Made the switch to synthetic today

Car: 2003 S2k
Mileage: 7750


Background:

I've been an avid Mobil-1 user on my previous car, and had been planning to make the switch over for this second oil change. But I've been talking to my buddy in Sacramento who is an avid racer and use to build and compete in the AMA bike series, and he's been a good source of technical information. He recommended I give the following oil a try.

Castrol Syntec - the one to look for is the one that says "Made in Germany" on the back - not the domestic "Made in USA" one.




I've only been able to find it in Autozone stores, and it runs around $5 a quart.

My buddy runs Oil Analysis on my engine and the German Castrol
showed reduced wear levels when compared to Mobil-1. It seems to be better than the Mobil-1 at this time.

Another one that I wanted to try is Mobil 1R. It is a product of their racing development and is the best of the current stuff. You can order it here for around $7/qt. http://store.avlube.com/index.html


I also added Oil Extreme Concentrate this time and I will update you guys on my impressions on the S2k.
On my old C we added the Oil Extreme while my car was strapped to the dyno and after running the motor for a few minutes to circulate the OL we made a dyno run. It was an average of 8Hp all the way through. It sounds like an other Snake oil and I have tried most of them and this is the only stuff I have seen any results out of. You use 2oz. per qt. the first time and then 1oz. per qt. for subsequent treatments.

I order it direct from them. In fact, the guy who owns the company was the one who started American Honda in the 50s. Oil Extreme Concentrate


I'll keep you posted on my impressions.

Mobil 1 SuperSynth for me.

Good grief! It's smart to be aware of the importance of good oil (and to watch your oil level), but don't you think you guys are a little obsessive about a car that comes from the factory with dino oil? And what, exactly, is this oil analysis your buddy did on your engine, Luwin? And by the way, about that 8 hp claim: are you claiming that from an oil additive? Snake oil, indeed!

As long as you change your oil regularly and use a decent oil like Castrol GTX, the F20C will most likely go a few hundred thousand miles and never have a problem caused by the type of oil used. No disrespect towards those that use Mobil 1 or Royal Purple or Motul or any other overpriced oil, but there really isn't much point in it if you're a) going to change it every 3,000 miles or b) not going to flog the crap out of the car every weekend at the track. I seriously doubt that many of the current S2000 owners will ever rack up enough miles to see the benefits of reduced wear from using synthetic motor oil. I put 204,000 miles on my CRX and 145,000 on my Prelude and used nothing but Castrol GTX and Honda filters. Both cars ran perfect the day they were sold.

Im going Mobil1 synthetic:thumbup: the way i look at it, if its good enough for Porsche vehicles right from the factory, its good enough for my S

I thought the cylinder failures were related to the oil jet bolt problem, not type of oil used. The oil jet bolt is a design flaw that has since been corrected. If Honda engineers had felt that the use of conventional oil was in part the cause of the cylinder failures, why would they not simply recommend the use of synthetic oil?

I've got 76,000 miles on my S and it sees redline 10+ times a day. It has had nothing but Castrol GTX. Its still got the original oil jet bolts and no problems so far.

Because of our high reving engines, I went with Mobil1 after some research. I don't think you could go wrong.

Castrol is garbage.......Mobil 1 is where it's at.

After much research and reading of the posts of Road Rage I'm doing a complete synthetic fluids change @ 5000 miles.I'll be using Redline products only because of my access to this product. I also have access to Royal Purple but the feed-back on their products don't seem to be as positive.

Engine,tranny,and diff will get these changes and will all be changed again in 5000 mile increments.

I believe Mobil 1 in an insurance policy. Nothing more nothing less. If I put it in and it makes my car run a little smoother or with a little less wear then why not switch? For a couple of bucks difference why not?

I will comment on Oil Extreme:

First, thre asperity issue has been dealt with effectively in all modern engine oils. It is primarily a problem during break-in, and there have been a number of effective solutions, such as moly, and the zinc/phos additives mentioned by the add.

EP additives are not added because they are not needed in engine oil!!! There are no areas in the engine where EP additives would be helpful.

This is one of those snake oil ads that plays on the ignorance of the readers - they make a valid technology case (about wear issues of raw metal) and then comes the snake - they are the only ones in all the history of tribology who have come up with the answer!! Does that seem reasonable to anybody?

I only have recommended additives regarding the specific issue of changing the original oil fill prior to 23750 or siz months. And the additives I recommended use traditional, well-proved, and scientifically accepted ingredients.

Calcium carbonate is what Tums is made of - it is incredibly cheap.

Calcium compounds can be effective in oils as detergents and pH buffers.

Thanks for the insight, Road Rage. It was something I wanted to give a shot on the S, but will probably not be using it after this go.