In article <r_FXf.5837$tT.4446@news01.roc.ny>,
"Seth" <seth_lermanNOSPAM@hotmail.com> wrote:

> > Do the math on synthetic oil with longer changes (say, 5K and 7.5K) vs.
> > regular oil with 3K changes.
> >
> > I guarantee you, regular oil even at 5K intervals is more than enough
> > protection to make this thing last forever. Synthetic oil is throwing
> > your money down the drain.
>
> Yup. I go 7k between changes using plain old dino oil (well, blend these
> days I think is all the 5w-20 you'll find) and at 154,000 miles (on an '01
> V6/AT Accord) engine still runs like when new.

Get an oil analysis from Blackstone Labs, and come back with the results.

I did so with my 92 Civic Si at around 112K miles; the report showed
that my 3K oil change intervals were *still* unneeded, and recommended
going to 5K based on the condition of the oil. Further, it appeared as
if the inside of the engine was in new condition.

Let's see...Mobil 1 is $6/qt, $30 for the oil. Dino is, what? Buck and
a half? $7.50 worth of oil for the whole shebang?

(to the original poster

All other things being equal--and they are--synthetic costs you $22.50
more per change. If you change at 5K intervals, you're paying another
half a penny per mile more just for the oil.

And it isn't doing you any better than dino.

Let's say you don't trust dino and wouldn't let it go any farther than
3K miles. Your total oil cost per mile is 0.25 cents. A quarter of a
penny. That's being INCREDIBLY generous. Any modern oil in a modern
engine can go 5K miles without trouble.

To get that low of a per-mile oil cost with synthetic means you'd have
to run it for 12K miles between changes. And you'd NEVER do that, no
matter what.

Even worse: with 5K intervals and dino, you're paying 0.15 cents/mile
for oil. To get that cost with synthetic, you're now up to a 20K mile
change interval. You'd NEVER do that, period.

Yet 5K intervals with dino on a new Honda V6 engine protect it just as
well as 7.5K or 10K intervals with synthetic--but at half the cost per
mile.

Fact: you pay a serious premium for synthetic, and putting it in a
Honda is wasting your money. People who would put synthetic in a Honda
are like the people who pay $1000/meter for stereo cables--easily
suckered by marketing hype, easily scared, and easily parted from their
money.

Let's face it: this is a Honda. It's not a 'Vette or an M5.