Switching to synthetic oil

[DavidOS]

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[Hoodzy]

full sythetics are not mobil 1 or castrol.

There are only a few TRUE FULL synthetics. Such as motol v300 or 8100.
Also ELF has full synthetic in europe.

in fact there are 5 groups of oils and for you here they are tabulated and slightly explained. The full synthetics have been known to free up to 10whp in a cars engine.

Group I: Solvent frozen mineral oil. This is the least processed of all oils on the market today and is typically used in nonautomotive applications, though some of it may find its way into low-cost motor oils.

Group II: Hydro-processed and refined mineral oil. This is the most common of all petroleum oils and is the standard component of most petroleum-based automotive and motorcycle engine oils.

Group III (now called synthetic): The oils start as standard Group I oils and are processed to remove impurities, resulting in a more heat-stable compound than possible as a standard Group I or II oil. Some examples are Castrol Syntec automotive oil and Motorex Top Speed. These are the lowest cost synthetics to produce, and generally do not perform as well as Group IV or V oils.

Group IV: Polyalphaolefin, commonly called PAOs. These are the most common of the full synthetic oils, and usually offer big improvements in heat and overall stability when compared to Group III oils. They are produced in mass quantities and are reasonably inexpensive for full-synthetic oils. Since they are wax-free they offer high viscosity indexes (low temperature pour point) and often require little or no viscosity modifiers. Examples include Amsoil and Motorex Power Synt.

Group V: Esters. These oils start their life as plant or animal bases called fatty acids. They are then converted via a chemical reaction into esters or diesters which are then used as base stocks. Esters are polar, which means they act like a magnet and actually cling to metals. This supposedly offers much better protection on metal-to-metal surfaces than conventional PAOs, which do not have this polar effect. These base stock oils also act as a good solvent inside the engine, translating into cleaner operation. Esters are the most expensive to produce, and oils manufactured with them usually cost much more. Due to this higher cost, many companies only fortify their oils with esters. Some examples are Bel-Ray EXS, Torco MPZ Synthetic and Maxum 4 Extra. Motul 300V, however, uses 100 percent ester as its base oil, and is one of the more expensive oils.

and therefore your not using true synthetics.

does it really amtter that we are not using a 'true synthetic' as the 1.8 isnt a high performance engine non the less... maybe if we had vipers and corvettes this might be a noticeable topic?

[jschrauwen]

There are only a few TRUE FULL synthetics. Such as motol v300 or 8100.
Also ELF has full synthetic in europe.

I try to keep abreast of the most current quality oil and would usually look to the racing community to see the brand of choice. Although that too could be a little tainted given sponsorship initiatives. I always looked to acquire Motul since it's the brand of recommendation for Ducati M/C's. High compression, air cooled engines rely heavily on a quality oil to lubricate and cool, but mostly to not breakdown (foam and/or burn) under severe heat conditions. We know that the 1.8L gets quite hot, and those using a ZE have commented on the excessive heat generated from it due in part I imagine to the small confined engine space and lack of air flow. In this case a quality oil would be justified, at least for my purposes. If only I could find a local Motul supplier.

[relisys_3200]

If only I could find a local Motul supplier.[/color]

exactly.....Dave an I searched all around this morning trying to find a place with no luck...and most of them not having even hear of it

[fieromx3]

although i really dont like these guys now but point zero carries all motul fluids...

[DavidOS]

yes it makes a big difference, tests done on an rx8 freed up 10whp from changing from a mobil 1 semi syn to a full group 5 synthetic.

It makes a huge difference on aluminum high reving engines... mazda engines in general.

further more motul is used in JGTC and in some of the nismo race cars
in fact nismo rebrands motul and uses it. They call it some weird name, if you goto japanese websites you can order it through nismo. Also Grand Touring cars here that race, ie ferraris and porsches use it as well. ALL swear by it.

Therefore i swear by it.

[fowljesse]

That Motul website sure is fancy.. Too bad I couldn't learn S#@T from it except the dist.'s contaxt info.

[neutral]

Yeah, I cked too and their site is otherwise useless. Interesting Motul POV on this thread though + some other stuff that came up on Google. I never really knew about the product but might give it a try. It better be damn good considering the prices I'm seeing.

[jschrauwen]

If only I could find a local Motul supplier.[/color]

exactly.....Dave an I searched all around this morning trying to find a place with no luck...and most of them not having even hear of it

Brandon, it may be worth a try to check out some of the motorcycle shops. Or at least a Ducati shop.

[fowljesse]

I'm gonna look into it. Isn't M/C oil different? From what I remember, it's better, but never heard of using it in a car.

[Custom_V6_Limited_SE]

I have always used Mobile 1 10w30. It seems good although I guess it doesn't matter because I have never used anything else in it and, thus, don't have anything to compare it with.

[XxantwawnxX]

I used 20w50 (Royal Purple) because someone said it would help the tick. It got louder. I used the car to run between Houston & Austin, in the summer HEAT. I'm going to go back to recommended.

thats too thick for our engines

Hmm i use 20w50 and my motor runs smooth and makes no nnoise (abnormal noise) Thats with the ze, ive never ran 20w50 on the k8. IT also does nto get that cold where i live. Ive ran 20w50 for about 2 years imguessing.

When i run 10w40 on a cold start i get loud ticking for about 10 secs till the oil gets to what ever is ticking. i dont have that prob with the 20w50 and thats the only reason ive kept it up.

[Jay72]

What about "high- mileage" oils? We all are basically running 100+ km/miles on these engines whether it's a 1.6 or a ZE. Where does this oil stand in the midst of this topic?

[jschrauwen]

I'm gonna look into it. Isn't M/C oil different? From what I remember, it's better, but never heard of using it in a car.

Depending if it's an air cooled engine (Ducati, HD, etc), you'll probably see a higher viscosity used since cold temp starts are never an issue. 20W40 or 20W50 would be commonplace there. Using a viscosity level appropriate for our cars would have to be followed. I remember when Kendall came out with an oil that was supposed to be almost as good as Motul in so far as not braking down under extreme heat conditions. That meant it wouldn't burn or scar the cams like castrol and the biggest plus is that it wouldn't foam. It really didn't matter to us at the time that the base colour for Kendall was an olive drab green colour. It worked, and I would hesitate to use the applicable viscosity level in my car at the time (20 years ago).

[Mr.mx-3]

I think whoever had my car first didn't take care of it or used some sorry oil everythings black and looks gummed up looked at the sticker in the windshiled when I bought it and said kendall I was under the assumption this was really good stuff but I looked down into the spark plug holes the other day and wanted to choke the previous owner since i've had it regardless of the oil consumption and smoking I've always ran either castrol or mobile1 and changed it at 3000mi. So I guess not..