i like that guide...i just tighten/remove the filter with my hand though...maybe you can make more guides?

 

Lol. I've watched that vid before. I guess no one else has a real idea as to whether or not I should make the switch. Hmm.

 

I would not make the switch. I think you would have an issue with the seals after that many miles.

 

Agreed. Synthetic tends to slip past seals more than dino oil and usually shouldn't be introduced into higher mileage engines.

 

agreed as well, you would need to make the switch before 70k, after that it is a bad idea, and could cause some damage in the long run

 

NOT agreed - there's nothing in modern synthetics that will cause it to "slip" past anything more than conventional oil. That's one of the oldest and most inaccurate wives tales out there.
It has been perpetuated from the very early days of synthetic oils when early Mobil 1 destroyed more engines than it protected. The reason that Mazda still states NOT to use synthetic oil in its rotary engines is due to what Mobil 1 did to early rotary engines - as in destroyed them. The warranty and lawsuit mess that followed almost stopped the production of rotary engines in the '70s.

And where did you get your arbitrary 70,000 mile number from? I'd love to see the data that brought forward that swag. Miles are an arbitrary and almost meaningless number in point of fact. The measure that matters is your average RPMs over a given measure of use (per mile, or per hour if you have a Hobbs meter). If your car sees a lot of high RPM use frequently - 3,000 miles is a lot more use than a car that doesn't. There's a HUGE difference between the stresses at 6,000 RPM and at 9,000 RPM. Frankly, that's one of the best reasons to use a QUALITY synthetic oil in the S2000 - regardless of the mileage.

Another thing: "synthetic" oil covers so much territory that the only way you could make a more general statement is by simply saying "oil".
There are several types (Grp III HC, Grp IV, Grp V), and levels of quality with regard to synthetic oils, all with their benefits and some drawbacks (mostly cost based). You need to define what you're wanting the oil to do for you over conventional oil.

Do you want less wear? If yes, then you want to use Amsoil, Redline or the new Castrol Edge. Do you want a longer drain interval? If yes, then you'll want to use Amsoil or Redline for the longest drain intervals. Castrol Edge and Mobil 1 EP offer up to 15,000 mile drain intervals (about 5k-10k less than Redline and Amsoil). Are you looking for a less volatile oil? Then Amsoil or Redline 10W30 is the way to go. Are you looking for low cost? Forget about it!
Do you just want to spend you money with no real benefit over conventional oil? standard Mobil 1, Royal Purple, Lucas, chain store synthetic oil... just because it's synthetic does not make it better.

 

Damn, I can't decide now. That was a very informative post. I love how everyone on here doesn't have that "b20-honda-tech" attitude.

 

SYNTHETIC.

 

Slipstream is absolutely right. The archives have hundreds of pages of really good info, as does BITOG. Read them, and then ask informed questions.

 

Well, agree to disagree. It certainly is anecdotal evidence, but when I switch to synthetic oil on my first car (300zx) at about 90k I did start burning quite a bit more oil.

Doing some research, I ran into this same debate. While there seems to be no conclusion (debate continues) the explanation for why this could happen made sense to me.

Synthetic oil's advantage comes from its uniformity. It is created artificially by chaining molecules together, which end up being more or less the same length. Dino oil, created in nature, has some chains that are much longer and some that are much shorter. It also has impurities. This mixture of longer and shorter chains allows it to pack into the seals better to prevent slippage past, whereas the uniformity of the synthetics allow the oil to more or less uniformly slip past.

Believe what you want, or show me conclusive evidence that what you are saying is correct.