Why Synthetic in your G35??

[SVTCOBRA]

On Horsepower TV today, they compared dino juice to synthetic on the engine dyno. They got 8 more HP on synthetic. might want to google the episode.

I had read something similiar in a FF&MM mag years ago when they got 7 extra HP at the wheels changing all fluids to syn in a mustang gt.

[goneracin]

Is it safe to run synthetics in the front and rear differentials, and the transfer case? I'm at 30K on my 04, so I'm getting ready to do this. What fluids does everyone run in theirs?

[telcoman]

On Horsepower TV today, they compared dino juice to synthetic on the engine dyno. They got 8 more HP on synthetic. might want to google the episode.

I had read something similiar in a FF&MM mag years ago when they got 7 extra HP at the wheels changing all fluids to syn in a mustang gt.

Hello SVTCOBRA

Well I have my doubts but even if true SO WHAT! Perhaps that might be important for those that bought their G's for competition but I think that for the majority that bought their G's because of its comfort, performance, options, value compared to to the competition, available 6 speed manual RWD,etc I personally don't feel synthetic is worth the money nor worth the risk to possible damage to engine seals?Although much has been written on this topic with lots of strong opinions, I still believe in changing oil every 3-3.5k miles which contributes greatly to long engine life. Even synthetic oil develops contaminents, water vapor, carbon, etc that is removed with frequent oil changes. For those that do believe in frequest oil changes, why waste the money on synthetic if you are not engaged in competition? I love my G, it is the best vehicle that I've ever owned. Far exceeds my first vehicle a crapo 1958 Ford. The fact that perhaps I lose a few hp by using regular 87 octane and dino oil for my 100 daily mile commute does not matter to me. Just my opinion and .$02

In other news concerning Fords, I was behind a mustang yesterday covered with snow on both the winshield, back window and the roof. Apparantly the driver didn't realize it is against the law to not clean off a vehicle after a snow storm What is d!ck! Whats up with mustang drivers anyway?

Telcoman

[telcoman]

Correction

I personally don't feel synthetic is not worth the money......

[rn79870]

There might also be a corresponding increase in fuel efficiency. If 6-8 HP is added, or about 2%, then it may be that you also get a 2% increase in fuel economy when cruising along at 65. That might amount to 1/2 mpg increase. This could save you 5 gallons for every 5000 miles, or 1 gallon for every 1000 miles, or 1/3 gallon, (1 buck) per fill up.

I don’t need 7 to 8 more HP as I don’t use all 306 that I have. I could use another .5 MPG, but the cost of getting it works out to be a wash. I’m siding with telcoman on this one.

I’m more of an alchemist than a scientist - so don't make bank on my opinions here.

[SVTCOBRA]

Was just pointing out what was on TV

If you are comfortable with dino juice, go for it!!

If you believe that 87 octane doesn't damage your car, go for it!!

Also,"CorrectionI personally don't feel synthetic is not worth the money......"

I think you have to negatives here that cancel out each other making it the same as

"CorrectionI personally do feel synthetic is worth the money......"

Mustang drivers!!

[rn79870]

I think you have to negatives here that cancel out each other making it the same as...

Mustang drivers!!

(Sorry)

[JimW]

I saw that episode, too! Assuming it's true (It's gotta be, they said it on TV! lol!), then that's gotta be the best HP gain per dollar you can get. What's the price difference in using plain ol' Quaker State versus Purple something or other synthetic?

And I'm not getting in on the grammar/spelling corrections, 'cuz it's a law of physics that if you correct someone's grammar or spelling, you'll make an error in your own post. hahah!

[zozoka1212]

Good info

Thanks

zozo

[rn79870]

And I'm not getting in on the grammar/spelling corrections, 'cuz it's a law of physics that if you correct someone's grammar or spelling, you'll make an error in your own post. hahah!

You're referring to Gaudere's Law, it's deeply seated in internet folklore, not physics. My poke wasn't to correct anyone, but a poke at a fellow poster who gets his share of pokes in return. I throw rocks, and I live in a glass house. I expect a few broken windows. SVT is one of my favorite targets. He totally ignores me when I him, so I never win.

[SVTCOBRA]

(Sorry)

Yeah, I saw that before I posted, but didn't think even MY post was worthy of any more keystrokes. It's not like I was posting some new theory on ********* I better self-censor that....

[telcoman]

I saw that episode, too! Assuming it's true (It's gotta be, they said it on TV! lol!), then that's gotta be the best HP gain per dollar you can get. What's the price difference in using plain ol' Quaker State versus Purple something or other synthetic?

And I'm not getting in on the grammar/spelling corrections, 'cuz it's a law of physics that if you correct someone's grammar or spelling, you'll make an error in your own post. hahah!

Ooops, sorry about the grammer. I should have known better since the wife is a former english teacher I've been corrected for many years.

In any case my point was that for anyone that is not into racing I don't feel there is any advantage to spend approximately 6 bucks a quart for oil that for best results and long engine life should be changed every 3-4k miles. I speak from experience in getting over 200k miles on a number of different vehicles. There are some young members here trying to decide what is best for their vehicle. I just offer my experience, opinion, and $.02



I'm just over 50k miles all on dino oil and regular 87 octane. My G has more than enough power for me.

Telcoman

[Jacko3]

Telcoman and SVTCobra:

I feel you are both right based on your use and needs. I use synthetic and I can't imagine not using it. Last time I used Dino, I didn't even wait till 3,000 miles to replace with blend, which was slightly better. Throttle response, imo, is better with synthetic than with dino. Warm-up is even faster, and its heat transfer properties seemto be better.

My trusted mechanic has actually encouraged me to replace the diff and transmission fluids before 30,000 miles, and I should use synthetic oil in both cases. Who am I to argue with my mechanic who has done miracles with my car so far, and who has worked on many G-35s?

[telcoman]

Telcoman and SVTCobra:

I feel you are both right based on your use and needs. I use synthetic and I can't imagine not using it. Last time I used Dino, I didn't even wait till 3,000 miles to replace with blend, which was slightly better. Throttle response, imo, is better with synthetic than with dino. Warm-up is even faster, and its heat transfer properties seemto be better.

My trusted mechanic has actually encouraged me to replace the diff and transmission fluids before 30,000 miles, and I should use synthetic oil in both cases. Who am I to argue with my mechanic who has done miracles with my car so far, and who has worked on many G-35s?

Jacko

Perhaps we are not as wealthy as you. You must be by the intercoastal in one of the million dollar condos? Does your G fit on the deck of your boat?

[SVTCOBRA]

Sorry, Telcoman, I had to As always, I respect your opinion.

I don't think you can go wrong with dino oil as long as you change your oil every 3k miles.

Before I switched to M1 syn, I used nothing but Penzoil, changed it every 3k miles and never had any issues.

Not going to go into why I use syn now.

[Jacko3]

Telcoman:

I am not wealthy at all. If I have to drive the car as hard as I do, I better give it what it is asking of me. No, I don't have a boat, but I am planning to buy a second house for vactions in europe.

[G_whizz]

Good info.

Thanks for posting SVT!

[C-Kwik]

A trusted shop owner I know has seen gains on a dyno just from switching to synthetic.

What may be important to consider as well though is to consider that conventional oil can leave deposits on the internals of the motor at lower temperatures than synthetics. I believe synthetics have detergent properties as well. In opening various parts of a motor, cars running conventional oil have a coating of varnish all over. By contrast, engines running synthetics have always turned out clean. This includes cars that originally ran conventional oil for much of its life.

[telcoman]

A trusted shop owner I know has seen gains on a dyno just from switching to synthetic.

What may be important to consider as well though is to consider that conventional oil can leave deposits on the internals of the motor at lower temperatures than synthetics. I believe synthetics have detergent properties as well. In opening various parts of a motor, cars running conventional oil have a coating of varnish all over. By contrast, engines running synthetics have always turned out clean. This includes cars that originally ran conventional oil for much of its life.

C-Kwik

Good info, however, if that is true are there any trucking companies, bus companies, or any other commercial business's using synthetic oil in their fleets?

http://www.carbibles.com/engineoil_bible.html

Telcoman

[tollboothwilley]

Very weak argument Telco...

Just because the majority does something does not in fact make it better or right.

Some people (old) don't want to change their ways because what they have works. Why fix it if its not broken, right? What if its just plain better, why not change?



I know you love your 87 octane and your 3000 mile dino oil changes....

[rn79870]

Very weak argument Telco...

Just because the majority does something does not in fact make it better or right.

Some people (old) don't want to change their ways because what they have works. Why fix it if its not broken, right? What if its just plain better, why not change?



I know you love your 87 octane and your 3000 mile dino oil changes....

I think you missed telcoman's point. If racing was involved, or high service loads were involved, there might be a valid reason to switch to syn. However, to net 7 or 8 more HP when HP isn't an issue, or to gain a slight reduction in operation costs that is washed out by the extra cost of the syn oil, does not a smart move make.

The question is whether or not, under individual circumstances, there is a valid reason to run syn oil. For some it doesn't appear that there is. For others, they are probably better off running it.

[lucidd]

i agree with most if not qll of the opinions on this post.... but I'd like to share what has worked for me. re: sythetic, i'm not totally sure- if the hp gains are that high, but do believe it to provide superior protection than conventional mineral oils. /// although, telecoman, agreed: new oil is the best oil!... but then again, changing oils that frequently can and is wasteful*- becuz you are changing the oil prematurely: well before its lubricating properties are used up- not to mention the "bad on environment" issues. and what works for me: i used mineral oil till 10k kms - cuz apparently, (as audi service stated) a new car needs mineral oils during break-in period to allow it to wear in properly- for about 10k kms, then u can use synthetic (synthetic, as i was old by audi- lubricates too well- and disallows a proper breakin)....after my breakin period, i started to use semisyn + duralube (ok i admitted it lol),,, and now, after 20k kms, im on full synthetic. ok- sounds expensive rite? well, im not made of $$ so i do my own oil changes---- it costs me about $40-50 including a fram filter... and this $$ is cheaper than bringing it to infiniti --- it takes me half an hour to do the oil change... and yes, i wash my own car... and yes, ive done my own oil changes since my first car..... actually take pride in maintenance- its like baking: when you bake ur own muffins, cookies , it tastes better than the next cookie to u rite?maybe?.... and some would ask: what about waranty? is it void if u do ur own maintnance?... well- yes; if the car is damaged because you bought the wrong filter.... or something done wrong and damage happens as a direct result•... ... this works for me:) and has for the past few decades from toyota to audi to acura to my G ,,, L

[lucidd]

Ps. Sorry about the funny text alignment - typing on the Iphone is not the best.

Also, quicknote on octane again, I personally buy 94 octane only - cuz in my job, I have the luxury of having all my gas paid for* - so for additional performance / mileage / cleaner engine etc. I get 94 octane.

I consider this a "treat" for my G :P

L

[G35_Rican30]

Ok after reading everyone's opinion i'd have to say i'm a little shocked at some of the responses but hey to each his/her own ...right...well here is my take...i was always told that prem fuel and synthetic oil is the best to maximize performance and the last i looked we all have the same car...for the most part, so why not treat the car to the best that we can...last i looked we all paid close to 30k for the car and i consider it an investment, now on the flip side the gas mileage isnt going to be great but we didnt pay for MPG...did we..no we paid for performance and we get what we paid for...i use only prem fuel cause it burns better and i get better performance from it, i tried the "cheap" stuff and i regretted doing it cause it took away from the car, now i only have 1500 miles on my car and i will be coming up on her first oil change but rest assured i will be putting synthetic oil in her cause i want to protect my investment and it also protects better than reg oil...so if we expect the car to take care of us and perform when we want it to, then why not take care of our cars a little better but thats my .02 cents thrown in

[wrems]

Here’s my .02. It’s lengthy but on completely on topic...

I agree with everyone’s opinion so far, despite minor differences. In my opinion, G35_Rican30 has some very valid points. In that, we are all trying to maximize our investment of a truly awesome piece of equipment. People generally try to take better care of things that they take pride in. Just the opposite is true if you have a clunker you’d probably think twice before filling up with premium, or shelling out bucks to run superior synthetic oils. I’m not indicating that anyone that uses conventional oils is mistreating their cars.

I think that everyone needs to ask themselves simple questions in order to take the initial cost out of the equation: “If a quart of synthetic oil costs the same as a quart of conventional oil, which one would I prefer to run in my G35, and why?”

While not all of you would choose synthetic, I bet most would… For reasons that we all understand, synthetic from what research and studies indicate is a superior lubricant.

Since I take tremendous pride in doing my own general maintenance and oil changes I don’t know how much is costs to have the dealer change the oil. At the same time, I would never hand the responsibility of ensuring proper care to a Jiffy Lube, I wouldn’t even take a clunker to Jiffy Lube.

I personally don’t believe that it costs more to use synthetic over conventional oil. Assuming the standard annual miles driven per year is approximately 15k miles or, about 5 oil changes. I’m sure a lot of us exceed the 15k per year total so the following figures would naturally increase based on your specifics…

* I’m guessing that quick lubes charge around $30.00 per oil change every time or, about $150.00 per year.* For all I know the dealer charges $60.00 per change at an annual cost of $300.00.* Utilizing Telcoman’s scan of a PepBoys advertisement 5 quarts of oil and a filter costs $12.99 for an annual out of pocket cost of $64.95 without counting tax, and whether or not you can count on having this sale at the exact time you need an oil change. Unless you stock up:-) This is also assuming the G35 Purolator filter doesn’t exceed their cap of $4.99.

Let’s use the previous scenario for synthetic oil. I’m choosing to illustrate with Amsoil since it’s readily available online and through local vendors. It’s easy to price and is probably one of the best synthetics available. I’m sure debatable…

* The cost of 5 quarts of Amsoil 100% synthetic oil and one of their absolute efficiency oil filters costs about $53.00 retail. They have some sort of preferred customer discount which provides a 15-20% savings or basically buying at wholesale which would lower this cost. Not sure by how much??? And of course there is probably shipping and tax charges not taken into account. Unless, you find a local dealer, or stock up by buying in bulk…

This sounds absurdly expensive at $53.00 per oil change! Not really, the Amsoil oil and filter I priced are rated for 25,000 miles or 1 year whichever comes first. Under severe driving conditions they recommend changing every 15,000 miles or at six month intervals. They’ve even have oils rated for 35,000 or 17,500 severe driving, obviously a bit more expensive.

In this case, Amsoil only costs about $53.00 or $106.00 per year depending on driving severity. Not too far off from the cheapest conventional oil estimates stated earlier. Plus using synthetic in my opinion is a better, and you only need to change your oil 1 or 2 times per year versus the prescribed 5+ times with conventional oil.

Now I don’t mind messing around and doing general maintenance, but I’d rather save time and money than be on my back changing my oil more than 5 times per year! Many of us have wives and children with cars that need oil as well. With conventional oil we are dragging out the ramps far more than 10 times per year, versus up to a couple of times per year per vehicle using synthetic. The value of time is by far the most expensive element in this equation that is not factored in. How much time would you spend per year changing your oil 5-10+ times? Or, sitting at a Jiffy Lube 5-10+ times? Or, getting an appointment and sitting at the dealer 5-10+ times?

To me the costs of using conventional oil far exceed that of using some of the best synthetic oil available. Not too mention, if the synthetic oil does half of what it claims by giving you more horsepower, more fuel economy, less wear and tear, a cleaner engine, increased heat dissipation, engine longevity and so on…….. It would seem that synthetic has the clear advantage in every way shape and form.

If someone could please articulate to me how using conventional oil is cheaper or better than synthetic please do so. I am extremely curious…

[Omegamerc]

Where am I able to buy stock IV/V full synthetic oil?

[rn79870]

Ok after reading everyone's opinion i'd have to say i'm a little shocked at some of the responses but hey to each his/her own ...right...well here is my take...i was always told that prem fuel and synthetic oil is the best to maximize performance and the last i looked we all have the same car...for the most part, so why not treat the car to the best that we can...last i looked we all paid close to 30k for the car and i consider it an investment, now on the flip side the gas mileage isnt going to be great but we didnt pay for MPG...did we..no we paid for performance and we get what we paid for...i use only prem fuel cause it burns better and i get better performance from it, i tried the "cheap" stuff and i regretted doing it cause it took away from the car, now i only have 1500 miles on my car and i will be coming up on her first oil change but rest assured i will be putting synthetic oil in her cause i want to protect my investment and it also protects better than reg oil...so if we expect the car to take care of us and perform when we want it to, then why not take care of our cars a little better but thats my .02 cents thrown in

G35_Rican30, you have a point. However, if you are interested in maximizing your investment you need to examine how you (meaning any driver) drive your car.Telcoman may run dino oil and 87 octane gas, but I'd bet dollars to donuts that if we tore his engine down, even with 50k miles on it, it would show less wear than the majority of the cars here.

[Jacko3]

I have been using synthetic since my engine hit 3000 miles. I flog the car like crazy and yet the oil is still at the full mark in the engine. I just love synthetic no matter the price. Thank you Mobil 1!

[G35_Rican30]

If thats what he chooses to run with then thats his decision and i totally respect that, but the fact remains and i bet everybody would agree that using prem fuel gives lets you maximize performance and using synthetic oil will protect your car better and i bet if we opened up 2 engines 1 using reg oil and 1 using synthetic i bet the one using syn would look better inside, also last i checked, the owners manual says no fuel below 91, i could be wrong on this but if he's using 87 i think that would take away from performance on the car but my question is if we ALL know that the G35 is a performance based car then why not use the best stuff avail to us to ensure we get the MOST out of our cars

[telcoman]

G35_Rican30, you have a point. Telcoman may run dino oil and 87 octane gas, but I'd bet dollars to donuts that if we tore his engine down, even with 50k miles on it, it would show less wear than the majority of the cars here.

rn79870

I believe you are correct.Oil and gas happen to be my favorite topics and I post on both extensively.I know this will upset some but the purchase of a G35 is not an investment.Many of us given a choice between getting rid of the wife or our G35 would choose to get rid of the wife because we love our G's more but the fact remains that the G as well as most other vehicles that we own are still depreciating pieces of metal. They dropped in value the day we drove them out the door of the dealer and they lose value each month as the miles increase. Mine was $35k out the door and with just over 50k miles it is not worth today what I paid for it on 12/31/08Back to oil.I drive 24k miles a year, a 100 mile a day commute. All internal combustion engines develop many different contaments in the motor oil ie carbon, water vapor, gasoline by products etc and if allowed to accumulate turn into sludge which is like black mud in the bottom of the oil pan. In case of any engine failure any mechanic dropping an oil pan can easily determine the frequency of oil changes in a particular vehicle. An oil pan in a vehicle that had its oil changed every 3.5k miles is going to look immaculate compared to another vehicle that had its oil changed every 15k miles and the fact that synthetic was used is not going to matter. Sludge is going to accumulate in that oil pan.IMHO the G35 has more then enough power for my daily commute so it does not make sense to me to spend extra money for higher octane fuel or the extra expense for synthetic oil. My oil gets changed every 3-3.5k miles and ends up getting recycled so there is no waste.No ones engine is going to blow up, or have its life shortened by using proper API certified dino oil or regular 87 Octane gasoline.For those that race on a track and demand maximum HP and performance that is a whole different argument.For those that feel comfort in spending the extra money for both fuel and oil, no harm done unless you go beyond the Infiniti 3750 mile recommended oil change interval. Do not assume that by using synthetic oil you can go 15k miles between oil changes. That is not good for your vehicle.

Telcoman