i always use synthetic on all my cars. and fram filters do just fine. spend the extra few bucks it'll be worth it.

 

I watched an episode of Horsepower on Spike, where they dynoed a car, then changes all of the fluids to Royal Purple full synthetic and re-dynoed. If I remember correctly the car made an additional 15 HP.

 

that's because they changed more than just motor oil, they changed pretty much every kind of fluid except for brake fluid, you will see proportionate results for any vehicle of the same age and same type. What you saw was for a truck, which are assembled with "high impact" fluids, meaning they aren't for performance, but rather for towing and loading, and hauling equipment, you won't see any results in a civic with just motor oil. The only way to see any results is if you are running the car with absolutely no oil, and then switch to whatever type of oil you choose.

 

Er, I don't think the engine will run without oil...

BTW, I use Valvoline 5w30, but I will go to Pennzoil Synthetic if I hear any good reports about. I got to make the oil last longer than 2,500 miles...
...and no, I am not using 10w40!

From what I remember, the problem with synthetics used to be that the seal swelling rates were wrong, and this is why mixing oils would cause engine failure or seal leakage, but modern synthetics have the same swell rate now as the conventionals, making it less problematic to switch.

 

I think that was the point ej6 was trying to make.

 

synthetic all the way!

 

thanks, i was just being hypothetical, but thanks for the smart remark. I'm just getting tired of beating this thing to death.

and secondly, sometimes, synthetic isn't the best option for your application. On some cars, synthetic oil is actually harmful for the seals in the engine and drivetrain. but not all cars

 

Syntethic oil is bad for new cars that the engines havent been broken into yet.