On 2/5/2016 7:50 AM, murray@1 wrote:
On 2/5/2016 6:28 AM, wrote:
Wasn't old enough to remember advertisements
for that product back then. But synthetic oil
costs more per quart than regular, and it's stuck
around, so apparently it wasn't just price that
led to 'graphite's demise.


Right or wrong, I've always believed that changing oil
at the proper service intervals and using an oil with
the proper API service rating was all that mattered.
The rest is just marketing fluff.


The oil of 2016 is far superior to the oil of 1956. Synthetics are
better than dino oil. It is a real difference, not just fluff.

The real question is: Do you need it? In most cases, no. As you say,
use the correct oil and change as needed. Most car engines today will
easily top 150,000 miles if cared for. High performance engines will
benefit from synthetics. Corvette comes with it from the factory.

Many years ago my brother and I did some testing on small displacement
air cooled 2 cycle engines. (model aircraft and race car). With regular
lubricants they would run in the 12,000 to 15,000 RPM range. With
synthetics, we could get 15,000 to 18,000 RPM.