ok... ~18K miles. here is the blackstone labs test.

about this sample... This is 5w30 in the south (hot!). I only drive about 4 miles to work everyday, so the below average wear you see is from a car thats hardly ever allowed to fully warm (takes up to 12 mins). I generally wait 30+ secs before going in the morning (or until the idle drops the first notch of the 2 it does).

I drive kinda hard. I dont race or anything like that. However, I am always about 5 car lengths infront of the cars at the next light In other words, this is spirited driving. I'm very happy with these results.

Unfortunately.. as I was saying about the 3K change, it depends on conditions. For me, its not recommended as you can see for yourself. I plan on sticking with mobile1 anyway just to keep the wear down...

http://www.adpub.com/oil-max1.jpg

 

A careful review of the analysis sheet makes me think this stuff is very nutritious! Kinda makes me hungry!

 

no MSG!!!

 

But MSG is what makes it good!!

 

what kind of oil should i use for my First oil change? should i go synthetic or go "normal" i though i heard here to get the normal one so my engine can still break in? i have about 1450 and thinking of changing it tomorrow. any help?

 

I changed out the engine oil that came with the car after 1200 miles, then 3000 miles after that, I switched to synthetic. (so I changed to synthetic at 4200 miles) I figured that that should have been plenty of time for the brake-in

 

but did you still drive like an old fart up till 4k miles?

 

Hehe...I still drive like an old fart after 4K miles

 

yummy

more reasons to stick with Mobil1

 

Looks like my current oil change schedule is on target. I change my Mobil 1 every 4000 miles. I use the OEM Nissan filter too. Most of my trips are small. When I go on longer road trips, I can stretch the change interval longer though.

 

kind of a bummer as the oil is still good for many more miles. the viscosity was still dead on. btw, this was with a brand new air filter (at 15K), so not much else I could do to keep insoluables down (and/or silicon). I'm using the OEM filter and they are know to be one of the best. bummer, oh well. the recycling place is getting some good oil then

I would suspect you guys with long commutes could push 5000+ easily (and still keep wear below average with syn). I would just take it out to about 4000 and send a sample to Blackstone. sheesh, its so easy and ONLY $18 bucks. small price to pay for piece of mind. And really when you do the math, you would save money, less wear, better gas mileage*, and less time under the car.

* your mileage will vary but my car has seen a solid 1-3 mpg increase. I've watched my mpg closely because I was shocked how bad it was in the max. So, I'm quite sure it has increased for me. So, 2mpg isnt much... but stretch that out across a 3000K oil change..

prem at $1.60/20mpg = 8 cents per mile - before
prem at $1.60/22mpg = ~7.2 cents per mile - since mobile1

roughly $24 in gas saving... guess what? that pays for oil and filter

ok, thats a bit optimistic and will vary on your driving, but it does help.

 

I get my Mobil 1 (synt.) at Murry's Discount Auto and the clerks there say after the break-in period, 7500mi. is normal for a synt. oil change using Mobil. Feel free to verify my statement.

 

I switched after 10K. I dont know about others here, but my engine was still smoothing out at 5-7K. Nissans are still one of the last manufacturers that have long breakins. But they are also one of the few making engines that last 200K+.. so I guess its ok.

personally I think <5K is too early. However, if you are confident that your engine is smooth and making enough power (and your MPG is normal), go for it. The worst thing you would do is prevent your engine from wearing. I guess the question is how much wear is good.

but also, I mean, come on, this engine will go to 200K with regular oil... so the margin here is pretty nominal.

 

Is there a type of driving (highway, high speed, city)
where synthetic oils will help the car more? I drive
about 40 miles a day on the highway and I'm usually
going 75 - 80 mph. Should I be using synthetic.

Or, as one person put it, is the benefit so marginal
under any circumstances that it's really a "purist"
issue?

Thanks for any opinions...

 

The stuff really IS delicious. And so filling, you don't need much to feel like you had a great meal.

 

for what its worth

I'm using syn because I do short trips. thats very hard on an engine. plus, I am in the south with extreme temps.

OK... so what do I really get? Not *that* much. It pays for itself, but at the point in which an engine rebuild would be needed, I wont own the car anymore. Thats 10 years away.

For me its just alittle insurance that the engine will stay tight while I own it, regardless of how hard I drive.