Synthetic Motor Oil vs Regular Motor Oil | What Should I Use?

Oil is the blood your car’s engine needs to live. It keeps all of its parts running smoothly, absorbs the excess heat, and contains additives that help clean up nasty, harmful chemicals. 

After spending thousands of miles keeping your engine running right, the oil degrades and needs to be changed. It is one of the most important maintenance procedures your vehicle should receive. It also happens to be one of the cheapest investments you can make in your vehicle’s long-term health and performance.  When it’s time to change your oil, you may be faced with the decision of synthetic motor oil vs regular motor oil.

Which Oil Should You Use?

At Sudden Impact Auto, we care about providing useful advice to keep our customers safe, even for services that we do not offer. Read below to understand the difference and decide what’s right for you.

How is Motor Oil Made?

It comes from various places on earth, including the ground, petroleum deposits, broken-down prehistoric algae, zooplankton, and dinosaurs. This crude petroleum is extracted from the ground, via drilling, and is then refined for various uses. The refining process yields hundreds of different usable products, a few of which find their way into automobiles.

Lighter fractions of the distillation process, such as gasoline and diesel fuel, are used to run the engine. Heavier fractions such as motor oil, lubricate the engine while grease lubricates wheel bearings. Motor oil derived from crude petroleum is referred to as conventional motor oil.

Synthetic motor oil comes from a chemical processing plant, not from the ground. Instead of being refined from the remains of ancient animal and plant life, synthetic oil is made in a laboratory. Nowadays, manufacturers use methane, carbon monoxide, and dioxide to produce synthetic oils and fuels.

Synthetic Motor Oil Vs Regular Motor Oil

There are a lot of differences between these two types of oil. Synthetic oils have no impurities given they are more refined and distilled. The refinement also allows the oil to be tailored to the specific demands of modern engines. 

How Can You Tell Whether Regular Or Synthetic Is The Right Type Of Oil For Your Vehicle?

Two main differences exist between synthetic and regular motor oils. The first difference is in how they are made. The second difference is their functionality and their effect on your car’s engine. When it comes to performance, synthetic motor oil is better. Synthetic oil engines perform 47% better than engines using regular motor oil. Its low levels of friction protect the engine. 

There are more benefits of synthetic motor oil like fewer emissions, reduced engine drag, longer oil change intervals, and quicker engine start time.

Why Is Synthetic Oil Better?

As for cost, why pay two to four times more for synthetic oil at your next oil change when you can use conventional motor oil? Here are a number of reasons:

• Costs more, but it lasts two to three times longer between oil changes, so costs balance out over time.
• It doesn’t leave any deposits in the engine and dissolves deposits left from conventional motor oil, extending the life of the engine.
• Maintains its lubricant qualities, even at extreme temperatures, from -60 °F to over 400 °F. That way it is protecting the engine in all conditions.
• Maintains its lubricant qualities even at lighter weights. It makes for more power output and better fuel economy, both of which are better for your wallet and for the environment.
• It is better for the environment, as it does not rely on petroleum extraction.

Conventional Oil vs. Synthetic Oil: Common Myths

There are a couple of myths that people have concerning synthetic oil:

• Once you go synthetic, you can’t go back – Actually no, there is no problem switching back and forth, especially if synthetic oil doesn’t happen to be available.
• Synthetic oil is too expensive – It is true that synthetic oil is more expensive. But it is highly cost-effective due to better fuel economy and less frequent oil changes. 
• I don’t need synthetic oil – A car’s engine can benefit from the superior qualities of synthetic oil, no matter what type.
• Synthetic oil destroys engine seals – Definitely not, but synthetic oil will find leaks. Repairs made to fix oil leaks after switching to synthetic oil will be more permanent and will likely last through the vehicle’s lifetime.

The next time you need an oil change, whether you do it yourself or have it done at your local automobile repair shop, consider changing from conventional oil. Choosing synthetic oil will get the most out of your vehicle.

Auto Body Shop in Las Vegas, NV

In the event that something happens to your car, no problem, we’ve got you covered here at Sudden Impact Auto Body! Call us today at 702-457-3002.  Whether you need window tinting, paintless dent repair, or car paint service… We’ve got you covered!