One central argument between car enthusiasts and on Internet car forums alike is what oil is better for your car, synthetic or conventional. Before synthetic oils became available for regular automobiles,
argument centered solely on brand types and weight. But now, with advent of these synthetics all over market, what is truly best choice for your engine? Let’s explore both of these worlds to find out.Conventional oil is rated according to a SAE system. This scale is used so that you know what type of oil is best for your car given environmental conditions (temperature, city driving, etc.) of where you live. The first number, for example on 10W30 motor oil, is 10 followed by a “W”. This “W” indicates that number before it is viscosity rating of oil. The lower this number, better oil is for colder climates. The higher number, better it is for hotter driving conditions.
Synthetic oils, on other hand (before their commercial release) were used in many military vehicles and fighter jets. Airlines also use synthetics in their engines. The synthetic oil has been designed not to break down as quickly and can tolerate extremities in temperature and weather (hot to cold).
One of major differences between conventional and synthetic oils is that synthetics are treated with more additives that protect your engine for a longer amount of time before you have to change it. And, while we don’t want to get into all molecular chemistry involved in making of these oils, we should mention that they also last longer in hotter conditions and won’t “gel” in colder ones, like conventional oil. In other words, synthetics have more additives, which greatly protect car from viscosity breakdown. They are designed to withstand temperature extremes. It may be safe to say that extreme driving conditions call for use of synthetics.
On financial side of matter, synthetics cost a whole lot more; up to three or four times as much as regular conventional oil. But, wonderful thing is that you don’t have to change your oil every 3,000 miles; recommended with conventional oil use. In fact, you may not have to change it until well after 25,000 and up to 50,000 miles as long as oil filter is changed every 10,000 miles. So, cost at first might scare consumers away, but long-term benefits of synthetic oil use are substantial.
However, you will still have to be responsible for your car’s maintenance check-up every 3,000 miles or so. With regular oil-changes, you are automatically checking over car for other problems (or if you don’t an inspection mechanic does). It might help you find a problem that could be dealt with, that could’ve gone unchecked. Also, you’ll want to check synthetic oil every now and then to be sure that it isn’t contaminated and/or that there isn’t any moisture build-up.
With normal everyday driving, perhaps conventional oils work best for you. You aren’t driving in extreme conditions and you swear allegiance to regular oil. That may be fine. Synthetic oil cannot really offer you anything that conventional oil cannot under normal operating conditions. However, definition of extreme driving states that if you do a lot of short driving (two to twenty miles) daily, it’s hard on your car. And, specialists agree that this constitutes extreme driving due to faster breakdown of structure of conventional oil.
