[Roy.S]

Originally Posted by Sawyer

A lot of what you pay for the synth is for the spot of sticker space on the F1 cars

I my case, I switched to fully synthetic because I wanted to see if the minor shudders and whines from the engine could be gotten rid of without opening the whole works. I am very fussy about maintenance and have complete faith in my regular MASS, so the niggling issues were certainly not something brought on by bad/irregular services.
My regular oil was Magnatec. Now, this had made a significant difference in my M800 but did not seem to entirely work for the Swift.
After running on Mobil1 for 1500 km now, I think it was a good decision.
Do you really need fully synthetic? Of course not.
But if you do change over, you wont regret it.
A couple of days back I went up and down Banerghatta Rd thrice in peak hour traffic. The difference in the overall feel was quite evident. The Vxi usually sucks in bumper to bumper situations. This time around, things were easier.
High revs are where the Vxi is most at home. Even these have become smoother and I am able to redline more comfortably

Originally Posted by nitrous

Two things:
1) Just because a caterham works as well, people don't stop buying Ferraris.
2) Synthetics cost only 2000-2500 bucks for an oil change. Not 4000 bucks!

A 4l can of Mobil1 cost me Rs 3200. So, my oil change cost me Rs 2800 for 3.5l. Almost thrice the cost of Magnatec, but totally worth it.

[R2D2]

Originally Posted by Roy.S

Do you really need fully synthetic? Of course not.
But if you do change over, you wont regret it.

A 4l can of Mobil1 cost me Rs 3200. So, my oil change cost me Rs 2800 for 3.5l. Almost thrice the cost of Magnatec, but totally worth it.

My Mobil1 change in 2004 cost me Rs 3200. I too experienced a smoother engine though I also noticed more valve clatter when the engine was cold (remember it is 5W, not 20W or 15W). To be honest I didnt think it worth it and once the car was sold off stuck to OEM spec oil in my Corollas. Havent regretted that either. If you think synth rocks by all means go ahead and use it provided you are willing to pay the substantial difference in price.

Originally Posted by nitrous

Two things:

2) Synthetics cost only 2000-2500 bucks for an oil change. Not 4000 bucks!

Thats not true. Mobil1 costs Rs 3200 to 4K depending on the dealer at least in MH. Even your 'only Rs 2000-2500' is 2x the cost of the best semi synths. This assuming the price you quoted was for a 4 litre refill.

Rgds,

[nitrous]

^^I said synthetic. Synthetic doesn't mean just Mobil1.

[amit_mechengg]

^^ which fully synthetic costs 2000 rs?

[nitrous]

Originally Posted by amit_mechengg

^^ which fully synthetic costs 2000 rs?

Like I mentioned, oil change! 3 Litres would do for your alto,amit_mechanicalengineering.

[R2D2]

Originally Posted by nitrous

^^I said synthetic. Synthetic doesn't mean just Mobil1.

Sigh. As if we didnt know!

Rgds,

[nitrous]

Originally Posted by R2D2

Thats not true. Mobil1 costs Rs 3200 to 4K depending on the dealer at least in MH.

Then, you shouldn't have stated the above.

I'm never tried to prove synthetic makes financial sense. But, just because one can't see the little premium for far superior lubrication and that it doesn't make financial sense, one shouldn't preach against it.

Food for thought: When was the last time you checked your oil pressure in bumper-bumper traffic?

[bottle]

Just have to chip in with my two bits after shifting to synth recently. In addition to whatever benefits synth gives you I found that the engine noise has reduced drastically and that drone I get on highways has reduced tremendously. Also the engine is really free revving and previously above 5k rpm the engine note used to sound a bit like a tortured cat where as now it revvs smoothly all the way to the redline. This was what I observed on a recent highway trip after 2 months of driving in bumper to bumper traffic. This is in contrast to when previously after extended periods in heavy traffic, the engine would get all sluggish when I was using whatever mineral oil TASS used to fill up.

If I did regular trips on a highway where I could do regular 'Italian tune ups' to the engine then I probably would have managed with mineral but with the peak city traffic I travel in all the time I really found synth worth it.

[R2D2]

Originally Posted by nitrous

Then, you shouldn't have stated the above.

I'm never tried to prove synthetic makes financial sense. But, just because one can't see the little premium for far superior lubrication and that it doesn't make financial sense, one shouldn't preach against it.

Food for thought: When was the last time you checked your oil pressure in bumper-bumper traffic?

Experience speaks for itself. My car uses 4.3 litres of oil as did my previous vehicle. Cost of 4.3 litres of synth @ 800/litre (forget about the 1000/litre my dealer quoted last week) Rs 3440. Cost of Castrol Magnatec Rs 1290 which is a factor of 2.67x. My car's OEM multigrade mineral @ Rs 210/litre costs me Rs 903 which makes for a price differential of 3.81x.

Hence I really cant understand (forgive me) why you feel paying way above 2x the price of a litre of mineral oil (please note the quantity) is a 'little' premium.

As far as I go dude, I would advise anyone to go in for synth only if they must and if it makes sense for them given their individual preferences, car model with mfrs recommendations, and the type of service the car experiences. For normal folks like me, who love cars but have a practical approach to most things in life, mineral makes sense at least till such time synth prices are rationalised. Mind you, I do not for even a moment doubt the superiority of synth over mineral.

Also, regarding oil pressure in city driving, nopes never checked as I dont have an oil pressure meter in my car.

Rgds,

[Saiyan]

@bottle.
True, i was able to find the difference very easily. I loved the way the car touched 180kmph in the speedo without much noise.

[nitrous]

Originally Posted by R2D2

Hence I really cant understand (forgive me) why you feel paying way above 2x the price of a litre of mineral oil (please note the quantity) is a 'little' premium.

You see it as 100%-150% more.
I just see it as 1500 bucks more every 9-12 months. Thats like 150 bucks a month.

[Sawyer]

Originally Posted by nitrous

You see it as 100%-150% more.
I just see it as 1500 bucks more every 9-12 months. Thats like 150 bucks a month.

Goes back to the point I was trying to make! In the conditions in which most of us drive our cars, keeping even the most expensive synth in the sump for 9-12 months is a bad idea. I was making this point, really, the synth v mineral was incidental to it. If you can afford an oil change every 6 months using fully synthetic name brand oil, go ahead and do so. Lots of people also eat chyawanprash with gold in it and feel a lot of energy by doing so! But a regular diet, and exercise will probably do that a lot better, and be more economical too. And if you use eating the gold filled stuff as reason to then abuse the body on the other things that you eat, it is both expensive and bad for you. Like all analogies, this one is imperfect too, of course, it is just to get the point across.
Re the feel good effects, these cannot be proved or disproved, unless double blind tests are carried out, which no one ever bothers to do. In their absence, the chances of the benefits being susceptible to placebo effects are very high.
And if one can preach the use of synths here, one can also preach the use of one's faculties and of not getting carried away by snake oil salesmen that prey on one's emotions too. That is precisely the reason for a forum, and it is for readers to then make up their own minds as to what makes sense to them. Emotional, engineering and economic!

[nitrous]

Oh no! We stick to manufacturer recommended OCI (time/kms).
Most of them say 10,000kms/1 year. But, it does differ from vehicle to vehicle.

[gpa]

Originally Posted by Sawyer

it is for readers to then make up their own minds as to what makes sense to them. Emotional, engineering and economic!

Well said Sawyer :-) In my case it would be engineering as I use the Mobil 1. If you check the Mobil 1 website, they have mentioned about the tests carried out using Mobil 1 and the conditions of the engine pre/post testing. It actually makes a difference in your car's oil sump.

[PatienceWins]

Originally Posted by nitrous

Oh no! We stick to manufacturer recommended OCI (time/kms).
Most of them say 10,000kms/1 year. But, it does differ from vehicle to vehicle.

As far as I know, Maruti, Hyundai and Tata recommends oil change every 6 months for their vehicles, irrespective of the number of kms. Which manufacturer/ vehicle recommends oil change every one year?