Is synthetic oil worth using vs regular oil? (for auto, snow blower, lawn tractor)
This subject has been flogged to death on this board. See up at the top where it says “search”?? Type “synthetic oil” in that box to view the endless debate.
Depends on how you drive, what you drive, and how often to change the oil. Synthetics have a great advantage of retaining their lubricating properties longer, meaning longer oil change intervals. These are a great advantage to fleet owners, since the real cost of oil changes is the maintenance time getting it done and the loss of use time because of the maintenance interval. With synthetics, they can reduce the off time of their fleet by increasing the maintenance interval.
As far as I know, there is no benefit to small engines unless you run a business, and use the equipment all the time, not just weekends or seasonal. This is for the same reason.
For a snow blower its a great idea as the engine cranks(eg when you pull) significantly easier in cold temps if its stored in an unheated area.
Auto it is debatable to the endless degree. My auto does not specifically require it so I do not use it. However its an auto most would think would really need it, a relatively high HP(230) for small turbo engine(2.0L) and I feed it conventional oil at severe interval(3750miles).
For a Auto …MAYBE…A lot of factors come into to play to make that decision.
For snow blower and other lawn equipment…It makes perfect sense to use synthetic. I change the oil in my blower and mower once a year (1 qt for my mower…and 1/2 qt for snow blower). How much money are you wasting a year…$5??? Well worth the extra $5/yr for the much better oil. It’s well worth it.
Just check your mowers owners manual. Many mower engines like straight weight oil…I’ve never seen straight weight synthetic oil before.
I use whatever groupIV (sometimes group III) I can find on sale. About 80% of the time it ends up being Pennzoil Platinum, sometimes Royal Purple. Nothing is wrong with dino oil for 99% of applications, it’s just personal preference.