^interesting...or sad...

 

A scientific answer is to send in 2 oil samples, run under similar condition, for oil analysis. If you really really want to know, tear up the engine and compare wear and tear between syn or non synthetic oils

With that being said, I'll stick w/ manufacture's manual.

[QUOTE=malujerry;4902844]i know the instant reply is "because it's better" but why do you want to go synthetic? is it really going to make a difference against what the manufacture recommends? (not trying to fight, i just think lexus should have recommended it if their engineers thought it was better, and want to know the real difference)QUOTE]

 

there is nothing wrong to use dino oil. Lexus recommends it and it is good enough for your car. if you abuse your car, then synthetic MAY provide additional protection, but then if you really abuse your car, no oil is good enough to save your engine.

i use mobile 1 because i got them cheap and i redline a lot.

 

Can't you buy the oil and use the dealer for the labor?

 

+!, very well said

 

I agree. Price difference is about $30 for 10 qts., so I prefer to pay the extra $ and be better protected. Besides, with this hot Miami weather all year long your engine will thank you. The other thing is the way I drive, SPORT + M in the higher rev band most of the time.

 

Unlike other cars I've owned, I'm letting Lexus service this one exclusively. Whatever they use, which I believe was noted to be a semi-synthetic on the ticket, is going to be good enough, at the recommended service interval or sooner. Frequency of oil changes, not stretching out intervals to extend use of dirty contaminated oils even if they were higher quality synthetics to begin with, is the key for me. Who's had an oil related engine failure anyway? It doesn't happen if the service interval is maintained. For years I used Mobil 1. It's great oil, but a waste of money unless going beyond the recommended service interval, which I refuse to do.


I do my own oil changes on my daily driver, an '08 Tacoma.

But Lexus only for the IS-F, keeping all service records. Will this matter? Probably not, but to some people, those records tip the balance in your favor at resale time compared to the owner who has not maintained his service records, or used 3rd party mechanics.

As an aside, I've purchased new and used over the years, but when I purchased used, I never bought anything that had been modded or wasn't bone stock, well preserved and maintained. You look at classic car auctions, authenticity is where the value is, nobody cares about your mods that more often than not screw up what the factory did. Addressing this to no one in particular, if you were so right about your mods adding value, wouldn't Lexus being buying cars from you instead of the other way around?

My personal $0.02 on factory fills and oil recommendations from Porche, BMW and Corvette for Mobil 1, Syntec or whatever, is the oil companies pay a lot of money to the manufacturer to buy that recommendation, not some inate belief in the superiority of it. Just another form of advertising to get you to buy it. I'm glad Toyota/Lexus appears to refrain from this, (for now).

 

You would be wrong then. The reason the Corvette originally adopted Mobil 1 as the factory fill was to allow them to ship the car without an oil cooler. Mobil does not pay Chevrolet for an endorsement. Chevy's accountants balked at the cost of an oil cooler and the engineers determined using Mobil 1 would obviate the need for the cooler, so they made it the factory fill.

Mobil 1 is the only factory endorsed oil. Syntec is not endorsed by any OEM, nor are any of the other equally viable synthetics.

I run Mobil 1 in my F. I run it for a lot longer than Lexus recommend. I also have the oil analyzed so I have proof the oil is viable at the OCI I am using. Blackstone is currently recommending I go 12k miles on an OCI, and the last sample included a track weekend.

Compliant maintenance records only impress those who look for diligence, not real performance. I'll put my Blackstone analysis up against anyone's claim of good maintenance by showing the real results of the maintenance I've performed, not simple compliance with a schedule. Besides, every time you change your oil you introduce the opportunity for contaminants invading your engine. I'd rather focus on actual measured results not "one size fits all" recommendations based on a driving model I may not even remotely resemble. Anyone understanding engine lubrication and engine maintenance in general will also understand this.

 

I agree with that, the diligence DOES matter to ME more as a prospective used buyer than a blackstone report, no matter how valid, (and I'm sure it is valid), the stronger one would persuade, the more I would tune out if "thou dost protest too loudly."

But it illustrates to me the difference why purchasing a doctor driven, dealer maintained LS460 would be a more reliable used car purchase risk, than buying boy-racer's modded IS-F that he drives the **** out of, or does his own maintenance, and would try and convince me otherwise because he used synthetic oil. So I bought new. 'Nuff said.

 

Dino oil is basically made from decomposing animals and plants which have been compressed and heated over millions of years, which is in turn pumped out of the ground. Then I guess it's processed in a refinery to create a base oil, which is then mixed in with additives and whatnot to create the different weight oils we see on the market, as well as increase viscosity and protective properties.

Now, synthetic oil is made in a similar manner. The main difference is that synthetics are created using a 'synthesized' base oil where the molecules are all of the same size and weight. In dino oil you will find different sized molecules mixed in with impurities such as parafin/wax. A fully synthetic oil is made to provide a 'purer' base oil with less parafin and ideal, uniform molecular composition which in turns helps increase the oil's viscosity levels... added to this 'purer' base oil are basically more sophisticated additives that can't be added to conventional oils due to their 'impurity.' These additives help create an extremely stable engine oil which will keep its viscosity level over a longer period of time at a wider range of temperatures. Synthetic oils will also remain stable at low temperatures, where-as conventional oils will become more viscous. This helps improve cold start-ups on cars, especially in the winter, in cold temperatures, because synthetic oils have additional 'friction inhibitors' which are activated at lower temperatures. Synthetic oil will also stick to parts inside the engine, where-as conventional oil will always seek to sink to the bottom of the pan.

For a big V8 which is typically difficult to start at low temperatures, I'd opt for a synthetic. I use Nippon Oil's Eneos full synthetic, which is used in Lexus race vehicles.

 

^^^ Great info FisforFast!

 

what about a doctor driven ISF?

 

You can't make generalized statements like that. I'm a 70 year old guy that does routine maintenance on his F. I also use synthetic. I also service our truck and my wife's ES. Lexus never did the 5K service, I did. I also keep meticulous records of everything I have done in Excel.

Lou

 

Props to you, Lou. I simply don't really have the time to perform my own maintenance.

 

Fair enough Lou, but here's the thing. You like synthetic, so do I. There's people here advocating extending the oil change interval to 10-12k miles because it's so good.

Here's what I suggest. At 5k, drain that synthetic oil out into a clean pan. It's going to be very dark because of all the impurities held in suspension. Now take 10 quarts of new, conventional dino oil. You gonna tell me if you had the choice, you'd rather put that old dirty oil back in for another 3-4 months rather than the new? And what about the filter? That's the judgment being made, that at 5k miles, used synthetic is better than new dino, and people are willing to run it to 10-12k miles so that the economic argument can be made that it pays for itself.

Whose warranty do you want covering your car if there is an engine problem, Lexus or Blackstone because they told you to go beyond the recommended oil change interval?

I've been through the Blackstone debate before. It's great information, and I've seen ample instances where they make the SAME recommendation to EXTEND the oil change interval for NON-synthetic oils.

The choice for me is between paying for the extra protection of synthetic but wasting money since I'm going to change it before 5k miles versus more frequent conventional oil changes on the manufacturer's recommended schedule.

I know for me, synthetic is a waste of money. If you need the extra peace of mind, by all means go for it.