I have a 2011 sport Fit and I need to change my oil, do I need to use senthedic? I have been using it but its just to expensive can use regular oil?

 

No, but 0w20 is only available as synthetic. You can use 5W20 conventional oil and be fine.

How often do you change oil? 5 US quarts of mobil 1 is about $25. Mine calls for a change every 10K miles. It's worth it.

 

Most of the blended 20 weight oils are almost as expensive as synthetic anyway aren't they? I used to run blends in the past and IIRC it was almost $4 a quart?

 

You can use conventional oil but be prepared to change your oil and filter twice as often. Paraffin and napthene based oils break down much more rapidly than syntheics. You will get less mpg and if you rev to red line routinely you will increase engine wear. thats from lubrication labs testing and more than a few races.
And its not unheard of for viscosity improvers in conventional oils to not do a great job either.
"you can pay me now or you can pay me later..."

 

Sure you can but I'd change it at max 5000 miles. I don't think regular oil is such a bargain since it breaks down more quickly, you have to change it more frequently. You can push synthetic that little extra longer and it's less of a big deal.

I recommend checking walmart or whichever parts store is close to you. Usually the 5l jugs go on sale once in a while. I buy mine at 40% off! When they go on sale I get two jugs and I'm set for about 3 oil changes. Here in Canuckistan castrol is about 45$ for 5L (about 5 quarts) so I get them for about 25$ so every oil change I'm spending like 10-15$ in top quality oil.

Also, you'll probably get better engine life and MPG so the fiery little money you will save on conventional oil you well have to reinvest in either a new car/engine or in more gasoline.

 

Synthetic will not give you better gas milage. You can follow the Maintenance Minder oil change intervals with dino oil. You will be fine. Personally I use synthetic, but it's not necessary.

 

go to walmart and grab a 5qt jug of mobil1 synthetic with green cap. you only need 4qts, but that 1qt you can use in case you need to add any later. and it's the cheapest way to buy this oil that i know of.

 

I'm new to maintenance minders and still don't fully understand how it technically works. I assume it was simply based on computations on use/utilization (guessing here but revs/load/mileage and sum such). Can you or someone confirm that it can actually detect and differential dino vs. synthetic oil that’s in it and adjust the use/calculations to reflect this? Would appreciate reference to some technical documents. Thanks!



@ OP – regarding dino/blend/full, it depends on how you use your car and the environment. Overall, just stick with full synthetic . The higher initial cost pays for itself since it also last longer.

 

No, the MM does not detect the kind of oil in use. It's based on conventional oil in the grade recommended in the owner's manual. Synthetic should be good for much longer but if you leave it in, contrary to the MM, you could void your engine warranty.

Yes, the mm does calculate the change interval based on revolutions and time at operating temperature. There are probably more factors but these are the most important.

anecdotal accounts from users have the MM flagging oil changes at anywhere between 2,500 miles and 11,000 miles. Personally mine always gets to 15% "life" at about 9,000 miles. I have a rather long commute which gives the engine time to heat up and boil off contaminants. Short trips where this doesn't happen get the early notice.

Several have paid for oil analysis and results came back with lots of oil life left when going by the MM, so don't worry about long intervals if you're in that group.

Synthetic just gives you more margin. It avoids the issue of sludge (not know to be a problem with Fits) and is kinder at startup. Synthetic's molecules are more stable and less likely to break-up at high temperatures so it's required in turbo applications. Anything less than that it's nice to have. Even cheap bastards can rationalize it.

 

I just had my 5th oil change done at the dealer with Mobil1 Synthetic. Cost me $42 for this and I'm right about 49K miles. I used to have a 26 mile commute one way at an avg speed of 41mph to work which is why I had such long intervals between oil changes (about 10-11k miles). The Fit's Economy and MM really like that type of driving. I use Synthetic for colder weather starts and the extra peace of mind as $40 every 10K miles. Regular oil changes cost about $34 so for $8 more every 10K miles, I'm OK with that as that doesn't seem too expensive to me. If I wasn't following the MM and doing oil changes every 3K miles, It might be a bit costlier but getting rid of the unnecessary oil changes should mitigate that problem.

~SB

 

Any oil that meets GF-5 standards will work just fine. This whole idea of "cheap oil must not be as good" is baffling since it all meets the same API standards.

 

Well, in the Fit's case, it does benefit from lower viscosity 0w20 only available as "synthetic." I think non-synthetic has improved to the point where for heavier weight it's a wash for non formula 1 racers. In past years some cars had problems with sludge build-up that was eliminated using synthetic.

For turbo charged cars synthetic is mandatory. (At least in the GM LNF I played with for a while.) This is due to extreme temperatures lubricating and cooling the turbo (engine oil is circulated through it). Synthetic's long molecules are less susceptible to breakup in high heat than mineral oil. It's these long molecules that provide the lubricating properties.

And then there's the question of what the hell is synthetic? Images of white lab coats blending synthesized polymers using a bit of fairy powder comes to mind. And that's it exactly.

Which do you want in your Fit? Dinosaur dung and mashed insects or fairy dust?

 

I firmly recommend all fit owners to use mobil1 advanced fuel economy 0w-20

Without buying more expensive racing type oil (which works AMAZING on our tight tolerance motors), this mobil1 oil really feels like its working better then the over-the-counter honda oil they gave me at the dealership the second oil change.

To me, I feel like the motor is slightly quieter, runs with a bit more response, and the first oil change after I switched, the oil still looks nearly new, where as the honda oil looked pretty crappy.


I understand that color does not necessarily mean quality, but come on, the oil filter was same type, environment and driving style were very closely matched, mileage was nearly identical (6500 miles), even time to change was same (3.5 months)




I do however want to try out Brad Penn or Amsoil varieties!!

EDIT
Negative, just means the owners of turbo vehicles with this problem were NOT likely to let the car idle for a minute or two before shutting it down. Turbo cars need a chance to circulate fluids and get rid of some heat before shutdown.

My turbo crx saw synthetic SUPERTECH 10w-30 in the winter and regular SUPERTECH 10w-40 in the summer. D16A6 with holset HY35. Never gave me a problem, only real modification to oil system was an oil cooler with a thermostat valve that allowed awesome cooling in the summer and factory temps in winter. thermostat was 160 degrees, so oil only flowed through cooler at that temp or above. I dont think oil ever flowed through it in the winter lol unless I was making some poor stock ZR1 owner cry.

 

My motor was noisy as hell until I switched to synthetic after my free first oil change oil was done. Not sure if it was just breaking in or it was the oil, but valve train noise was ridiculous.

 

the breakin oil isnt meant to cushion noise at all, just allow motor best chance of a quick breakin.

My engine was this way with the dealerships first free oil change as well, but those bitches gave me teh black bottle synthetic blend 0w-20 even though I requested full synth. They claimed I had no choice or they could charge me the change. I was pretty pissed

 

Oh no no I mean after the break in oil I had a free change at the dealership with their bulk oil or whatever.

 

ahh ok then I just imagined GM's requirements for their turbo applications. Can't find a reference and I sold the Solstice, but while looking I found this fun article:

Stop Changing Your Oil!