Ruben525 Posted October 28, 2010 Report Share Posted October 28, 2010 Ok so I just got my SS about a month ago and I'm trying to learn everything I can about it. Well I was thinking of running synthetic oil. What's the difference between plain oil and synthetic oil? My friend runs royal purple in his truck and he likes it says he changes his oil every 7,000 miles. Dose synthetic oil really last that long? He also said that the oil % on his cluster last the whole 7,000 like how it starts off at 100% then when he's getting around 6,500 it's at about 7% or something idk Lol. What's the difference between royal purple and mobil 1? Dose synthetic oil help out your mpg or hp? Basically what's the big deal about synthetic oil? I know it's alot of ?'s but thanks for the help Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruiser04 Posted October 28, 2010 Report Share Posted October 28, 2010 i run synthetic and u can go longer between changes but i dont, also i dont know about gain but i believe its better Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8hnpSS Posted October 28, 2010 Report Share Posted October 28, 2010 i run mobil 1 gold cap and change it out ever 1-1500 miles depending how often i drive it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruben525 Posted October 28, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 28, 2010 i run mobil 1 gold cap and change it out ever 1-1500 miles depending how often i drive it. Only 1-1500? Why can't u get atleast the 3000 miles out of it or more Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silverado_ss_04 Posted October 28, 2010 Report Share Posted October 28, 2010 mobil 1 ftw Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
houston05tx Posted October 28, 2010 Report Share Posted October 28, 2010 oil is oil. Just my 2 cent. 10w30 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fireman31 Posted October 28, 2010 Report Share Posted October 28, 2010 oil is oil. Wrong........do some research and you will see, not all oils are created equal. Synthetics lubricate a bit better, and don't break down as easy as conventional oil. Search this topic here on the forum, this has been discussed in the past...... BTW, I used to change my oil every 3k or 3 months when my truck was a DD, but now that she sits a majority of the time, she gets an oil change every 6 months......Mobil 1 all the way. I would never go more then 5k without an oil change, even on Synthetic oil IMO.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruben525 Posted October 28, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 28, 2010 So it's worth the extra money? What all dose it do for the truck? Better mpg or hp? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8hnpSS Posted October 28, 2010 Report Share Posted October 28, 2010 Only 1-1500? Why can't u get atleast the 3000 miles out of it or more because i only drive my truck 1-2 times a week at most and when i do drive it i dont baby it. 1-1500 miles can take about 6 months to accumulate for me. i run the same oil in my yukon and i change it out every 5000 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8hnpSS Posted October 28, 2010 Report Share Posted October 28, 2010 (edited) So it's worth the extra money? What all dose it do for the truck? Better mpg or hp? pretty much neither just better lubrication and higher oil change intervals. as Dan(Fireman31) said above it does not break down as fast as conventional does edit: imo its worth the money Edited October 28, 2010 by 8hnpSS (see edit history) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
03BlkSS86 Posted October 28, 2010 Report Share Posted October 28, 2010 I agree with Niko an Dan, It is more money but worth it in the long run. Everyone has their own opinion about it, but when it comes to my SS she's my DD so she gets mobil 1 all the way only. But I haven't heard anything bad about royal purple either so its totally up to you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruben525 Posted October 28, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 28, 2010 because i only drive my truck 1-2 times a week at most and when i do drive it i dont baby it. 1-1500 miles can take about 6 months to accumulate for me. i run the same oil in my yukon and i change it out every 5000 Yea I only drive my SS on the weekends I'm not sure if I'm gonna go with rp or mobil 1 yet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misterp Posted October 28, 2010 Report Share Posted October 28, 2010 ...What's the difference between plain oil and synthetic oil? REAL Synthetic oil is an engineered product from the ground up; fake Synthetic oil (Castrol Syntec and a few others) are highly modified petroleum crude but 'fortified' by hodrogenation so they perform far better for far longer; 'plain oil' is refined crude oil and is usually not refined enough to remove all the wax from it, hence engines that use it over their lifetimes accumulate sludge and wax buildup internally. My friend runs royal purple in his truck and he likes it says he changes his oil every 7,000 miles. Dose synthetic oil really last that long? To each his own, right? Personally I change my oil & filter every 4,500 miles. This is actually TWO subjects, there is a big difference between changing OIL every 7k-miles versus changing the FILTER every 7k-miles. In theory, with real premium synthetic lubricants you can run them indefinitely as long as that fluid is free from impurities; in practice there are four types of impurities in oil (1) dust/dirt, (2) water vapor, (3) microscopic particles of burnt oil, and (4) acids from byproducts of combustion. The issue that I have with the approach of running extended oil service intervals but still changing the filter is that procedure never removes the accumulated water or acids from the oil. I push my argument further with published proof that lab examinations of all extended-service engine oils show either a breakdown of viscosity or (in the case of AMSoil) an increase in viscosity, and that is from the months or years of high-heat chemistry going on inside the crankcase. Said differently - even with proper filtration, Mobil-1 will go from a 5W-30 to a 5W-20 after 7500-miles; AMSOil is just the opposite, it will go from a 5W-30 to a 10W-40 after 6000 miles even using their very good filtration kit. Modern oils are FAR better than 15-years ago, but geeze they aren't going to live forever, they either thin or thicken with age and neither is optimum and this is not including the acid and water content of that aged oil. Sorry for the rant, but that is my explanation why I personally do not follow that strategy in my own truck. He also said that the oil % on his cluster last the whole 7,000 like how it starts off at 100% then when he's getting around 6,500 it's at about 7% or something idk Lol. Your friend just drives his truck like Driving Miss Daisy. The GM engine oil reminder has absolutely nothing to do with what oil is in the engine; the PCM keeps track of how many minutes the engine has been running since last oil change and the engine temperatures and how hard you've had your foot in the throttle. So vehicles that have lots of steady-speed highway commuter time get high oil change intervals, and stop-and-go jackrabbit drivers only get about 5000-miles or so. Since I've put the blower and converter in my truck my suggested engine oil change interval now is about 4500-miles, what does that tell you about how I drive?! What's the difference between royal purple and mobil 1?To me, the fact that Mobil-1 actually paid the $$$ to have their product lab-tested and certified with an ASE grade rather than trading on telling the world "try us, we promise, we're every bit as good as brand-X." AFA the forumations between the products, I have no idea. I have heard that RP is much thinner at the same viscosity meaning that it takes less crankshaft horsepower to drive your oil pump, and in some kinds of racing (NASCAR & circle track) an extra 5-horsepower will be the difference between the car that wins and the car finishing 4th or 5th - being totally serious there, no joke that is why RP is so popular in the circle track crowd is because it helps reduce parasitic horsepower loss. There is a big difference between how an oil performs during 45-minutes of racing versus 4500-miles; I have no idea how RP fares in the long run, you'll have to research lab test results and see what it's real world performance is like. For me personally, it's not worth the cost because I change my oil at 4,500-miles anyways and I can get Mobil-1 at a comparably reasonable price, especially for something I'm going to dispose of soon. Dose synthetic oil help out your mpg or hp? It helps, greatly. If you want to prove it for yourself then next time when you change oil switch to a 10W-40 and feel how much a dog your engine is because it has to pump that thick syrup! That is why GM, Ford, and Chrysler put synthetic in their engines now. These 3 companies are under so much pressure to cut 5-cents off the price of a motor (no lie) that they will use the cheapest possible oil they can however they choose to use synthetic because it reduces oil pump drag and that raises the MPG of the vehicle and they need to do this trick so they can meet their Congressional fuel standards laws. But the bigger reason for us consumers to use a quality engine oil and filter is because it will be the difference between a motor rebuild at 100k-miles or 250k-miles. Basically what's the big deal about synthetic oil? That's like asking how deep is the rabbit hole... check out bobistheoilguy.com. Mr. P. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shakesvho Posted October 28, 2010 Report Share Posted October 28, 2010 Royal Purple XPR 5w/30w, I change it every six months, my 2005 truck as of today date has 7,492 miles . Its not my DD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hankg42 Posted October 28, 2010 Report Share Posted October 28, 2010 (edited) Experts seem to agree that 3000 mile oil changes are a thing of the past, and a waste of money. That being said, people will argue until they're blue in the face about that it is better. Basically, I go by the Oil Life indicator in both my truck and my Corvette. When it gets to 50%, I change it. And to expand on something that Mr. P said, I would NEVER consider changing the oil and NOT the filter, or vice versa. What's the point of leaving contamination in there? As much as you can get out, the better. I also use a K&N oil filter (probably starting another argument here...) because it has a valve that prevents "drain back". (I think I said that right.) I costs a couple of dollars more, but worth it to me for whatever extra protection my motor gets. All of this, just my opinion. Edit: All this rambling on and I forgot to say I use Mobil 1. Edited October 28, 2010 by Hankg42 (see edit history) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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