Gas Saving Hint - Synthetic

[palani]

I just turned 10,000 miles on a new Subaru and changed the oil to mobile one. It is now at 12,500 miles. With conventional oil I routinely got 24.5 miles per gallon. Since the switch to synthetic I have routinely gotten 27.0 miles per gallon, or a little over a 10% increase in mileage. With the synthetic oil I only expect to change the oil twice a year if I put 30,000 miles a year on the car.

My previous vehicle was a 96 Lumina that had 165,000 miles. I would usually have to add half a quart of synthetic oil every 10,000 miles. In other words the old car did not burn oil at all.

I have also heard that synthetic is used in the hydraulic systems of the zero turn radius lawn mowers. The hydraulic pumps run 10 degrees cooler because of the reduced friction.

Word of caution, if you have a new vehicle DO NOT use synthetic until 10,000 miles. The rings will never seat and you will use oil during the life of the vehicle.

Just a hint since gas prices are so high.

[3carfan4ever]

Thanx for that info! Very useful and interesting.

[gilberte]

Won't the added cost of the synthetic oil offset the small savings in increased gas mileage?

[birdie_poo]

Originally Posted by gilberte

Won't the added cost of the synthetic oil offset the small savings in increased gas mileage?

In my opinion, no, it wont.

We changed and the difference was immediate.

Not only do you save on gas, but you don't have to change the synthetic as often as you do regular oil, so you also save on how much you use.

[palani]

Synthetic oil costs around $22 for an oil change. I change oil and filter myself. Cost for oil is $44 per year. If you use regular oil you should be changing oil 5 times a year (figure 30k miles per year and 6k miles between changes). If you change your own oil the cost of the oil will probably be around $8 per change.

Based on these figures the synthetic will cost you $4 more per year for the oil alone.

Gas:

30k miles divided by 24.5 mpg is 1223 gallons

30k miles divided by 27 mpg is 1111 gallons

Savings is 112 gallons x $2.20 = $246 annually

Also, my mileage is mostly highway. I have noticed that if my trips are short the mpg will go down because the engine doesn't have enough time to get warmed up. But I have collected enough data at the pump to feel comfortable with the figures above.

[birdie_poo]

Originally Posted by palani

Synthetic oil costs around $22 for an oil change. I change oil and filter myself. Cost for oil is $44 per year. If you use regular oil you should be changing oil 5 times a year (figure 30k miles per year and 6k miles between changes). If you change your own oil the cost of the oil will probably be around $8 per change.

Based on these figures the synthetic will cost you $4 more per year for the oil alone.

Gas:

30k miles divided by 24.5 mpg is 1223 gallons

30k miles divided by 27 mpg is 1111 gallons

Savings is 112 gallons x $2.20 = $246 annually

Also, my mileage is mostly highway. I have noticed that if my trips are short the mpg will go down because the engine doesn't have enough time to get warmed up. But I have collected enough data at the pump to feel comfortable with the figures above.

I change my own synthetic & filter.

[birdie_poo]

Originally Posted by birdie_poo

I change my own synthetic & filter.

And for got to add that I have also noticed the difference in stop and go traffic. Regardless of actual driving verses stopped in traffic, I still get better mileage. And I also still use the cheap gas.

[KCM]

Originally Posted by palani

Synthetic oil costs around $22 for an oil change. I change oil and filter myself. Cost for oil is $44 per year. If you use regular oil you should be changing oil 5 times a year (figure 30k miles per year and 6k miles between changes). If you change your own oil the cost of the oil will probably be around $8 per change.

Based on these figures the synthetic will cost you $4 more per year for the oil alone.

Gas:

30k miles divided by 24.5 mpg is 1223 gallons

30k miles divided by 27 mpg is 1111 gallons

Savings is 112 gallons x $2.20 = $246 annually

Also, my mileage is mostly highway. I have noticed that if my trips are short the mpg will go down because the engine doesn't have enough time to get warmed up. But I have collected enough data at the pump to feel comfortable with the figures above.

This above quote was posted on 06/28/05 at 06:21 PM.

Notice the price per gallon figure of $2.20 per gallon!

At the time of the above post, the writer claimed an average of 10% increase in fuel economy simply by using synthetic oil.
Has this 10% increase in fuel economy been substantiated by the original poster since then, .......or by anybody else?

Also, on another related note; gasoline today is approximately $3.15 per gallon. That is a 43% increase since June 2005.

If we continue with the same 43% rate of increase, we will be paying $4.50 per gallon within the next 3 years.

Does $4.50 a gallon within the next 3 years seem reasonable to everybody?

Why or why not?

[parthy]

I changed the oil in my son's cavalier to synthetic before winter and one added advantage is that the car starts no matter what. He works all over with no plug-ins and it's been a cold winter here on the Canadian prairies.


This might even be my first post. I have lurked for years.

[palani]

The savings are certainly more impressive as the price of gas goes up; however, I have noticed a lot less traffic on the roads these days so people seem to be cutting consumption to match bank account.

At $4.40 per gallon the savings would be $494 annually for 30,000 miles put on the vehicle. This would buy an additional 112 gallons or close to 10 fill-ups.

I started using synthetic in the early 80's. I was sent to check out a new crankshaft balancer in Detroit about that time. The 250 lb crankshaft we were using was spun at 300 rpm in open bearing shells. We started by lubing the journals manually each time the crank was spun but the weight of the oil migrating from the bearing to the counterbalance was enough to throw the machine out of specs (bad repeatability). As a solution we switched to synthetic and only lubed the bearings after 25 cycles. We could not have done this with regular oil. It would have scored the bearings.

The balancer checked out ok as an end result.

[tamsam]

I have used syn oil ever since it came out and could be purchased by the public. Won't tell anyone we tested it back in the late 60's in race engines. I think the first to hit the market was AMZOIL. Not sure I spelled it right. It does work and if changed like it is meant to it will increase engine life. Had a 91 Dodge Spirit that was running strong at 220,000 miles when I parted with it. Wish I still had it as for a V6 it got over 30 miles per gallon. Also used the syn oil in dirt track cars and ran a 4 cycl Datsun all season without replacing the bearings, or rings. Sam

[wewantout]

I would recommend Amsoil or any oil that has an extended drain interval. If you do use an extended drain interval oil make sure the filter is up to the task.

Amsoil I change every 25K and the amsoil filter every 12,500K

Cheers
WWO

www.amsoil.com

[Windy in Kansas]

Originally Posted by gilberte

Won't the added cost of the synthetic oil offset the small savings in increased gas mileage?

Don't forget to add into the equation the extra oil changes that come with regular oil instead of the extended mileage with synthetic. Also the extended life of the engine from less heat.

I have used synthetic oil in the past and the benefits far outweighed the extra costs, and that was back when synthetic costs were terribly high compared to those of today.

I don't have a low mileage vehicle and would never switch with a high mileage engine, hence I no longer use synthetics.

[Scrounger]

Well - I don't put nearly 30,000 miles a year on my vehicle anymore (more like 5,000), so the cost of synthetic way offsets the benefits. There is also no way I could do an oil change (even in 2005) for $22 using synthetic (closer to $55). I can do 4+ changes with regular oil for that.
For me, changing my oil twice a year using synthetic would cost me MORE.
I have almost 350,000 miles on my gasser truck right now (1997 F-150 5.4) using Regular Wally World oil. I think I'll stick with that.

[tomstractormag]

Along with the added benefits of synthetic engine oil there is also synthetic trans fluid (I think amsoil has ATF) and gear lube. These will make a positive difference and you do not need to change them as often as engine oil.
If you are doing your own greasing with a grease gun there is synthetic grease for that too.
Synthetic wheel bearing grease is another. Lots of little things add up to savings and maybe more importantly longer life of any given component.
I use synthetic in my race engines so they will live as we are easily doubling rated rpms. I have been using wally world synthetic... It works and is cheaper than the brand name stuff.
Remember for increased milage, tire pressure, tune ups, clean air filters, drive reasonably. And if you are using extended oil change intervals get an oil sample done to see whats going on inside the engine.
Tom

[Up North Louie]

I have a question. I see that one changes [for the sake of discussion] synthetic oil twice a year, and the filter 4 times. OK, recover the oil and put it back in. Do you strain it or filter it somehow?

And there is mention of specialized filters-- are they commonly available, and if so, for how much?

Thanks,

Don