Synthetic Oil =Better MPG?

Has anyone ever actually seen an increase in mpg by going to synthetic oil?

I hear and read the claims, and I know all about the other advantages, but this one seems a little stretched.

 

That's why 0w20 oils were 'created'... they are the fuel economy champions.

In case you haven't tried, you can't find a '0w' oil in anything but a full synthetic formulation. At least I've never been able to.

But as to whether anyone will see it is another thing: those kinds of economies are measured over millions of miles accumulated across huge fleet of vehicles. They are done for CAFE purposes. Put together with dozens of other little things... like low-rolling resistance tires and wheel bearing grease, maintaining tire pressures, conformal mirrors, etc., etc.... you might actually measure improved economy.

 

Put a quart of motorkote in your crankcase.

 

The thinner your lube, the less force it takes to penetrate, hence the less energy it consumes.

Though not necessarily significantly less.

Note that its the "20" part (vs. "30") that makes the big difference. That's the "operating" viscosity.

 

its better, youre not going to notice the difference though. i just use synthetic because im always towing

 

I switched to Mobil 1 5w-30 recently. I don't believe it is a placebo but for me from calculating the last two tanks I gained 1 mpg. Now it is impossible to drive exactly the same but I do believe there is a slight improvement. Not much but every little counts.

 

Keeping the same oil weight and going from dino to synthetic, I did not notice a difference. I use synthetic because some claim to have noticed the engine running cooler and I'm going to run this thing into the ground so I want to take care of it.

 

how do you propose discerning your engine is operating 'cooler'? I ask because one's engine is kept at an optimum operating temperature quite by design... and use of thermostats.

 

Re-read... I only stated what I heard, I didn't make the claim and don't honestly care if it does or not. I do, however, know that the synthetic protects the engine better and that's the real reason I use sythentic. I never recorded the engine temps with dino so I have nothing to compare to.

 

I drive the same route 6 days a week and drive pretty damn consistent IMOP. I noticed an immediate improvement in MPG when I changed. Regularly make 19.89 mpg with synth. Was making 17 and change with dino on my best day. I guess it could be argued that my tires have since worn down and lost weight, so there is less rotational mass.

 

I know mine gets better mpg because it said so on the internet.

 

But thinking critically about it... does it make any sense? Does it even mean it actually helps, in any way, to make your engine run cooler? Does it, instead, stand to some level of reason that engineers who designed the cooling system to keep the engine operating in an optimal temperature band actual do NOT want it to run cooler? and therefore if it actually did manage to make it run cooler it could be detrimental to the longevity of the engine?

I'm not saying synthetic is bad or anything... I'm just saying 'make it run cooler' is the silliest of reasons, in my opinion, to say it's good. And, if I really believed it could, I'd tend to prefer not to use it.

But then I don't believe it will. Because I'm pretty critical about what I 'hear', especially on the internet.

 

72% of all statistics are made up.
3 out of 2 people don't understand fractions,
and,
Don't believe everything you think