Synthetic oil or not?

[T]

2001 legacy with 2.5l engine, 60k km. Parked outside in Canadian winters.
Thinking of trying a synthetic -is it worth while for this vehicle or just a
waste?

F.plant

Uh, Yes!, Uh, I mean NO!, no wait- Yes!

Synth is not mandatory, you will gain _some_ benefits, do what you want.

I'm a synth user myself, I recommend it, if it meets the manufacturer's
specs or better.


TBerk

 

[ed]

Synthetics don't thicken nearly as much as regular oil in the cold, so the
car will definitely be easier to start, besides the superior lubrication
qualities of synthetics.

Ed B.

 

[meld_b]

What's the manual say? I used some Mobil High milage which says
synthetic blend on an ancient Honda with disasterous results. I've had a
fair amount of people say that you need to use synthetics from the
beginning... Sounds like strange science to me.. Still, I don't know
about you but I'm staying away from this -D

 

[Ethan]

Hi,

I just put in 3 litres of walmart's tech 2000 partial synthetic 5w-30
oil with 1 litre of walmarts tech 2000 0w-30 100%synthetic and i
notice a difference (good or bad). Before I just used regular dino
oil 5w-30. I'm at 23,800kms.

I notice the engine doesn't knock and ping at low revs (manual 2.5TS
2003) but churns out a grumbling sound @1000-2000rpms, that i used to
hear alot when it was new but this time it sounds less angrier, more
hollow sound almost like a muffler of some racer. Its also more
slippery ...I used to shift to 3rd gear when cornering and it seem to
not slowdown as much and provide the control I need to korner as
before. But when I'm speeding I can hit the 5th gear at 1000rpms and
seems to be faster and more forgiving when shifting gears. It's more
quieter with less torque-y noise.

Can anybody explain these? thanks.

 

[M. Butkus]

You going to change you oil every 3K with synthetic or 7K with synthetic.
My wife's 02 Audi goes 10K between changes via the dealer. I change it at 5k
by just dumping the oil. 10K is too long.
If you change at 3K then why bother. Synthetic can go for 7 to 10K so the
money is worth it. Only other reason is if you have a turbo.