TinkySD

What type of synthetic do you all like best? mobile 1, amsoil, castrol, royal purple? Any specific reason? Anyone uses a 5-20 yet? Any problems?

I'm planning on going to 5-30 mobil 1 synthetic but figured i might as well ask the forum what they think

DEVO

I use Mobil1 pure syn... but amsoil is probably the best there is.

Dan Martin

Make that two for Mobil1!

sheik28

Just got my 5000mile OC and my dealer was jammed...told me come back in 2 days. Honda dealerships don't work on Acura either so that opion was out. Had to go to a Jiffy Lube type place and they put in a 5w20...no problems yet after about 500 miles. It actually seems to run/sound a little smoother.

soopa

what kinda admin are you??? did you not see the other oil thread going on right now??? dumbass


I use Mobil SuperSyn. In reality... their all very comparable. Hard to say whats best... so many conflicting opinions.

AmSoil seems to be the only one putting up valid arguments AGAINST Mobil 1... except they only apply to the old Mobil 1. The new stuff is a totally diff formula

TinkySD

i just like clutter! So we have 1 5w-20 user...any others? You should see slightly higher mpg and maybe a few more horses with 5w-20...

Nachoman

I've used 10w30 Mobil 1 in the past. I've heard of people recommending 0w40 to me but I really have no idea what the difference will be. anybody want to give me a quick primer on what those numbers mean on the oil?

sheik28

So I am not going nuts? I thought it was just my imagination, so I was a little hesitant to post. What, if any are the downsides?

Dan Martin

The number before the W is the startup viscosity. After the W is the viscosity when the engine has warmed up. Higher numbers = higher viscosity = thicker oil.

Dan Martin

The only true downside is the possibility of premature engine wear. However this is totally dependant on how you run your engine and the type of climate you run in. This is simplifying it but if you let the engine rev a lot (which is the only way to do things!) you should probably run a thicker oil. Most of the Honda's/Acura's that I've seen at Mosport are running 20w50 oil. I'm going to run a 10w40 in the summer and 5w30 in the winter.

DEVO

I take my Acura to Honda dealers all the time... what gives?

inkytawney

Mobil One 0w20! bottle and web site says for 5w20 and 5w30 high reving engine applications. (4.77 qt at Wally World)

sheik28

Here in Brooklyn,NY The Bay Ridge Honda dealership told me they do not work on Acura's. I'm proboably going to try again next time though.

bob shiftright

Mobil-1, always!

My wife's Oddy was purchased while Honda was going through their "phase" with 5W20. The owner's manual recommended 5W20 but said 5W30 could be used if 5W20 was unavailable. The oil cap actually says 5W30. The only reason that I could ever believe that Honda recommended the 5W20 was for CAFE fuel economy purposes.

BTW, the Honda and Acura filters are the same, the crush washer is the same and the oil is the same. And this is about as low-tech as you can get, it's just a drain plug and gravity. Even I can do an oil change, and I'm probably far less likely to screw anything up than the kid they assign to oil changes at a dealership.

Amazing that a Honda dealer didn't want to take your money!

Since I don't want to be bothered getting rid of the old oil, I use a nearby garage, bring my own filter, washer, Mobil 1 and wait. It took 15 minutes total last time. As I've said before it's a Honda and if an ASE certified technician can't work on a HONDA he should tear up his certificate and go to work at Starbucks.

moda_way

I take my old oil to Walmart... they recycle and dumb my 5 gallon drum in their holding tank.

As for oil, I only use Mobil 1 5W-30. Economical, highly available at any Walmart, and a really great oil ta-boot.

rb1

I think Mobil 0W-40 is a great choice as long as it meets the required specifications in your owner's manual. (As far as I know, though, it meets or exceeds every specification that 5W-30 does and has better high and low temperature performance).

inkytawney

0w40 is for european spec cars. I see no reason to run it in a HOnda/Acura. Why not ow30 which has outstanding fuel economy.

rb1

Well, that "European Spec" thing is mainly a marketing tactic that Mobil-1 is using. I expect 5W-30 is fine as well (I used to use this in my car actually), but 0W-40 meets all the same specs and will flow better at lower temps (important for you folks in the Yukon ), and thin out less at high temps (for you folks in Phoenix).

Also, all oils break down somewhat over time and an oil spec'd at 30W won't be a 30W oil any more when you change it after 5000+ miles.

My fuel economy actually is up 5-10% since I switched (averaged 25-26 mpg last summer, averaging 28+ mpg this summer), but I really don't know if this is coincidence or not.

TinkySD

I think a 0-30 would be a better fit for honda/acura cars..with the thicker normal temp viscosity(40 as opposed to 30) you should see slightly lower mpg and in a high reving motor a few less horses.

ebcheon

what's the manual say? isn't it 5w30? i think i'm just gonna stick w/ the mobil 1 5w30.

TinkySD

yup 5w30 is reccomended.

Iceman

Mobile 1, done by the dealer, so I'm sure it's the 5w30.

DEVO

stick with the viscocity stated in your manual.

gogozy

mine dealer put 5w20, they said they will do the same in summer and for type s car, mm, that make me wonder... but i will start using Castrol Syntec 0w30 later...... the oil forum test it to be better......

rb1

So glad those dealers follow the recommendations in the manual...

(It's not an Acura-only thing either. I've had oil changes by Acura, Honda, and VW dealers in which they put something in the car other than precisely what is indicated in the manual )

EDIT: It gets even better. This dealer doesn't even CARRY the recommended oil:

http://www.acura-tsx.com/forums/show...&threadid=3575

need4spd_RENAMED

Hey, the TL manual and oil fill cap say 5W-20, no other oil is stated.

I can not believe it is 5W-20, I was going to run 5W-30 Mobil 1, but they don't make it, 0W-20, wow that is thin, they do make. Any other synthetics have 5W-20?

I thought I saw on the TSX the same thing on the oil fill cap (5W-20)?

Also, I heard that you should not switch to synthetics until the car is well broken in (approx 10K miles or it does not break in properly), any ideas on this?

rb1

I just don't know what to believe on this anymore.

I've seen some recent advertisements by Mobil-1 that they are the "factory fill" oil for some makes. So much for the "synthetics prevent break in theory"...

Here ya go...

http://www.mobil1.com/why/myths.jsp

gogozy

mm, i doubet what the link says.... i don't know about vets, or others, but i do know, my father owns a 02 porsche and his menu did state "break-in period" (even "warm up" before driving), the instruction is exactly what we generally follow here. so i don't agree what Mobil say totally.

i think the major reason for engine break in is to set the ring properly, the slippery syn oil will slow down this process, ring need to fit/match cyclinder wall so some wear is needed to establish this. hence extend the period for setting ring since Syn oil prevent wear. no harm done to engine, it will just get take longer to show it's potential..... before this TSX, i had an 95 accord, first oild change at 3000km, i started using synt oil at 8000km, the engine felt tight for another 30,000km... man that was an mistake, back then i did not know the differences of "tight" and"lose" but i now knows!
so that is what i believe and follow.... just my 2 cent!!

TinkySD

i'm at 8k miles...i'll be switching to mobil 1 at my next change which should be enough There was a very noticeable increase in power from when i bought it through the first 3 thousand miles

Alin10123

That's not going to be a problem for amsoil. Amsoil potected better in the 4 ball wear test under heat and friction. They even used a 0w-30 to test against the other 4 popular synthetics. Amsoil came on top by far. So... with amsoil 0w-30 you not only get better protection but also more fluidity at cold temps.

Dan Martin

Where can you get this info? Just curious...

DEVO

Dan... try this:

amsoil vs mobil 1


I've done a lot of research and this test is still valid. There are updates at alt.amsoil (forums). So Mobil is still playing catch up... big time.

Amsoil is probably the best you can buy but at a price. Then again it last a lot longer. But I tend to change regardless of how long they claim it last so I would end up paying a lot. If you want the best oil go for Amsoil but if you are like me and change the oil regularly then go with Mobil 1 (syn). If you are anal and want the best, can afford the best, and change the oil all the time... Amsoil is for you.

chrisalberts

I use the Mobil 1 you can get cheap at Sam's, and then I *have* to use special Castrol/BMW 10W60 (only available at BMW dealers - $10-12/liter) in my BMW.

Quite a few European cars come with synthetic from the factory.

C.

Dan Martin

Thanks for the link. Some of the graphs are a little misleading (like not starting at 0) but it looks like it's probably good stuff. I'm probably going to stick with Mobil 1 just because I drove around on the weekend and I couldn't find Amsoil anywhere. Also the Amsoil website may be a little biased towards their own product.

Every website I go to lists different "industry standard" tests that shows their product leading the pack. I'm not saying they're wrong, I just don't know who to believe. I'm sure they're all probably within 5% of eachother anyways so it's probably a moot point.

I found the SAE standards for engine oil but it looks like you have to pay for them. I wonder if anyone out there has them? Here's the link: http://www.sae.org/technicalcommittees/gflt1.htm

DEVO

you can't find amsoil in stores... it's strickly online business.

Dan Martin

Well that explains that!

forestsoft

I am going to use amsoil 0-30 wt, i hear nothing but good about this motor oil... I am going to do a change to amsoil at 1500 miles.

I am going to use the amsoil filter too.

The part number is SDF- 13, but the filter looks like it belongs to a mini bike, are the filters really that small??

corbs

That's not entirely true, G.I. Joes (a North West US Sporting Goods and Auto parts store) sells it, that's where I get mine (at a discount since my friend works there). It's good stuff.

DEVO

well... thanks for answering my statement from october of last year. I have yet to see it in any "mainstream" stores.

mitchatwrk

I just picked up my car last night, and was told by the dealer, no need for oil change for 10k miles. Can this be right?