Do You Need Synthetic or Regular Motor Oil?
The next time you go in for a Wilmington DE oil change, you may be asked whether your car takes regular or synthetic motor oil. The first time you are asked this, it can be confusing as you are used to just getting your oil changed without these sorts of questions. Here’s what you need to know about these two types of car oils.
Regular motor oil
Regular or conventional motor oil is designed to provide the right level of viscosity, fluidity, and heat tolerance to work well in the car and stand the test of time. As such, regular motor oil is formulated to work for most cars. Cars that have more than 75,000 miles on them may be better suited by a high-mileage oil, which is a regular oil formulated for cars with lots of mileage.
Synthetic motor oil
Developed to provide good engine lubrication in extreme temperatures, synthetic motor oil can help your car operate at its best no matter the weather outside. Synthetic oils also cleanse the engine, decreasing the amount of maintenance you may need. They perform better in stop and go driving, high traffic driving and other sorts of conditions that would be common in an urban driving scenario.
If your car needs synthetic oil, the owner’s manual should indicate this so that is the first place you should check. A skilled mechanic in located Wilmington will also be able to check the type of oil that your car requires, which can be useful if you have lost or misplaced the car’s manual.
As a general rule, many older cars are formulated to run on conventional motor oil and will not need synthetic oil. Likewise, many newer cars are formulated to need the synthetic oil, which can be more expensive.
To discuss anything else related to oil changes schedule an appointment with us.
Interesting Oil Facts
- Basic oil today is far superior than basic oil produced 20 years ago.
- Synthetic oil is made from refined natural gas or alcohol not crude oil (aka: Dinosaur juice). They are void of any impurities from the start.
- Synthetic oil is so pure that it’s molecules are all the size.
- Royal Purple synthetic engine oil can increase fuel efficiency by up to 3% percent. Wow!
- If you cars been running on conventional oil for years you can switch to synthetic with no worries and vise versa.
- 20 to 30 years ago synthetic oil makers failed to properly test engine seal compatibility. This caused seals to get brittle. This is what started all the negative buzz about synthetic oil. These issues have all been solved.
- Highly refined conventional oil and pure synthetic oil are almost identical.
- Buy quality oil and don’t get wrapped up with additives.
- The days of breaking in your engine by changing you oil frequently is coming to an end.
