Does engine oil make a big difference?

I know synthetic last longer and is better for your car.

but for regular oil is there a big difference in which company i get?

Recently my place where I usually get my oil done changed from mobil to gulf.

seems like the car drove better before i got the oil change... it could just be me though.

 

I use Conventional oil and I have no problems, but I do change it every 2000 miles. I usually use Honda or Castrol 10-30

 

How do you know synthetic is better? (let the debate begin... )

If you use synthetic you can go longer between oil changes, but you still need to change the filter on the shorter interval, or 12 months (or 15k mi) according to Honda. Honda states you can use synthetic but you still have to adhere to the published maint schedule, so going longer intervals on synth may hurt you if you ever have a warranty issue.

Considering most people continue to change oil at short intervals (3,000 miles, or even an unbelievable 2k like the poster above) even with synthetic, there's not much benefit to it imo - people buy oil with a longer lifecycle but continue to change it on a shorter-lifecycle schedule. Just use dino oil and change the filter with each change - oil and filter changes will be in sync and are easily done at the same time.

Read your manual. On the normal schedule, the oil interval is 7,500 miles or 12 months, and thats dino oil. The filter is 1 year or 15,000 miles. Assuming $25 for an oil change (5 quarts at $4 + a $7 OEM filter), thats $25 for a schedule change at 7,500 miles vs $100+ for changes every 2,000 miles - a huge waste of money and natural resources imo.

You may notice a feel difference between 5w-30 and 10w-30.

 

I noticed some a slight increase in MPG and performance when I switched to Mobil 1 5w30...

 

I seem to burn a lot more oil when I switched to Mobil1 (synthetic)

 

The oil is thinner than 10w, that where the MPG came from. Just incase you did not know.

 

I agree with Saki, some people are going overboard on changing out there oil. If your running synthetic that shit lasts longer than non, why change it constantly? I figure two times a year, depending on your driving habits is a goal. Change your filter as well and you will be fine. There really is no difference betweent the companies making oil these days.

 

I believe there are two significant differences: 1.on cold start-ups, synthetic oils claim to reduce start-up friction and 2. longer life (of the oil)