Synthetic vs Conventional Oil? How to Make the Right Motor Oil Choice?
Let’s Start With The Engine Oil
Cars are an indispensable part of modern day lives. Almost every household has one, some even have two or more. And like every aspect of our lives we need to make educated choices and implement these choices with regard to our vehicles in order to have maintain a smooth hassle-free mode of personal transportation. Unfortunately, the lack of interest and the consequence of our fast-paced lives have us ignoring the workings under the hood. By doing so, very often we neglect the health of our vehicles and subsequently the longevity of the engine and car as a whole. This is why we need to comprehend the most significant aspects. Let’s start with the engine oil.
What is Engine Oil and what is its function?
The car or SUV engine is a complex machine with hundreds of moving parts that operate under a wide range of temperatures. The main function of engine oil is to minimize friction between these moving parts which helps protects your engine against wear, corrosion, and the build-up of dirt and deposits and it needs to be capable of coping with these wide range of operating conditions. These engine oils can be categorized as natural or Conventional Motor Oil and Synthetic Motor Oil.
Synthetic vs Conventional Oil ?
Both mineral and synthetic engine oil are petroleum by products that are manufactured from crude oil. The main difference between them is that synthetic oils are manufactured from more advanced refining processes and are of a higher purity level and quality than conventional mineral oil. The process of refinement not only removes more impurities from the crude oil, it also enables the type of individual molecules in the oil to be tailored to meet the demands of modern engines. These refined molecules provide reduced friction and hence, higher levels of overall protection and performance.
Synthetic vs Conventional Oil? Advantages of both Motor Oil Types.
The advantages of Synthetic Motor Oil over Conventional Motor Oil is the performance of synthetic motor oil which is known to be more robust, especially in terms of low temperature pumpability, high temperature stability and protection against deposits. These attributes translate directly into less engine wear, increased fuel economy and longer engine life.
Synthetic engine oil have been specifically engineered to cope with extreme conditions found within modern internal combustion engines and are much more free-flowing than the conventional mineral oils. The biggest advantage is greatly increased engine protection. When an engine is first started, mineral oil takes longer to circulate, allowing friction between un-lubricated parts to cause wear.
In contrast, synthetic motor oil starts circulating faster, protecting moving parts within the engine.
Synthetic Motor Oil Properties
Synthetic Engine Oil: Thanks to its many properties can also significantly improve fuel economy. During the warm-up period of a typical car journey, mineral oils are thicker and move slower, making the engine thirstier and less efficient. Because synthetics get to work much quicker, the engine reaches peak operating efficiency that much sooner resulting in improved gas mileage overall.
Yet another advantage of synthetic engine oil is that they’re cleaner and more environmentally-acceptable-lubricants – helping to cut engine emissions when compared to conventional motor oil. Conventional oil also contain greater amounts of impurities, such as sulfur, reactive and unstable hydrocarbons and other undesirable contaminants that cannot be completely removed by conventional refining of crude oil.
In all these important respects, synthetic oil easily out perform mineral oils. 100% synthetic oil offers several significant advantages over conventional motor oils, such as:
- Commendable Protection
- Minimizing Oil Degradation
- Faster Lubrication at Start-up in Low Temperatures
- Better Protection at High Temperatures
- Better Resistance to Thermal Breakdown
- Engine Cleanliness and Better Protection
- Against Harmful Deposits.
They also improve engine efficiency, provide better resistance to oil oxidation, which reduces engine drag and eventually lowers oil consumption under high-speed conditions.
Best Synthetic Motor Oil used by Automotive Manufacturers
And if you have trouble accepting the advantageous of synthetic motor oil you must know that automotive manufacturers like Mercedes-Benz, Aston Martin, Bentley, Chevrolet, McLaren, and Porsche etc. use synthetic oils in their vehicles.