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My 8 is at about 85k KMs (52816.551 Miles). Have always used dino oil.
I just need some opinion on whether I should switch to synth.
Before you tell me to go "Search", I have read most of the oil threads already, I am only asking "what would you do in my shoes" kinda thing.
More info:
Oil change every 5,000 kms (approx 3100 miles, I freak out when I start approaching that mark)
Using Castrol / Mobil dino 10w40, 5w30 in winter
Odo currently at about 85,000 kms (52k miles)
Why not try and prevent as much wear as possible? Sure failure is inevitable but if you are going to use oil, why not use the best? That said, how often you change your oil is more important than what oil you use.
And before making the switch I suggest sending an oil sample to Blackstone labs, if your current oil is doing well then stick with it, if not then switch.
Why not try and prevent as much wear as possible? Sure failure is inevitable but if you are going to use oil, why not use the best? That said, how often you change your oil is more important than what oil you use.
And before making the switch I suggest sending an oil sample to Blackstone labs, if your current oil is doing well then stick with it, if not then switch.
I've never considered sending in an oil sample to check, at most was to get a compression test to see if my engine is exhausted yet - but seems like a good idea, thanks!
Another important consideration is how you use the car. Are you racing? Are you spending most of your time in traffic?
If you're just driving around town, it doesn't super matter as long as you change it regularly. May as well stick with what you got. If you're racing, you want a group IV or V synthetic. We should really not use "synthetic" to describe oil any more, its almost as general a concept as "oil".
Another important consideration is how you use the car. Are you racing? Are you spending most of your time in traffic?
If you're just driving around town, it doesn't super matter as long as you change it regularly. May as well stick with what you got. If you're racing, you want a group IV or V synthetic. We should really not use "synthetic" to describe oil any more, its almost as general a concept as "oil".
Thanks for the input. I think what I'm really after is longetivity in this case. Although I daily this car I drive it hard whenever I can. (work hours do not collide with rush hour traffic). How can you keep the rotary under 6k rpm the entire trip? It's almost impossible
So yes, I do beat on it, that's why I'm considering changing to a better oil.
I'm big on following manufacturer recommendations, so dino oil for me. I considered switching to synth, but as it turns out, Mazda designers and engineers know more about rotary engines and motor oil than I do. Go figure!
(And besides, the most important thing is keeping the oil level up and changing it regularly. What kind it is is secondary.)
Yeah engineers and designers never make mistakes, that's why they designed an engine with an epic failure rate and had to build an entire plant to re-manufacture Renesis engines. Go back to driving your RX-8 3000 miles a year.
Yeah engineers and designers never make mistakes, that's why they designed an engine with an epic failure rate and had to build an entire plant to re-manufacture Renesis engines. Go back to driving your RX-8 3000 miles a year.
Epic failure rate?! Please, your ignorance is showing. You sound like someone who gets your facts from the internet, where anyone can state any "fact" they want. Sorry, but someone had to say it.
Last edited by New Yorker; 07-19-2016 at 10:03 PM.
Epic failure rate?! Please, your ignorance is showing. You sound like someone who gets your facts from the internet, where anyone can state any "fact" they want. Sorry, but someone had to say it.
Yeah your right, the building of the engine plant (FACT) and the thousands of remans built by Mazda (FACT) must have just been for fun.
Mazda first opened the plant in May 2008 to rebuild rotary-powered engines for its RX-8 sports car. Last year, the plant produced more than 5,000 remanufactured engines.
Noooooooo! Oil is not oil. Deposit/varnish quality, hardness, solubility, as well as deposition rate with age make some oils good and some oils deadly to our engines. Not to mention ash left over when burning. Even SAE specs apply only when new, so how an oil maintains those specs after use is a huuge part of the equation.
Dino oil is basically the worst, because it's a mix of all kinds of different molecules, some of which clump up and form varnish/deposits as soon as the oil hits heat/oxygen. That means that as soon as you out oil in, it's on a one way trip away from the SAE specs you bought. It loses film strength, lubricity and all the things that make it oil. However, fresh dino oil can usually pick those deposits back up, so a frequent change cycle means you're constantly depositing and resorbing deposits... So no problem. But don't miss a change.
PAO synthetic is mostly one or two types of molecule, selected to not clump and not oxidize. Which means they keep the spec you bought for longer. Eventually they also form deposits, but that's why you have extended change intervals. The problem is, any deposit you leave will not be picked up by fresh oil.
This brings us to PAO/ester blends, which keep their spec and pick up their own deposits. After that, in the extreme racing oil market, pure ester oils (sometimes derived from vegetables). They cost more than dinosaur.
At 50,000+ miles of using conventional oil, the biggest determining factor would be the state of your engine. The only way you'll be able to find that out, is to either take apart your engine (expensive) or send a sample of the oil currently in your engine to a lab for analysis (not expensive).
Oil is an extremely contentious topic. The anonymity of forums only exacerbates the issue, as people feel they can speak with impunity.
OP, if your oil analysis comes back clean, the vehicle makes strong compression, and there are no crazy leaks, then stick with what you've been using. Down the line, if/when you rebuild your motor you can look at switching to a synthetic (if that's what you want to do).
I recommend sticking with what you use. Oil is oil ( so long as the oil is SAE rating and meets wear certifications). Walmart SN 5W20 is as good as Castrol GTX SN 5W20.
07-13-2016, 09:19 AM
