Synthetic Oil vs Regular oil

Hello all ,

Today I am going to draw your attention to a very important question which I believe might have crossed your mind several times but you might not have researched  it to a great extent. Many of us just give our cars to the service station when a service is due and go for a regular oil change without giving much thought. I too did the same for 3 years , didn't care a damn about the type of oil I used just told the service people to change the oil that's it !  But then I learnt about synthetic oil and have been using it till date now.

Lets us look at the various differences between Synthetic and Regular oil with respect to their :

1. Chemical Composition.
2. Performance. 
3. Cost
4. Environmental Impact.

A detailed analysis of the above factors will clear your

1. Chemical Composition

Lets put in a very simple way

Synthetic Motor oil consists of chemical components which are artificially prepared.They contain chemically modified petroleum components rather than the whole crude oil.

On the other hand , Regular Motor Oil is derived from petroleum itself. It has no artificially prepared or modified components.

Here is an extract I found very useful :

"Conventional oils come from crude oil that is pumped from the ground. Crude oil is made up of a complex mixture of molecules that form chains and rings of different sizes and shapes. Long chains of carbon atoms produce a thick, viscous fluid that flows slowly. Shorter chains produce fluid that flows more readily.

In an oil refinery, crude oil is separated into various fractions. These become the basis for lubricating oils and fuels. Thick tangled masses of carbon chains become asphaltic materials used in roofing tar and road work. Very short chains and ring compounds of carbon are volatile and can be refined to produce gasoline and other products.

While petroleum refining is an advanced science, small amounts of contaminants, such as sulfur and reactive hydrocarbons, cannot be completely removed from petroleum, and may end up in motor oil base stocks.

All motor oils are made up of base oils and additives. In general, fully synthetic motor oils contain non-conventional, high-performance fluids. Synthetic blends usually use some non-conventional, high-performance fluids in combination with conventional oil."

2. Performance

We now come to the part which you all have been waiting for ! Yes , the performance.

In terms of performance synthetic oils have an advantage over regular oils and its been my own personal experience which I am going to share after i finish analyzing the differences. 

Why is synthetic oil better than regular oil:

• Synthetic oils are better and give enhanced performance because they are manufactured using advanced chemical process where their molecular structure and properties are closely controlled.
• They are less volatile than regular mineral oil.
• They are more resistant to heat and are protected from anti -oxidant additives easily.
• They are designed to flow easily at start up temperatures where most of the wear occurs.
• Less Sludge problems

All these advantages clearly improves engine performance resulting in better mileage, longer engine life and smoother drive.I have personally experienced all these changes when i switched from regular mineral oil to fully synthetic oil.

Having said that i suggest you to also take a look at the manufacturers recommendation of engine lubricants.Based on the engine design some car makers recommend regular mineral oil , most of them dont have a problem but neverthless please do check.

3. Cost

As mentioned earlier synthetic oil manufacture is a technology , its a smart process where the molecular structure of carbon compounds are controlled to obtain desirable properties .Hence it is much costlier than regular oil.Almost double the cost of mineral oil to be precise.

A normal 4 litre can of regular oil costs 1700 indian rupees and lasts for no more than 10,000 kilometers.

And a 4 litre can of synthetic oil costs 3600 indian rupess and lasts for no more than 25,000 kilometers.

So you guys can do the math here, so for cars with fairly less runnning and little wear i would go with the regular oil rather than conventional one.

4.Environmental Impact

From an environmental standpoint both types of oils are harmful as conventional oil is derived from petroleum and synthetic oils are derived from chemical compounds which are also no less harmful.

So, bottom line both have a significant impact however as synthetic oils lasts three to four times longer than the conventional ones you will end up dumping far less oil unless you are reusing it.

My story:

I switched from the conventional oil to fully synthetic oil in my SX4 and found a significant improvement. My mileage improved by 2 kilometers per litre , the drive was much smoother and was cost effective too. The oil lasted for 25,000 kilometers which was pretty impressive !! 

I will share two links which are pretty useful with respect to this topic

• link 1
• link 2

I would like to recommend a great great Book which has got so many amazing reviews by its readers called "Motor Oil For a Car Guy's Soul " by Kevin Clemens , it has 3 volumes 

            

Another Great book which I would like you all to read is "The Motor Oil Bible " by Michael Kaufman

As the name suggests it is The Bible for choosing the Right motor oil for your car and the knowledge you gain from it will help save you a lot of money.CLick below to take a look :