Just had my 4th oil change at 9500 miles. I switched over to Synthetic and I feel like it's revving quicker, and at the same time, smoother and quieter. Maybe it's just fresh oil... :P Last oil change, I changed with dino oil, it still became noticeably quieter...

What do you use?

 

Synthetic resists degridation at extreme operating conditions. From what I have read, Nissan actually reccomends the VQ to have dino oil in it, however, they do not say its bad to have synthetic. I personally change oil at 3500mi with dino. Havoline is highly rated. I don't like to spend that much money on oil, nor do I want to leave it in the motor for 2-3x longer. Alot of people swear by synthetic, but I don't think my daily driving habits justify the price of it.

 

I use conventional oil in mine and I change it and the filter every 3000mi. If you stick with the 3000-3750mi interval (Nissan recommends 3750 I think), you shouldn't have any problems using conventional oil in my opinion.
The beauty of synthethic is that you can increase the oil change interval, so its like an oil change every ~6000mi. But my only concern is the oil filter and whether its designed to work for that extended interval.

 

good point.

 

I dont like leaving oil in my engine for long periods, no matter what it is. I use conventional every 3k. 200k on a 91 Toyota 4Runner i bought new and it runs extremely well to this day. I attribute regular oil changes to this problem free longevity.

 

Check out the Oils and Lub section of the Org. You will find tons of info on the exact same subject. I prefer Mobile 1 syn 5w30, engineered oil is far superior and more consistent in texture and purity, plus better for hot / cold starts and viscosity breakdown. Because they are engineered also means you can change your oil at longer intervals because syn oil is less suseptable to slug buildup. Much more to list, plus a sample of showroom new cars that come standard with Synthetic oil.

Corvette
BMW
Porsche
Dodge Viper / SRT-10
Cadillac CTS/CTS-V/ XLR / SRX / STS
Chevy SS
Mercedes Benz AMG
and NASCAR

Pretty exclusive club, now add MY Nissan Maxima, IMO, people will still use the old 3000 mile oil change rule because we have heard it our whole lives, well times change and the oil companies will never market longer oil change interval because then they will sell less oil which hurts profits...

Ten Myths About Synthetic Lubrication

 

Totally agree.

 

I have run dino oil since day 1, but am presently cleaning my engine out with AutoRX and will be switching to Esso XD3 Extra, 0W30, PAO, full synthetic in about 2,800 miles. I plan on 12-month, 6K or less OCIs. This oil is only available in Canada but a number of members of bobistheoilguy.com are obtaining it and switching away from Mobil 1 5W30 as it is a better oil and considerably cheaper, ie about US$4.00/litre at current exchange rates.

 

I only drive Nissan, I only use dino oil and have done the same since my 1992 sentra. Oil & filter changes every 7k miles. No problems ever...Sentra went to 150k miles before selling. 1997 Maxima now @ 185k miles. My son will start driving that one next year. While I drive the 2005 Maxima.....The only exception i made was on the 350z that was done @ 3500 mile intervals.

 

The 7K OCI is too long, unless its all highway miles and even then it would be a stretch. You probably shouldn't extend the OCI beyond 5K on dino. Have you ever done a UOA on your engine oil?

 

Dont know what UOA refers to so the answer would be no. Most of the miles are highway miles though....I know that 7k is a long way I've just never had any troubles doing it...

 

UOA = used oil analysis. I suggest you do one before you ruin your engine. Try Blackstone Labs.

 

as on now only used conventional oil but i might change in the future because of you guys on the forum and never having problems with synthetic and lately been going over the 3000m mark between oil changes

 

Blend should be an option, that's what I run.

 

I paid for an oil anaylsis on AMSOIL Series 2000 oil that had 18,000 miles on the oil and was a year old. All specs were still within tolerences. That rather convinced me of a great product.

 

Normally i would start to talk about how amsoil aint bad, but there are better options, however im a BC fan and therefore doug flutie is my hero so ill leave it alone