Gadgetman

HI Guys & Gals

I'm the one who posted the response from Nissan for my e-mail to them on acceptance of synthetic... particularly if it would void warranty.

Since then, I've also spoken with them after the e-mail.
Nissan stands firm that Synthetic is acceptable AS LONG AS ALL the requirements for Mineral based oil are followed...
Grade/SAE specs/ change intervals/ Filter chages
AND documented should anyone seek waranty claim down the road. That is the same documentation requirement / needed even if using mineral based.

Now to continue on the topic.

I have some disccusion with a coworker/ who is a Mechanical Enginneer that has also been racing for > 20 yrs. ( and holds some positions on racing boards).
He swears by Synthetic ... and adds the following ...

Race engine teardowns ( which are done more frequent than most realize) have proven the added *benifits of synthetic to mineral when viewing critical wear areas/components. Many components which would normally be replaced if in a mineral based environment get put right back in.

In formula racing he personnaly has seen
Mobil One reduce lap times by ~ 0.2 sec over mineral oil
*Mobil One also reduced times by ~ 0.1 sec over REDLINE ( his words from his and co-racer experiences not mine) and he has seen significantly less wear evidence ( at engine teardowns) with Mobil vs Mineral and somewhat less than Redline... for what it's worth... again his/their words from expierience so don't flame the messanger.

Realistically we (or at least most of us) won't stress the car as much as a professional racer ( or ricers) so any synthetic is fine, approved by Nissan (following mineral guidelines), and will help the engine have a long healthy life. Cheap insurance against wear and for a slight performance upgrade (he said measurments have shown 2 - 6 % HP increases due to lower friction pending engine design) as a bonus.

Also, he stated that since Nissan does not state use of synthetic in manual, it might be wise to break the engine in with mineral based first as some surfaces will wear in as designed vs very late or not at all if using synthetic at first or too early. Something they also due to break-in race engines or rebuilds. He said synthetic would be best if held off till ~ the third oil change... say around 5kmi+ Also suggested for the changeover... drain the car HOT immediately after running it for awhile for full thermal heat-up. Then, after draining awhile, leave the drain plug out let it continue to drain and later just pour a quart or two of synthetic right through as a surface flush to remove excess dino oil. Yes it's costing more to do it, but then you can wait a full change interval vs thinking of doing first synthetic change prematurely just to remove more "left behind" dino oil residue. He said what is left this way is insignificant.


OK & AGAIN
Just passing on and clarifying what I've learned.
So, Off the soapbax and someone else can take over.

John

iTrader: (17)

Wow, thanks for the details...