welp .. on dino vs synthetics ..ah kin relate a few things:
Coupla things to give yas a reference: USAF uses SOAP lab to verify engine wear .. they analayze percentage of metal in the oil. It's a direct indicator of how well the oil is doin it's job at lubricating the motor.
In Germany, a young Captain was campaigning a Formula Toyota car.
Lil 4-banger, turbocharged, open-wheel car. Friend of mine was on his pit crew, name of Dave Thompson. Dave heard about Mobil 1, and wrote them a letter about what they were doin, and they sent him cases of it.
Now .. routine was engine rebuild every 3 months, because it needed one by then, was beginnin to use oil, plugs comin out dirty an the like. Tranny the same (manual, 6-gear I think he said) ..and differential.
They used the SOAP lab and charted metal percentage, and could tell when things were goin south.
First switch to Mobil 1, and metal content dropped by 50 percent ..they ran another race .. second oil change, metal content dropped again, and by the 3rd oil change, 3rd race ..it was *undetectable* ..it came out as clean as it went in. So they tried it in the tranny ..same thing .. 3 oil changes and it was clean comin out as it was goin in. Then Differential. This was all the early Mobil 1 ..5 weight ..about like water for viscosity.
The young Captain drivin the car noticed right off, of course. His RPM was higher goin into the corners. . he had to brake earlier, and his tires were complainin more comin out of the corners ..he got sideways easier. His track times went down also. At the end of 3 months, they sent in the motor for rebuild .. the motor guy said there wasn't anything wrong with it, he just replaced gaskets, honed it, new rings, and sent it back.
Now .. personally .. I had a CRX Honda, 1986. Bought it new. Ran it for 1500 miles or so.. to let everything in it 'seat' or wear in .. then switched to Mobil 1, 5 weight.
There was a stretch of road I drove every day to work an back that was ~20 miles, no cops or traffic, and I useda just floor it one end to the other. It was 91 miles from my driveway to where I worked.
Lil CRX picked up 9mph top speed, and 4mpg ..with just that change.
Later, I bought a 1988 Civic hatchback .. with similar results.
Then a 1988 1100cc Honda Shadow motorcyle .. yup .. very noticeable mpg boost, but I passed on the top end check .. it got *hard* to hold onto at 127mph (where I eased off... wind blast was purty fierce)
Had a 1978 Gold Wing .. same.. about 4mpg increase, and again I dint push to top end .. the Wing frame began to wobble at 130mph.
Now I drive a 4WD Durango .. 360, 3:92 gears inna back .. 17mpg around Phoenix here .. on Mobil 1, 30 weight. Lotta folks say they get 12 or so mpg outta their D's .. I don't.
About gaskets 'blowing' .. takes positive air pressure in the crank case to do that. Mobil 1 or any synthetic doesn't provide that.
Synthetic has orders of magnitude higher shear force, but if you run 5 weight and your valve cover gaskets are cork or cracked ..it's gonna leak out
Engine gotta be sealed up fairly well .. my 'D' at 67k miles now is beginnin to 'use' a quart every 3500 miles .. not burnin it, leakin it
(burn shows up on the plugs .. and they are still clean as new ..no missing at all ..since I drove it off the show room floor).
-GE (oh .. and you can run 7500 miles tween oil changes on Mobil 1, recommended interval)
