Vehicle MD - A Driver's Guide to Maintaining a Healthy Car

Stretching in Peace:
How Synthetic Motor Oil Can Protect Your Engine When You Don't Have the Time

by Garrett McKinnon
VehicleMD Staff Writer
Originally published in Spring 2012 Issue

It’s okay to admit it. It may be a bad habit, but just about everyone does it, and you probably do, too. The little sticker on your windshield reminds you to get your oil changed every 3,000 miles, but you drive 4,000 or 5,000 or—gulp!—even 6,000 miles between visits to your local auto service shop because you’re just so darned busy.

Synthetic Motor Oil: The Lubricant for the Modern Car

If you’re in the market for a new car, the chances are very, very good that its manufacturer will recommend a synthetic (or at the very least a synthetic-blend) motor oil.

The reasons automakers are increasingly turning to synthetic motor oil in their cars are many, but for most vehicle manufacturers it comes down to one simple fact: fuel mileage.

You see, synthetic motor oil—especially very thin grades like 5W-20 or the 0W-20 now recommended in most new Honda and Toyota vehicles—not only protects engines better than conventional motor oil, it can also provide a small but significant boost in fuel economy.

So, imagine you’re a car manufacturer tasked to meet ever-tighter fuel economy regulations. Even a small 1-2 percent boost in fuel economy achieved via the use of synthetic motor oil is significant when multiplied by the millions of vehicles you sell.

True, synthetic motor oil costs a little more than the stuff you’ve been using during your time behind the wheel, but over the long haul its benefits greatly outweigh its increased cost.

Or, the little message on your instrument panel notifies you that your car needs an oil change, but you wait a month or two before taking the car in because you just can’t seem to find the time.

We hear you, and completely understand. But, there’s a reason your car’s manufacturer made that 3,000-mile (or whatever it might be) oil change recommendation. And there’s a reason (and millions of miles of field testing) that your oil change alert comes on at a specified time or mileage. Put simply, your car’s motor oil, awesome elixir of lubrication though it may be, can only take so much. After thousands of miles and several months of punishment, the motor oil in your car’s engine must be replaced if you hope to keep the engine in good working order for the long term.

If you’re like a lot of drivers, though, you realize this all too well, but the tyranny of modern living keeps you so busy you can’t meet those demands. Fortunately, there is a type of product on the market that can help.

We’ve written many times in these pages about the myriad advantages of synthetic motor oil. It protects better in very hot temperatures. It flows better in very cold temperatures (making your engine easier to crank and also better protecting it in those first few critical seconds while the oil is warming up). Some lighter synthetic motor oils may even provide small gains in fuel mileage (see sidebar for more on that). But what you might know is that synthetic motor oil is proven to protect better—and longer—than conventional motor oil.

That’s right. While conventional motor oil might have met its match at whatever limit your car’s manufacturer recommends, synthetic motor oil can keep on protecting your car past those limits.

Now, don’t take this the wrong way. We wholeheartedly encourage you to follow your car manufacturer’s recommendations when it comes to service intervals, but if you find yourself falling into the bad habit of extending those intervals, synthetic motor oil can give you the peace of mind that your vehicular “baby” is being given the TLC it needs to keep motoring down the road for years to come.

Stretching in Peace: How Synthetic Motor Oil Can Protect Your Engine When You Don't Have the Time

Stretching in Peace:
How Synthetic Motor Oil Can Protect Your Engine When You Don't Have the Time