Royal Purple?
 

I used to run royal purple in my pontiac (3.8L v6) i loved the stuff.
Now that i Have the civic, there's alot of talk of other performance brands!

What is the concensus here? What is the best synthetic out there? And whats the best synthetic for my application?

lots of different thoughts surrounding this... i'm not saying what is best or worst.. but the more popular brands are.. castrol... mobil1.. and if you have deeper pockets... royal purple.. amsoil... i guess it's all just a matter of preference.... in the end most motor oils are good... it's all about changing your oil and filter regularly.... that's what keeps up the performance of your car.

Oh i'm all for regular fluid changes and maintinance, I'm probly gonna run mobil1 supersyn, i just was curious to see if anyone has seen performance benefits to running premium brands. I figure with how often i like to change my oil, keeping cost down without sacrificing quality, Mobil1 was the way to go!

different oil brand isn't really going to give you any noticeable difference... well not that i know of... even comparing conventional vs synthetic it's hard to notice performance wise... however in my opinion i feel my engine runs smoother with the synthetic... could be my head just telling me that too lol...

if your past 70k on the motor, your not going to see any benefits with a synthetic oil.

I hate to sound like a Noob, but there must be some benefits to running Synthetic over conventional regardless of mileage! Are synthetics not designed for higher viscosity under extreme conditions? Royal purple is guaranteed for rediculous amounts of kilometres, and i've even seen people getting like 0.5 or even 1 hp gains simply by switching to it! Can someone give me some hard data of the differences?

the benefits of the synthetic fluid are decreased wear over time, but past 70k on the motor, the wear is already there, you might as well use a decent dino oil. Synthetic fluid wont help any more than a dino oil for any further engine wear.

Synthetic oil resists break-down in extreme conditions, such as high-heat/pressure. It also stays viscous at colder temperatures protecting your engine better during colds starts in the winter. You also don't have to worry so much about running the exact proper oil weight in your engine as synthetics are good for a MUCH wider temperature range (meaning you can runs the same oil weight in winter and summer with synthetic).

It also flows better through tighter tolerances, which is why some people say it causes oil leaks on older engines. That is not true. It just means you already had an oil leak and synthetic oil will leak out of it easier. Either way, the leak should be fixed.

For a daily diven, stock engine (like in a basic civic) regular oil is fine, and if you want, synthetic will allow you to go longer between oil changes.

Some newer vehicles require full synthetic due to tighter tolerances and longer maintenance intervals.

For the OP's application, you can use either oil and not notice any difference. If you are an aggressive driver, you may want to use synthetic. Bottom line: change your oil and filter regularly and your engine will thank you.

Thanks for the feedback everyone! I'm pretty rough on my ride, but i make sure she's tip-top so synthetic it shall be!