Little Experiment (check it out)

[detroit313]

ok, im hearing/reading tons of shit about the use of FULL synthetic motor oil boosting MPG if driving mostly freeway miles...
then i hear how it doesnt matter either way!
and according the the owners manual or honda shop manual the recommended gas for optimum performace is 91 octane for our cars.
i been running 86(sub regular) and 87 octane the whole time i had th car. i had it a year and got it with like 87,000 on the clock. (i have around 107,000 now 2.0l fi) the 91+ octane stuff is about 15 cents more here.
shit, gas is already around $2.90 here in Detroit right now.
with the shity "regular" gas(86-87 octane) and REGULAR motor oil i get between 400-410 miles to a full tank of gas. (my marker being when the gas light comes on) car has NO mods,its all stock.
i drive 60 miles total a day to and from work 4 days a week and i do 99% freeway between 70-80 MPH the whole time.
today was oil change and routine mantinence day for the old '88 lx-i....BUT this time i used FULL synthetic 10w-30 AND filled the tank with 91 octane gas.
do you guys think this will boost MPG and/or efficiency? is it even worth it with the price of synthetic oil? (wlmart has 5 quart jugs for like $12)
i had a few extra buxx and was bored so i thought i would try this out for something to do and talk about it here on the forum. plus i got the oil for $2.50 Quart....couldnt go wrong there!
let me know what you 3geez gurus think? im a total rookie with these kinda cars. i just love the $$ i save with gas driving this car so much!!
and how many miles to the tank Are you guys getting out of your cars?

[Deadhead]

well, i'll tell you what, the most i EVER drove my accord on one tank of gas was around 360 miles. I got around 27 mpg consistantly.

Synthetic is hands down better for your motor. Great stuff.

i dont know about your owners manual, but mine recommended 86+ octane for that accord.

you will probably get better mileage now because of the higher octane fuel, but it will be minimal, same goes with the oil.

Your just keeping your engine healthier by having synthetic oil and higher octane fuel in.

[speedpenguin]

Can't comment on the octane, but...
If you run synthetic, make sure your engine is already in good shape. Otherwise it's actually somewhat detrimental.

[MessyHonda]

i ran regular oil on my car then changed it to 5w-30 castrol syntheric blend and i notice that the can ran the same...but i just blew a headgasket...i would always shift at 5800 rpm when it was cold to make it warm up faster

[AccordEpicenter]

i ran regular oil on my car then changed it to 5w-30 castrol syntheric blend and i notice that the can ran the same...but i just blew a headgasket...i would always shift at 5800 rpm when it was cold to make it warm up faster

holy shit never do that to a cold engine. You gotta wait for the temps to normal operating temperature before you start raping it.

[speedpenguin]

holy shit never do that to a cold engine. You gotta wait for the temps to normal operating temperature before you start raping it.
Yea, you should actually be shifting at a lower point than you normally do when it's still cold.
And by the way, Synthetic Blend is no better than regular old oil. Do it full synthetic or don't do it at all. The change in perfomance is not something you're going to notice. It just slows down engine wear by a significant amount. You're not going to notice the difference unless you have a fully tuned track-only engine. Racers use synthetic for a reason.

[MessyHonda]

sorry guys... live and learn...the gasket was only 43 bucks but i dont have a car . it sgoing to be at lest 2 weeks b4 i get money to fix it up. since its a long job. i need some one to help me tune my carb. thats why i would shift high since it was slow

[Deadhead]

lol... i'm so bad to my civic... 7k when cold is BAD.

done it once, and god damn it got hella faster when it warmed up.

but, like stated above, synthetic is good.


But speedpenguin, why would it be detrimental to your engine if it's not in good shape?

[A18A]

WOW, i wish we had 86 - 87 octane over here, that would be so much cheaper, btw, how do you messure your mpg? which would be kpl here (kilometers p/ litre)


i ran regular oil on my car then changed it to 5w-30 castrol syntheric blend and i notice that the can ran the same...but i just blew a headgasket...i would always shift at 5800 rpm when it was cold to make it warm up faster
and that is possibly how my engine got its blown head gasket, who really knows, as long as my car runs good, and passes a wof, i dont care whats wrong with it. btw, your lucky you only payed $43, i payed $60 :( oh well, your right, lifes lessons

[HostileJava]

WOW, i wish we had 86 - 87 octane over here, that would be so much cheaper, btw, how do you messure your mpg? which would be kpl here (kilometers p/ litre)

Just reset your trip meter when you fill up the car. The next time you fill up the car check the kilometers traveled vs gas you put in and you get your kilometers/liter.

[86AccordLxi]

WOW, i wish we had 86 - 87 octane over here, that would be so much cheaper, btw, how do you messure your mpg? which would be kpl here (kilometers p/ litre)
and that is possibly how my engine got its blown head gasket, who really knows, as long as my car runs good, and passes a wof, i dont care whats wrong with it. btw, your lucky you only payed $43, i payed $60 :( oh well, your right, lifes lessons

Octane in other countries is measured a different way. A lot of places (europe, australia, and presumably nz) use the RON (research octane number) to measure the octane in gas, whereas in the US they average the RON and MON (motor octane number). That's why our octane ratings are 'lower,' even though they're not. Figure our 87 is your 91 or 92 octane gas.

Alex

[speedpenguin]

lol... i'm so bad to my civic... 7k when cold is BAD.
done it once, and god damn it got hella faster when it warmed up.
but, like stated above, synthetic is good.
But speedpenguin, why would it be detrimental to your engine if it's not in good shape?
If you have miniscule leaks and things like that, the dino oil plugs them up. Synthetic will not. If your engine is not in good shape but doesn't have leaks, it won't hurt your engine, but it won't really help it either. You will be wasting your money.

[AccordEpicenter]

yeah, youd be wasting synthetic if your engine wasnt in excellent condition. If it was in iffy or poor condition its not gonna help

[detroit313]

this '88 lx-i engine is prestine! no smoking,leaking or anything like that!
this car was kept in excellent shape. doesent have a spec of rust on the body either. come to find out via carfax this car was in California till late 98. im the second owner.
anyways,all small talk aside. im on my second day of commuting to and from work. im only at around 100 miles. so looks like i have around 300 more to go to see if this synthetic oil REALLY improves the MPG by reducing friction better than conventional oil(thats what the oil carton said anyways)
like i said,i was routinely getting 400-410 to the tank before the synthetic stuff.

[detroit313]

the can in my AVATAR on the Left....my summer/woodward dreram cruise ride

http://www.woodwarddreamcruise.com/

http://www.picvault.info/images/138474_Untitled-1.jpg

('71 pontiac grand ville convertible with a 455ci 4bbl)

routinely gets around 160 miles to the tank!! somewhere around 8-10 MPG.......although i DO feel a bit safer in the 'ol grand ville!

what a difference huh?

[Vanilla Sky]

i got an increase in mileage when i switched to synthetic in my truck. my mom's new accord saw similar increases. i got a bit over 1 MPG better, her car got nearly 2.