Crane Cams say's......

[toocrazy2yoo]

No, but the application is everything.

In PCMO/HDEO, good and bad is pertinent to whether it's the RIGHT/CORRECT oil for the engine at hand. SM oils in a 600 HP 454 70 Vette with a lot of lift and high compression, no cat would be a BAD oil. 15W40 HDEO with lots of zinc would be a GOOD/CORRECT oil for the 454, but not so hot for my roller-skate DOHC 106HP Hyundai which specs SM-graded oil with little (by comparison) zinc. It isn't that any oil, syn or dino, is good or bad, it's the application and whether THAT oil is correct for THAT application. No particular oil is universally ideal for every engine.

Same extends to the user. Why run 6.00/quart syn for a 3K OCI when a cheaper dino, for 3K, will do the same job for you? It's all about the application, not so much the oil.

 

[bigbadbowtie]

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2 things here.. Car engines are rollerized.
they are broke in at the factory.

Race engines are much more powerful and maybe old tech.
(not roller)
I am sure some race engines could be broke in on syn.
but when you will be dumping it shortly why bother?

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A new engine can be broken in on synthetic oil - but I would always recommend following the warranty requirements for the sake of the warranty.

If you think of it this way, how many new cars roll off the assembly line with a full synthetic oil? I have yet to find an SAE paper that proves that a change in base oil alone (all other things being constant like additives and viscosity) impacts an engine breaking in.

But at the same time, of all the professional and grass roots race teams we work with, virtually every single one uses conventional oil to break in a new engine. Given the dollars and hours they put into their engine builds, and given any manufacturer's warranty, I say stick with what makes you and your manufacturer comfortable.

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You are correct to a point....Chevy did not produce a roller engine until 87. I think Ford may have been a little earlier. With that being said there are a TON of hotrodders like myself that still build and run non roller flat tappet cams.

Race engines of today are far from low-tech...most domestic v8 engines built for a race application will be running retrofit roller cams with a full roller valvetrain.