what do you guys recommending for oil??
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whats the best oil to use?
- Thread starter dlynes
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Mobil1 Synthetic 10W-30
MB1 for me too
Yellow Rose
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what do you guys recommending for oil??
Read the owner's manual.....I'm pretty sure there is a recommendation in there. If you do not have an owner's manual, check with your local Acura dealership.
Having said that, I use Castrol GTX 20-W-50. Unless you own a Porsche or Mercedes that comes standard with Mobil 1, Mobil 1 is an absolute waste of money in the NSX. Why? Because the machining tolerances in our Japanese engine are not the same as in the German engines.
Something to think about.....if MB1 is meant for the NSX, don't you think there would be an MB1 sticker in the engine compartment and also emphasized in the owner's manual, as is with the Mercedes and Porsche vehicles?
Read the owner's manual.....I'm pretty sure there is a recommendation in there. If you do not have an owner's manual, check with your local Acura dealership.
Having said that, I use Castrol GTX 20-W-50. Unless you own a Porsche or Mercedes that comes standard with Mobil 1, Mobil 1 is an absolute waste of money in the NSX. Why? Because the machining tolerances in our Japanese engine are not the same as in the German engines.
Something to think about.....if MB1 is meant for the NSX, don't you think there would be an MB1 sticker in the engine compartment and also emphasized in the owner's manual, as is with the Mercedes and Porsche vehicles?
I track my car alot.
My understanding is that synthetic oil holds up better than non-synthetic oil under the real high temps that I experience at the track.
If this is true, it is worth the extra money to me.
My understanding is that synthetic oil holds up better than non-synthetic oil under the real high temps that I experience at the track.
If this is true, it is worth the extra money to me.
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Yellow Rose
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My understanding is that synthetic oil holds up better than non-synthetic oil under the real high temps that I experience at the track.
I track my car too, and I bet that your engine temps are no hotter than mine. For that matter, a properly working NSX cooling system maintains 186 °F. At least that is the number I recall from the service manual, for the thermostat setting.
If this is true.......
It is true - at temperatures over 350 °F to 400 °F. (Do you remember the Mobil 1 TV commercial when they cooked MB1 in a skillet and organic oil in a skillet?) You are wasting your money. Not meaning any flames, but what do you mean by "under the real high temps that I experience"?
I track my car too, and I bet that your engine temps are no hotter than mine. For that matter, a properly working NSX cooling system maintains 186 °F. At least that is the number I recall from the service manual, for the thermostat setting.
If this is true.......
It is true - at temperatures over 350 °F to 400 °F. (Do you remember the Mobil 1 TV commercial when they cooked MB1 in a skillet and organic oil in a skillet?) You are wasting your money. Not meaning any flames, but what do you mean by "under the real high temps that I experience"?
AndyVecsey said:
I guess I don't know what I mean.
AndyVecsey said:
The owner's manual states 10w30, we just choose to use Mobil 1. just like you choose to use 20w50 Castrol, personal preference, I guess. Why do you use 20w50 instead what Honda recommends? Because you feel it will give you better protection. just like how I feel about Mobil 1. As far as wasting my money. I guess since I do my own oil change, the cost is still $30 or so. No big deal, I just won't super size my Happy meal
Yellow Rose
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Touche'
Good call on me, guys.
At least we use Honda oil filters, and not Fram.
I will admit that I tried Mobil 1 one time in my NSX. I reverted to Castrol because the dyno showed no increase in power.
Good call on me, guys.
At least we use Honda oil filters, and not Fram.
I will admit that I tried Mobil 1 one time in my NSX. I reverted to Castrol because the dyno showed no increase in power.
Yellow Rose
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And, go ahead and flame me for it but I change it every 3000 miles, if not sooner.
Now that IS a waste of money. Mercedes come from the factory with MB1. Oil changes are every 10k miles, as indicated by a sensor in the oil pan that detects oil degradation.
Now that IS a waste of money. Mercedes come from the factory with MB1. Oil changes are every 10k miles, as indicated by a sensor in the oil pan that detects oil degradation.
Well, you must deserve to be flamed, because that's my list too, and I get flamed all the time!White94 said:
I use Mobil 1 10W30. Why 10W30? Because that's what Honda's designers and engineers recommend for the NSX (at temperatures above 0 degrees F). Why Mobil 1 vs other brands of synthetic oil? Because they sell it at Sam's and Costco. Why full synthetic oil? Because it flows better when the engine is cold, and it's more resistant to breakdown when the engine is hot. Andy says that conventional oil is just as good for the NSX? Who knows - maybe he's right. But the only reason anyone ever criticizes synthetic oil is the price - and it's my decision that I would rather have the benefits of synthetic oil (regardless of whether or not they make a difference to the engine - maybe they will, maybe they won't, not a chance I want to take) and I'm willing to pay a little more for the very best protection for my engine. I use full synthetic oil in all my cars.
Yellow Rose
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Then - Now
I use full synthetic oil in all my cars.
What did we do before the dawn of the synthetic age? We used organic oil. I used Pennzoil organic in one of my cars for sixteen years that had 187,000 miles on it when I sold it. At the time of sale, it did not burn a single drop of oil.
My organic trumps your synthetic.....equally in terms of performance and definitely in terms of cost.
I use full synthetic oil in all my cars.
What did we do before the dawn of the synthetic age? We used organic oil. I used Pennzoil organic in one of my cars for sixteen years that had 187,000 miles on it when I sold it. At the time of sale, it did not burn a single drop of oil.
My organic trumps your synthetic.....equally in terms of performance and definitely in terms of cost.
I totally agree that regular oils are so good today that synthetic is a waste of money. I haven't sold a car in decades with a worn out engine; however synthetics DO lubricate better - that's why most manufacturers including Honda recommend not using them during the break in period ( never a problem for me since I've never bought a new car in my life ). The molecule chain in synthetic motor oil is considerably longer which greatly reduces shear. This is of negligible effect on bearings, but does increase ring life. I use Castrol Syntec 10W30 strictly to dispose of those pesky extra dollars.
AndyVecsey said:
Not that this is great defense, but my BMW recommends changing the oil every 15k. I change it every 5k.
I see it as cheap insurance. Doe it matter to BMW if the car lasts 100k, 200k or 300k? Likely not. Does it matter to me? Absolutely.
how often do you change your oil?
how many miles do you generally run your car til u change the oil?
how many miles do you generally run your car til u change the oil?
Re: how often do you change your oil?
For you guys that use synthetics, have you had any problems with any of your seals drying out and leaking? When synthetics first came out they were plagued with complaints of causing rubber seals to dry out prematurely, so I was wondering if the new synthetics have solved those problems.
I have yet to reach 3000 miles of driving in a 3 month period, but I change my oil roughly every 3 months. So I guess I am nuts too. I don't track my car, so I use regular Castrol 10W-30 motor oil.dlynes said:
For you guys that use synthetics, have you had any problems with any of your seals drying out and leaking? When synthetics first came out they were plagued with complaints of causing rubber seals to dry out prematurely, so I was wondering if the new synthetics have solved those problems.
Yellow Rose
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Mark - I'm going to "pick on you" not to be mean, but to politely counter your position. You said.....
Not that this is great defense, but my BMW recommends changing the oil every 15k. I change it every 5k. I see it as cheap insurance.
If the dentist says to have your teeth cleaned every six months, do you do it instead every two months? From an engineer's perspective, maintenance intervals are arrived at based on facts, not folly. Unless you have a compulsive-obsessive disorder, there is generally no need to take a shower six times per day. You get my meaning.
I see it as cheap insurance. Does it matter to BMW if the car lasts 100k, 200k or 300k? Likely not. Does it matter to me? Absolutely.
Why? I can see if somebody wants their car to last 100k miles, so as to not incur another five or six year car note. And if the car lasts to 200k but not 300k, big deal. They will still have to buy another car sooner or later.
My brother-in-law racked up over 225k miles on his Honda Accord #1 and is now well over 150k miles on his Honda Accord #2. #1 had a front crankshaft seal leak at about 200-ish thousand miles. The current one is still dry.
Andy is stepping up onto his soapbox.....guess what oil he uses?
Next debate - boxers vs briefs or graphite shafts vs steel shafts.
how many miles do you generally run your car til u change the oil?
I follow the owner's manual on changing intervals.
Not that this is great defense, but my BMW recommends changing the oil every 15k. I change it every 5k. I see it as cheap insurance.
If the dentist says to have your teeth cleaned every six months, do you do it instead every two months? From an engineer's perspective, maintenance intervals are arrived at based on facts, not folly. Unless you have a compulsive-obsessive disorder, there is generally no need to take a shower six times per day. You get my meaning.
I see it as cheap insurance. Does it matter to BMW if the car lasts 100k, 200k or 300k? Likely not. Does it matter to me? Absolutely.
Why? I can see if somebody wants their car to last 100k miles, so as to not incur another five or six year car note. And if the car lasts to 200k but not 300k, big deal. They will still have to buy another car sooner or later.
My brother-in-law racked up over 225k miles on his Honda Accord #1 and is now well over 150k miles on his Honda Accord #2. #1 had a front crankshaft seal leak at about 200-ish thousand miles. The current one is still dry.
Andy is stepping up onto his soapbox.....guess what oil he uses?
Next debate - boxers vs briefs or graphite shafts vs steel shafts.
how many miles do you generally run your car til u change the oil?
I follow the owner's manual on changing intervals.
synthetic vs fossil
I know I am going to get flames on this but, just my two cents...
I have taken my little track 1996 nissan se-r to the track and have seen se-r motors with their valve covers off and have the difference in protection with fossil vs synthetic oils. The synthetic oils do a much better job at preventing caking, grinding of the cam lobes, and keeping the oil galleys cleans under hard usage. I have also seen se-r motors broken down with over 200,000 miles on them and the owner used synthetic oil...the motor looked shiny gold brown inside...almost brand new...
In my opinion, synthetic is the only way to go because I have seen motors tracked with and without synthetic usage and you can visibly see a difference.
I use Mobil 1 because it is readily accessible...but everyone has their favorites...just like everyone has their favorite sports car...like me with my NSX.
I know I am going to get flames on this but, just my two cents...
I have taken my little track 1996 nissan se-r to the track and have seen se-r motors with their valve covers off and have the difference in protection with fossil vs synthetic oils. The synthetic oils do a much better job at preventing caking, grinding of the cam lobes, and keeping the oil galleys cleans under hard usage. I have also seen se-r motors broken down with over 200,000 miles on them and the owner used synthetic oil...the motor looked shiny gold brown inside...almost brand new...
In my opinion, synthetic is the only way to go because I have seen motors tracked with and without synthetic usage and you can visibly see a difference.
I use Mobil 1 because it is readily accessible...but everyone has their favorites...just like everyone has their favorite sports car...like me with my NSX.
Well I'll be danged! Ya know many years ago I read through all sorts of seemingly scientifically-based tests documenting all sorts of objective parametric testing of things like viscosity index increase with time X temp, crud buildup / production with time X temp (crud is a scientific term), and half a dozen other test results that were really impressive to a non-chemist like me. It just never occurred to me that that was all just snake oil salesmanship! Then I really figured there was somethin' to it when all the major manufacturers jumped on the snakeoil bandwagon and all started marketing a synthetic. I guess you just never know, huh?
I can tell you one thing. I hope to be buried in this car with a billion miles on it, so I want the best snake oil money can buy. There is no "next" car as long as they keep sellin' gas!
Richard
'93 Blk/Blk
'85 CRX-Si - 200K hard miles - perfect
Mobil1 snakeoil
I can tell you one thing. I hope to be buried in this car with a billion miles on it, so I want the best snake oil money can buy. There is no "next" car as long as they keep sellin' gas!
Richard
'93 Blk/Blk
'85 CRX-Si - 200K hard miles - perfect
Mobil1 snakeoil
For those that work on there own cars, you know that the synthetic feels more slippery...not that I think that matters.
I was experiencing cam journal bearing wear in my Europa which stopped when I changed to synthetic...the lubrication pressure is marginal in this area.
I carefully check mileage on all my cars (six cars, 5 drivers...except for the NSX and the Europa, I swap back and forth between synthetic and non-synthetic depending on whether I can get a deal on synthetic when that car comes up for a change). I see a 1 to 1.5% improvement in fuel mileage with synthetic. This is roughly a break even proposition over the 5000 miles driven between changes. If you factor in the reduction in wear, I think that the scale tilts in favor of synthetic.
All the engines look clean inside, synthetic or no.
The synthetic must have a strong detergent package. We bought an abused Mitsubishi Eclipse with just under 100K miles on it that looked pretty grungy in the engine. 4 oils changes later, it looks as clean as the rest of the fleet. I never saw that happen before.
Never saw a car start leaking when synthetic was introduced or withdrawn (The Lotus was leaking the day it rolled off the showroom floor...still does, 30 years later. I have no chassis rust!). I was a late adopter though, I have only been using synthetic for 4 years.
Synthetic makes it impossible to break in rings...I tried. This tells me that it does do a better job of preventing wear.
I was experiencing cam journal bearing wear in my Europa which stopped when I changed to synthetic...the lubrication pressure is marginal in this area.
I carefully check mileage on all my cars (six cars, 5 drivers...except for the NSX and the Europa, I swap back and forth between synthetic and non-synthetic depending on whether I can get a deal on synthetic when that car comes up for a change). I see a 1 to 1.5% improvement in fuel mileage with synthetic. This is roughly a break even proposition over the 5000 miles driven between changes. If you factor in the reduction in wear, I think that the scale tilts in favor of synthetic.
All the engines look clean inside, synthetic or no.
The synthetic must have a strong detergent package. We bought an abused Mitsubishi Eclipse with just under 100K miles on it that looked pretty grungy in the engine. 4 oils changes later, it looks as clean as the rest of the fleet. I never saw that happen before.
Never saw a car start leaking when synthetic was introduced or withdrawn (The Lotus was leaking the day it rolled off the showroom floor...still does, 30 years later. I have no chassis rust!). I was a late adopter though, I have only been using synthetic for 4 years.
Synthetic makes it impossible to break in rings...I tried. This tells me that it does do a better job of preventing wear.
AndyVecsey said:
I see your point, but the examples you mention are not without flaw either. I can't tell what is going on inside the engine without tearing it apart. FWIW, I am an engineer (mechanical) and while that doesn't qualify me as an expert I can say that service intervals are arrived at by people using a set of assumptions & testing data. They want to achieve multiple goals, which may or may not be the same as mine.
BMW provides 'free maintenance' for the car and warranties the car. What sort of behavior does that incentivize? I would argue that it is 'change the oil often enough the car will make it out of the warranty period. You and I can agree that the engine will last to 100k if I follow thier recommendations. If I change more frequenty, I am upping the odds that I will see 200k or 300k with less problems. How much does this up the odds? I don't know - probably not dramatically. But for the cost of a few extra oil changes, I'll take what improvement I can get as I tend drive a lot and keep cars a long time.
I am certainly not suggesting everyone do this, but to assume that BMW has a crystal ball and exactly the same expectations of the vehicle as I do is a little naive.
I guess its all depends on how protective you are of your engine. In contrast to my NSX which I am very protective of and regimented in the maintenance of, here is a shot of my Durango's top end opened up. I have used bargain basement genaric (Wal-Mart) brand oil in it since it was new, I only change the oil every 6000 to 8000 miles, my wife drives like a maniac in it, and it had 65k miles on it when this picture was taken.
As you can see it is a nice golden tan, with the push rods showing their typical red/tan color as well. The block is nice and clean with no sludge or crud anywhere. The pooled oil you see in the picture showed up a little dark in the picture, but is was fine.
So other than my NSX, I really don't see the need to spend a fortune for oil, just the need to change the oil fairly regularly.
Another $.02
As you can see it is a nice golden tan, with the push rods showing their typical red/tan color as well. The block is nice and clean with no sludge or crud anywhere. The pooled oil you see in the picture showed up a little dark in the picture, but is was fine.
So other than my NSX, I really don't see the need to spend a fortune for oil, just the need to change the oil fairly regularly.
Another $.02
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If you change it every 3000 miles, then it will be bright silver color and like new
