Why are you blaming it on the high RPMs? There are plenty of high RPM engines that don’t burn oil. Engines burn oil for many reasons, but that isn’t one of them.
Personally, I would attribute it to either abuse, neglect, or poor design. The fact that it is a VTEC engine means it should be able to handle the high RPMs quite well.
Your Civic should have two maintenance schedules, one for normal conditions and one for severe conditions. Which maintenance schedule did you follow?
I considered engine oil and filter to be the main protective maintenance item. I ran Mobile 1 Synthetic for the first 80K miles or so, changing it every 3K to 5K miles. Then decided synthetic wasn’t help much since oil was burning (or going somewhere – not leaking). From that point I used Castroil or Penzoil.
Well there you go. If your Civic Si was driven in stop-and-go traffic, in low or high temperatures, or other conditions that break down oil, you should have been changing your oil every 3,750 miles, whether you were using synthetic oil or conventional oil. If you went 5,000 miles between some of your oil changes, that might have led to your oil burning problem, especially if you drove it hard during those long periods between oil changes.
It doesn’t sound like you are familiar with your car’s maintenance schedule, and your maintenance habits may have reflected this. If this is the case, it won’t matter what kind of car you get.
Your Civic Si has a high compression engine, so high octane (premium) fuel is required for it. You didn’t use cheap gas in it, did you? Also, you should expect most high compression engines to burn a little oil.
I’m going to have to disagree with you there, Whitey.
Since neither you nor I know the conditions that the bmanno drives his car in, we can only speculate wether or not he needed to change the oil in his car between 3k to 5k miles.
Lets say that he lives in Byers, CO, just off Interstate 70 at exit 316, and drives everyday to Kanorado, Kansas, which is 136 miles due east on I-70. So that whole trip is in a 75mph zone, and all at highway speed. High rpms the whole way in his little high revving Civic.
What happens to engine oil at high rpms, in a small, hot running engine?
The oil gets whipped around pretty good, and smaller droplets turn into an oil mist. That oil mist gets sucked into the PCV system, and burned with the air and fuel in the combustion chamber.
A light weight 5W-20, which is what is most likely recommended for mbanno’s engine, will turn into mist and get burned easier than a heavier weight oil, like a 5W-30, a 10W-30, or a 10W-40. But that doesn’t mean that the oil that is in the crankcase needs to be changed out every 3k miles.
I bet if you tested a car run under those conditions, you would find out the oil is still in pretty good shape between 3k and 5k miles. I would bet the Mobil 1 oil would probably even be fine way past 10k miles.
Personally, I run my '07 Nissan Altima between 5k and 9k miles on each oil change, and have sent samples to Blackstone Labs with each and every oil change. I have used Kendall 5W-30 Semi Synthetic and Full Synthetic for every single oil change after the initial oil that Nissan put in the car when it was new, and every single oil analysis came back perfect for wear materials, and for lubricating properties.
Can we see your evidence that oil needs to be changed every 3k miles that you have accumulated?
BC.
“Honda website give mpg = 29/33 ???”
That’s the EPA city/highway mileage. The highway circuit is not all at one speed, though much of it is. The purpose of the EPA mileage is not to predict what you will get in actual practice, but to allow the buyer to compare cars under exactly the same conditions. If one car gets better mileage in the EPA test than another, you have confidence that it does indeed get better fuel mileage under most, if not all, circumstances.
Holy crap Batman, which Honda model (car, not motorcycle) is this that can do 0 to 70mph in under 4 sec. My speedo might reach 70mph in less than 4 sec. if I had it on jackstands.
What am I missing?
Bladecutter, my evidence is an owner’s manual and a repair manual that cover all Civics from 1996-2000. I don’t have them handy, but based on the criteria for the “severe conditions” maintenance schedule, 90% of the people drive these cars in conditions that mandate oil changes every 3,750 miles. I don’t care if you spend $20/quart for the best synthetic oil. Ignore your car’s maintenance schedule at your own risk.
Also, who the hell buys a Honda Civic Si and drives it like a 70 year old grandmother? The Civic Si is made for a particular demographic, and that demographic isn’t known for driving slowly.
It isn’t a Honda Civic. It is an Ariel Atom, which has the same Honda engine used in the Civic Type R.
Check out the video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNoKTXvYkcY
I have never used synthetic oils. Do you know if the 3 month time limit applies to them as it does to conventional oils because of the acid formation that develops in the oil due to the heating and cooling cycles. This acid supposedly eats into the internal steel everwhere it touches, and I was told this is the reason for the 3 months time limit on conventional oils.
“straight drive?”
You can make up a lot of fuel economy in city driving with a manual. That makes up for feeble highway gearing, IMO.
Honda isn’t known for robust automatics, and that 3rd gear issue on some of their manual transmissions last year aside, they are known for good manuals. That said, Honda’s autos aren’t exactly made of glass, either. This is Honda we’re talking about, there’s no such thing as a death sentence for your bank account with Hondas.
Drive them both, buy what you like.