car may be a little better than that. Put it in my zero turn Kohler powered mower and it helped it too. All this and less wear and tear on the engines. Cool


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## fastpitch (Oct 15, 2004)

I run RP in my 05 Avalanche and my 72 Chevy PU. Will not use anything else.


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## Roby (Jul 12, 2005)

If you could gain 1-2 mile per gallon by switching to synthetic oil, every car made would come with it stock and Obama would telling us to change over to synthetic in addition to tune ups and airing up your tires. LMAO. Synthetics are good products but their benefits do not outweigh the additional cost for the vast majority of motorists.


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## pitchindad (Oct 14, 2004)

*Roby*

I hear what you are saying. It almost seems like it should be illegal to advertise something that doesn't happen. If you look at RP's website they make claims that the stuff will do everything but drive the vehicle for you. 
I have had some folks tell me they get better mileage and others say they don't see anything. 
I maybe getting 1 maybe 2 miles per gallon better. I just got back from a 900 mile round trip to MS and it seems like it is better. The problm is I normally drive below 70 but I needed to get there and back so I didn't watch my speed like normal. 
I just wanted to see if anyone else had more experience with the stuff.
Thanks


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## mad dog (Jun 16, 2008)

*Amsoil*

I second Amsoil. I run it in my 05 Cummins and save money in just the fact that I can go 15,000 miles before changing it again verses every 5,000. Truck also runs smoother. I get 22 mpg on the highway, 18.5 in the city and thats a 4 door 4 wheel drive 3/4 ton.


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## Capt Scott Reeh (Jan 21, 2006)

Amsoil and Mobil 1 if I'm not mistaken are the two best oils out there according to the tests.Amsoil in my motorcycle and Suzuki outboard and Mobil 1 in the truck.I run 6,000 miles in bike before changing and 10,000 in truck before changing.
Thats 3 oil changes w/ dino ( in truck @ 3000 miles intervals ) vs one oil change w/ synthetic.A little cheaper to run synthetic in the long run.


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## Sometimer (Nov 2, 2006)

Not to hijack the thread, back just curious: I had a '99 Silverado (new) and switched to Mobil 1 at the first oil change. After 20k miles, it started burning oil. Asked a mechanic, and he said synthetic oil eats the GM valve seals. I don't have that truck anymore, but in the several vehicles I've had since then (all new), I've used Valvoline Durablend and have gone well over 20k with no problems. Anyone else ever had that issue with Mobil 1? I've been afraid to use it since that incident... I know it's good stuff, but IMO, so is Durablend - and it's a little cheaper than full synthetic. Is there a real benefit in going from blended to full synthetic? I do get extended oil life with Durablend. Currently, I have an '06 Sierra 5.3 Z71 and get about 18.5 mpg driving mixed-use. Should I expect better than that going to full synthetic?

Thanks!


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## redduck (Jul 26, 2006)

I did not get an increase in fuel mileage with 07 diesel duramax when I went to RP. I think it is great stuff but I did not see better fuel mileage.


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## seanm210 (Oct 15, 2008)

*amsoil for sure*

would recommend amsoil AME in your cummins go to the amsoil website and find a dealer in you area--the benefits of synthetic's are still being discovered--some main benefits of the amsoil include possible extended drain intervals, easier starts and increased oil flow at start ups--in the shop i manage we run the AME oil 25k or 1 year--good day


pitchindad said:


> Has anyone ever experienced an increase in mileage when they changed over from fossil to synthetic oil?
> My dad and I switched to Royal Purple in our cars and I haven't seen any difference.
> I was considering changing my MH with a Cummins 8.1 over to synthetic but if I don't get any improvement I can't see spending the extra money for the six gallons of oil it takes to change over in the Motorhome.
> What say you, any improvement or just a slicker oil?


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## Canuck (Dec 14, 2004)

I run nothing but Royal Purple in my family's vehicles. I used to run Castrol Syntec but Royal Purple is a far superior synthetic in my opinion. In addition, it is a Texas company (Porter, Texas) and if you have any questions they answer you immediately with awesome customer service.


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## aneel (Oct 8, 2005)

I swapped my 05 Dodge Hemi 4x4 to RP 7,000 miles ago.The guys here in town at G&S auto (wich build and race hot rod engines and have for a long time) were against the flush and recomended running for @3,000 and changing oil and filter.So i did. An increase of 3 miles to the gallon across the board perty quick. During this 3000 found out some good stuff on the mobil one full synthetic did some research on it and decided to go with it.4,000 miles in to it no sign of break down! Oil still looks and feels the same as the day i put it in.So we will see,but if old unc(catchysomefishy) swears by the Amsoil maybe i will look in to it.


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## Argo (May 21, 2004)

amsoil here, love it. 70000 with no problems at all, 15k changes is great.... have it in my dodge and mustang, soon it will be in my tahoe too...


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## Captain Kyle (Oct 1, 2008)

ROYAL PURPLE hands down!


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## 6.5 shooter dude (Jan 8, 2008)

seanm210 said:


> would recommend amsoil AME in your cummins go to the amsoil website and find a dealer in you area--the benefits of synthetic's are still being discovered--some main benefits of the amsoil include possible extended drain intervals, easier starts and increased oil flow at start ups--in the shop i manage we run the AME oil 25k or 1 year--good day


Good call Sean I agree amsoil all the way.


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## PasadenaMan (Dec 5, 2007)

I use Royal Purple and did not see any increase but I did notice the needle runs noticebly cooler. I saw a video on the Royal Purple site where they shoot a thermal video of a motorcycle with Royal Purple and with standard oil. The Bike was cooler with the Royal Purple.

I have had royal purple since i kit 50k Miles. Right now I am at 150K with not problems. It still runs like new. For a while I would buy it on ebay because no one used to carry it.


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## raz1056 (Jun 16, 2006)

My son runs Amsoil synthetic 2 cycle in his '99 115 Yamaha outboard and mixes it 100 to 1 and it runs like a WELL oiled machine. Also he runs no Ringfree and has no carbon problems.


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## Harley (Jul 5, 2007)

How long/how many hours has he done this? Interesting


raz1056 said:


> My son runs Amsoil synthetic 2 cycle in his '99 115 Yamaha outboard and mixes it 100 to 1 and it runs like a WELL oiled machine. Also he runs no Ringfree and has no carbon problems.


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## Portside (Jun 21, 2007)

the benefits of synthetic oil have little to nothing to do with being "slicker" or giving better mileage. The benefit lies in the temperatures it's able to withstand before breakdown vs. fossil oil. Typical synthetic oils can withstand over 500 deg. F before they begin to breakdown and lose their viscosity. Conventional fossil oils beging breaking down at about 250 deg. F. This temperature difference is what gives synthetic oil it's greater longevity and is why you see many new cars say you can go 10,000 to 20,000 miles between oil changes.


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## Reel Aggies (Nov 30, 2007)

I run Amsoil in my 2006 Honda Accord. I have over 125,000 miles on it right now and change my oil at 20,000 mile intervals. I have not had one lick of problem. It saves me a ton of money in the long run, plus the pain of frequent changes with conventional. I tried running it in my 2003 2500HD with 8.1L and after 5k-6k miles it was a quart low. I switched it back to conventional oil with 3k intervals. That truck drinks synthetic oil.


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## backlash99 (Oct 14, 2008)

I have used RP and Mobile 1 for 8 years now. Will not go back to fossil. 10k miles on syn. or 3k miles on regular stuff. Plus, the synthetic doesn't sludge up like fossil does. Just my opinion.


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## Captain Kyle (Oct 1, 2008)

I have put Royal Purple in my Xterra since the first change interval, I just got done putting it in the diff as well. 

My opinion is if you change your own oil it is worth the extended interval and price. It costs roughly 2x as much but lasts 3x as long if you do it yourself. 

If you get it put in at the service station they will charge you allot and your change interval sticker will only be 3000 miles. 

It has little effect on gas mileage, but over time a tiny effect on fuel economy can add up to 40-50 bucks a year. Enough for an oil change. Its probably better for your vehicle as well!


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## Neck-deep (Jun 27, 2007)

*Amsoil*

I run amsoil 15w-40 in my 04 duramax and noticed smoother running on the engine. I change it out when the dip stick looses that caramel color, usually around 8000 miles. However, *I don't know if this is normal* (I check my dipstick periodically), I usually have to add a quart when I run that long. I guess the oil is burning?


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## Capt. Carman (Jun 5, 2007)

*Synthetic Oil vs Fossil*

Synthetic oil is "fossil" oil in its origins. It is super (I mean super) refined and the additivies are better.

There are different reasons to use it for sure.

I run it (Amsoil) in my 2001 2500HD 4x4..147,890 miles. I use their filters as well. I run it in my twin Yamaha 225 4-strokes as well (have been since new) and get twice the operating hours per oil change. I run their synthetic lower gear oil as well.

I run it in my diesel tractor too.

I do get better mileage offshore for sure (run charters). I've never checked the truck mileage as I am going for longer life. I do not change oil every 3,000 miles (by the way, I'm not aware of an owner's manual that states 3,000 mile oil change intervals) as the folks at Pennzoil programed us to think.

I believe the payback is longer life on my "paid for" truck. As long as I'm not plunkin' $32,000 for a new truck, I'm making money.

Now, if you want to get super scientific about oil, go see the Lubrication Engineers web site. They will custom blend oil for any use or situation you have. You can buy as little as a case from them.

Good luck,

CC


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## fishit (Jul 12, 2007)

i just recently did an experiment w/ my 2006 dodge dakota v8 4x4 & awd. currently using conventional oil & getting 15.2 in the city - normal driving no heavy foot. i had used RP prior and was getting 16.7 in the city. no difference in driving. the hwy mileage has been off also when going to the deer lease (19.2 w/ RP compared to 17.9 conv). i will go back to RP on my next oil change to see if my numbers go back up. 

i was not a believer in this theory before, but am getting convinced.


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