Synthetic oil

[bonkfrog]

Is there a forum member who can tell  me whether there is a true synthetic oil on the Aust. market. From what I understand, most so-called synthetics are mineral oil based, although more highly refined. I'm tired of paying exorbitant prices for "synthetic" oil. Even Mobil 1 is dinosaur oil.

Bonkfrog

[ProvaRacing]

Before dismissing full synthetic oil like Mobil 1 using your phrase "dinosaur oil" (I assume you mean full mineral oil) best to understand that full mineral oil isn't bad. Remember the late great Peter Brock? Remember when he put on his Mobil 1 hat and in the ad he picked up dirt from the ground saying if you aren't using full synthetic this is what you are putting in your engine...cough cough...that was Peter's wallet talking after his payment for the ad. He conveniently forgot how many Touring car championships, motorcross and Bathursts he had won, with that "dirt".

Basically semi synthetic is a blend of approx 2:1 mineral and full synthetic oil, full synthetic is full synthetic. Out of interest Castrol Edge Sport states that it shouldn't be used in new or rebuilt engines until 1000km is covered (or 30 min on dyno), suggesting instead a mineral oil like Castrol GTX3 be used to aid prompt and effective bed-in.

Now I can recommend people read this test to assess whether their car usage warrants the added expense of something more than dinosaur/mineral oil. Note modern multi valve/performance engines still require the correct viscosity e.g. 10W60 to ensure correct lubrication especially the top end.

http://www.moneybluebook.com/articles/consumerreports.oilchange.php[/color]]http://www.moneybluebook.com/articles/consumerreports.oilchange.php

[Doug Gould]

Why do you think Mobil 1 is not synthetic? You can buy mineral oil, semi-synthetic oil and synthetic oil. To my understanding, oil labelled as synthetic is synthetic. Semi synthetic oils are mineral oils with some synthetic oil added as a viscosity stabiliser.

Doug