I just bought a brand new automatic 2k3 SE on Thursday. I've been reading on here how everyone raves about using Mobil1 synthetic oil instead of regular oil. My questions are...

1) Is it really that much better?

2) If so, should I put it in today (the engine has around 30 miles on it) or wait at least until the engine is broken in, at around 2,000 miles, and change it then?

Thanks all.

 

General opinion is to wait till about 10,000 miles before switching.

 

people around here will say "yes" and "wait until 10,000 miles before switching."

Also, mobil 1 and amsoil seem to be favorites here.

 

OK, thanks guys.

 

 

But how come new Corvettes come with mobil one from the factory? Evidently the break-in is done with it. I did the break-in with mobil one in my Maxima and Quest and no problems here.

 

Some cars come with synthetic from the factory (Vette, BMW) Those engines are designed to run on syn oil from the start. The VQ is not the same design and needs those miles to loosen up a bit before switching to synthetic.

 

Stick with a high quality dino like Castrol GTX until 10,000. Mobil 1 is the one of the best off the store shelf (mass market) synthetic oils.

I personally use Amsoil since I order things off the net quiet frequently and like extended drain intervals (I use nine month change intervals with filter changes every 3 or 4 months).

There are members on org that will give you a discount on Amsoil making it price competitive with Mobil 1.

 

Whether or not to switch right away can be an endless debate. There are valid arguments both ways. Just do whatever is comfortable for you.

Amsoil is definitely my favorite

 

Nobody really answered this question. If you don't drive in extreme temps and will still change oil at 3,000 miles the differences will be negligible. But if you would extend drain intervals, live where it gets very cold or very warm and/or tend to drive teh car harder than average, then sythetic would be advantageous.

 

I highly recommend using Mobil 1 within the first couple of oil changes. Despite what people say, the engine will still break in with Mobil 1, it will just take longer. A lot of the decision making depends upon your philosophy on engine break-in. My idea has and will continue to be to keep all the bearings and moving parts as close to factory spec/tolerances as possible. The best way to do this is to use an oil that prevents wear. In general, most people would agree that wear is a bad thing. You might consider installing a magnetic filter on your OEM oil filter to help capture small metal particles since these are what will cause the most damage to your engine.

Here is the process I followed with my Maxima:

Installed filter magnet.

Factory Oil for 1000 miles (filters out a lot of small metal particles in the engine from the manufacturing and break-in process).

Change oil to Mobil 1 with new filter for 2000 miles (filters out a lot of small metal particles in the engine from the manufacturing and break-in process).

Change oil to Mobile 1 with new filter every 3000 miles thereafter.

Although some people like to go for extended drain intervals with synthetics, and there is a lot of evidence supporting the efficacy of this process, I personally would prefer to be more safe than sorry . . . if you go with an extended drain interval, just be sure to change your filter every 3K.

One thing to consider is that everyone has their own opinion on this topic and very few people are either wholly right or wholly wrong. The best thing to do is to research your options and figure out what makes the most sense to you given your budget and goals.

Good luck!

 

You only need to change your filter every 3k if it's a crappy filter. Amsoil, Mobil 1, K&N will be fine for longer drain intervals of at least 5-7k.