I hear a lot of good things about Mobil one synthetic. My S only has about 3000 miles on it right now; my question is this:

What are the benefits of using synthetic?
At what mileage should I start using it?
If I dont track my car, should I still use it?
How much more does it cost?
Where is the best/cheapest place to buy?
Do I go for 10W30 or 5W30?

Thanks for helping a newbie!

 

There are many benifits of using synthetic oil. I would change to synthetic on your first oil change (try to keep the run-in oil as long as possible). It does cost more but it also lasts longer so in the long run the cost kind of balances out. Use 10W30.

 

1. Synthetic oil let you have longer oil change interval, up to 10k miles for normal driving conditions.

2. After 7.5-10k miles

3. Good dino oil is as good as synthetic, but dino oils does not last as long.

4. Synthetic costs about $15 more per oil change.

5. Costco or Walmart

6. Dino oil: 10W30, Synthetic oil: 5W40 for So Cal all year long

Mobil1 5W40 is good choice for synthetic but Pennzoil Platinum synthetic is better and cheaper too.

 

I use Mobil 1 10W30, changed out the dino oil at 11000 miles

 

Congrats on your S2000 !

To answer your questions......hopes this helps.

What are the benefits of using synthetic? - handles extreme heat better than regular oil. Longer intervals between oil changes.

At what mileage should I start using it? - I believe manual says 10k. I just started using Red Line Syn @ 9,300.

If I dont track my car, should I still use it? - It gives peace of mind even if only driven as daily driver. Can't hurt!

How much more does it cost? - About 5 bucks a qt. I'm sure price varies bewteen stores. You can get on sale every now and then.

Where is the best/cheapest place to buy? - ?

Do I go for 10W30 or 5W30? - Go with 10w30. Also, get Honda oil filter.
Around 12 bucks. Just my opnion.

 

~$23 for 5qt at walmart, but $4-5 for 1 extra qt since you will need ~5.2 qt.

 

Take it for what its worth, but Mobile One is the oil most commonly used in European sports cars.

 

I use Mobil one I also burn a quart or two between oil changes. I vtec alot and other owners using mobil 1 have reported similar results. There was a thread a while back with an owner switching from Mobil one to AMSOIL synthetic and eliminating the oil burning issue. I say this not scare you away from M1, but if you so start using it make sure you keep and eye on the oil level (You should be doing this already.) Next time I change my oil I'm switching to amsoil.

 

Thank you for spelling "Mobil" correctly. It seems we have alot of people from Alabama here and they call it "Mobile". Hahaha.

The general concensus here is to switch to synthetic after 10k miles. I noticed a smoother idle with synth, and enjoy the longer change interval (around 6k for me). You will most likely burn oil so just be aware and check it regularly.

 

With all the oil refinery's we have on the gulf coast now, they may be spelling it the right way.