There’s a lot of debate on the best engine oil to use; regular or synthetic oils. For starters, there is no combustion engine vehicle on the road today, from your daily-driven Toyota to supercars like Lamborghini or Porsches that run without engine oil. Whether it’s regular or synthetic, engine oil is like blood in your body; it is the lifeline of your car.
There are two significant camps of engine oil: regular/conventional and synthetic. Regular engine oil is refined using almost the same process as making petrol fuel, while synthetic oil is human-made. Engine oil is vital for the smooth running of your vehicle.
Understanding Synthetic Oil
Often, artificial oils are used as a substitute for petroleum-based oils typically required to operate in high temperatures. Synthetic oils have been used since 1929 and have been used in virtually everything, from fighter jets to daily-driven vehicles.
Synthetic oils gained popularity during world war II when the Allied forces restricted oil access to Nazi Germany, forcing them to adopt synthetic oils. In the ’70s, during the energy crisis in America, synthetic oils were also adopted to improve fuel economy.
While synthetic oils were popular in fighter jets and high-performance vehicles, today, they are used in more mainstream engines for better efficiency.
Regular or Synthetic Oils
There’s a never-ending debate about which of the above oils is better for combustion engines. However, synthetic oil is much better for your vehicle than regular/ conventional oil. While traditional oil offers the required lubrication, synthetic oil’s performance and overall engine protection features are unrivaled.
Synthetic engine oils are developed with base oils that are of higher quality than regular oils. Conventional oils are, ideally, less refined base oils. The high-quality base oil properties make synthetic oils more chemically stable, harder to break down, and less likely to acidify or oxidize.
According to a reputable review, fully synthetic engine oils offer superior engine performance and protection over any other engine oil blend or regular oil.
What are the advantages of Synthetic over Regular oil?
Since synthetic oils are artificial, they undergo a complex process to achieve the molecular requirements for specific applications. This method also ensures that any impurities that would otherwise be found in natural oils used to make regular/ conventional oil are removed. Due to this, synthetic oils can be tailored to meet certain customization levels for optimum protection and performance.
Engine protection: Your vehicle’s engine moves at extremely high speeds with its internal components in contact. In these extreme environments, your internal engine components are prone to wear out. Engine oil offers protection to those components. Unlike regular or synthetic blends, fully synthetic oils will not break down, offering more extended protection for your engine.
- Clean engine: Deposits will form as oil circulates within your engine. Regular oil will form sludge over time, reducing the engine’s lifespan and efficiency. Synthetic oils have fewer impurities and, in contrast, resist deposit formation and sludge.
- Better viscosity: Synthetic oils enjoy better stability and viscosity than regular oil at low and high temperatures. Fully synthetic engine oils are customized to flow quickly in icy and hot conditions, allowing your vehicle’s engine to run smoothly all year round.
- Turbos: Today, more vehicles are manufactured with smaller engines and turbochargers. Since synthetic oils flow quickly to critical engine parts, they offer better protection for turbocharged applications.
PS: It is important to note that while synthetic oils offer more protection and superior performance, they are much pricier than regular engine oil. Synthetic oils are also bad for the environment since they have challenges with decomposition.
