kosmo

i never liked that commercial. Why are they comparing a synthetic to mineral? F'in marketers.

1BlinkGone

I would like to add that those that change their oil at shorter intervals with non-synthetics (say every 2k miles vs 5-7k) always ALWAYS have better engines that last longer than those serviced at 5-7000 mile intervals. I have seen this without fail in a fleet service setting. I might assume this would apply to engines running synthetic as well. Its all about keeping the cleaner oil that retains more of the original lubricity properties, thus saving more wear and tear on bearings, cylinder walls, guides, etc.

Doubling-up on oil changes is much MUCH cheaper than replacing an engine.

inverterman

I agree 100% with oil changes at 3500 miles. My business runs service trucks and I am getting 250K running strong on Chevy 6.0 service trucks pulling around 9K#.

You are making a great point regarding frequency vs brand. It is much more important to change the oil more frequently. Lets also not forget that the weight is extremely important as well. Thicker is not always better!

And with the commercial, my point exactly. Marketing! I have seen several different opinions of what oil to use on this thread. Probably individual opinions based upon what they are told, heard, or saw.

BMW is finding out that with their "Full Maintenance for 50K miles" is backfiring on them. Especially on lease returns where the oil is swapped an average of three times during the "free maintenance" period. I lease a 535I for two years and this last one went to 16200 miles at 18 months before the computer told us to change it. I took it to the dealer at 10K miles to change it and was told that I would have to pay to change it before the computer said to do it T

I run Mobil 1 in my fleet. I run Mobil 1 in the P car. I run Valvoline Pure Syn 20/50 in my E36 BMW.

kosmo

"BMW is finding out that with their "Full Maintenance for 50K miles" is backfiring on them. Especially on lease returns where the oil is swapped an average of three times during the "free maintenance" period. I lease a 535I for two years and this last one went to 16200 miles at 18 months before the computer told us to change it. I took it to the dealer at 10K miles to change it and was told that I would have to pay to change it before the computer said to do it T. "

good point. the intervals are bogus.

Fahrer

What many folks do not recognize is that whether an engne oil is mineral based or synthetic, they have basically the same dispersant/inhibitor package. The DI package is what protects your engine from dirty, oxidized oil. The DI package's functionality diminishes with miles, regardless of the oil type used. So it may make sense to go with cheaper mineral oil and change it more often.

alexb76

or... a cheaper (at least in Canada) Fully Synthetic oil that *may* be even better and change it more often!

Mike in CA

Any idea whether mineral based oils are on the "approved by Porsche" list mentioned in the manual? I'm imagining a scenario where you come to your dealer with a warranty issue on an engine related failure of some sort and they discover that you've been using non-synthetic oil in your engine. Don't know what their response would be, just sayin.......Of course, if mineral oils are approved, that answers the question.

alexb76

I agree, hence sticking to Porsche approved oil, which I don't believe includes any non-synthetic oil.

mambodoc

What a great thread...oil and tires always get things goin on! I'm sold on the 0-40 cold start benefits...makes good sense...I was aware of this awhile back as was discussed on the air with Bobby Likis...I suspect I'll move my oil/filter changes to 3,500mi or thereabouts. My service is very reasonable/affordable. All good ideas and reasons. Thanks to everyone!

Cheyne

when Mobil stopped making the 15w-50 with the red cap, thats when i stopped.

alexb76

Now that was a GREAT oil!

mambodoc

Whats up with the red cap 15-50?

alexb76

Truly 100% synthetic oil. This was when you could only call oil synthetic if it was fully synthetic from lab to production (I'm sure someone will explain all the technical stuff behind it).

Fahrer

I do not know if any mineral oils are approved by Porsche. I would only use oils approved by Porsche. My comments about using mineral oils for only 2-3,000 miles ( which would always have a relatively fresh DI package) vs. using a synthetic for 10-20,000 miles with a worn out DI package was general, in nature. For our VW Passat ( with the Audi V6), we change the mineral oil every 5,000 miles. It has about 120,000 miles and runs like new! For that car, I would never use synthetics.

hockeyguy

Question--
I did an early oil change on my new 997.2 C2S at 1K miles. I now have 5K+ miles.
I'm adding about 1 quart of oil every 1200 miles or so.
Since I've added around 4 quarts since my last oil change, aren't I partly changing the oil anyway? I was just thinking my next oil change will be the dealer 10K service.