Did a change in oil make a significant difference?

[Fsharp]

I'm interested in hearing experiences of people changing the type of oil in their vehicle and it making a significant difference in the performance of the vehicle.

The biggest difference I've ever noticed in a vehicle was in exchanging the conventional Rotella 15w40 in an old Suburban with the diesel 6.2 (I know this is the gas forum sorry) for Royal Purple synthetic 15w40. The engine was running fine before, but with the Royal Purple it cranked and started faster, produced much less blue smoke upon start up and ran smoother and quieter. The truck had aftermarket oil pressure and water temp gauges and with the RP oil it took a couple of minutes longer to warm up and seemed to settle at a temperature 5-10 degrees lower than with the old oil. I do believe the oil pressure was a little lower, however.

This experience sent me into a Royal Purple phase from which I've now recovered, but I still use synthetic oil. Anyone else have something?

 

[Toaster_Jer]

I use to use Castrol's 5w-50 in my 98' Ranger. May be in my head (Or my foot) but the OE 0w-20 Amsoil made a big difference to me.

 

[stchman]

Unless one was using the absolute wrong viscosity, there will be no felt difference in performance, ride, etc., by simply using a different brand of oil. It is all in someone's head if they say otherwise.

 

[AirgunSavant]

When it was just new out- way back in the day.
Arco Graphite was my go to oil........
Others I guess were not so lucky.
I never had issues with it.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

The HEUI powerstrokes start easier on a 5w-40 from what I understand.

 

[AirgunSavant]

Must be in my head than.
I know guys that can not discern smoothness or noise. For one they are numb and deaf!
I disagree. I can feel-notice the difference of a small amount of oil loss in an engine.

 

[stranger706]

When I first joined here Rotella T6 5w40 was just getting popular so I tried some in my Mazda 3. Why not?

LOL, felt like it lost about 50 hp. Cranked slower, didn't want to rev, and lost a few mpg on the interstate commute. Went back to 0 or 5w20 shortly after and ran it for 106,000 miles then traded it in.

I've tried lots of brands and different weights in several vehicles and never really been able to tell a difference except for that one time with Rotella 5w40.

 

[bigt61]

Originally Posted By: AirgunSavant
Must be in my head than.
I know guys that can not discern smoothness or noise. For one they are numb and deaf!
I disagree. I can feel-notice the difference of a small amount of oil loss in an engine.

They have meds for that.

 

[aquariuscsm]

Seems Pennzoil anything makes cars purr like a happy kitty

 

[AirgunSavant]

No not nuts.
My job is to improve things and that's what I get paid for. Only my customers are OCD..
All of them.

 

[Chris B.]

Originally Posted By: Toaster_Jer
I use to use Castrol's 5w-50 in my 98' Ranger. May be in my head (Or my foot) but the OE 0w-20 Amsoil made a big difference to me.


I'd expect so! A 5w50 to a 0w20 is a missive change!

 

[tig1]

In 1978 I switched from the factory spec 10-40 in my Dodge Slant 6 to M1 5-20. Made a huge difference in cold temp starts, in both cranking RPM and engine noise on start.

 

[HerrStig]

Originally Posted By: Fsharp
I'm interested in hearing experiences of people changing the type of oil in their vehicle and it making a significant difference in the performance of the vehicle.

The biggest difference I've ever noticed in a vehicle was in exchanging the conventional Rotella 15w40 in an old Suburban with the diesel 6.2 (I know this is the gas forum sorry) for Royal Purple synthetic 15w40. The engine was running fine before, but with the Royal Purple it cranked and started faster, produced much less blue smoke upon start up and ran smoother and quieter. The truck had aftermarket oil pressure and water temp gauges and with the RP oil it took a couple of minutes longer to warm up and seemed to settle at a temperature 5-10 degrees lower than with the old oil. I do believe the oil pressure was a little lower, however.

This experience sent me into a Royal Purple phase from which I've now recovered, but I still use synthetic oil. Anyone else have something?
The truck has a thermostat which sets the coolant temp, if the oil reduced heat the thermostat would close a bit.

 

[HerrStig]

Originally Posted By: stchman
Unless one was using the absolute wrong viscosity, there will be no felt difference in performance, ride, etc., by simply using a different brand of oil. It is all in someone's head if they say otherwise.
+1

 

[PandaBear]

Performance? No. Noise level? Yes.

 

[Pontual]

Had an 93 scooby in family that always used dino like 20w40. When I took it to maintain, I did a Stp flush and put Elf 0w30 on it at 121k miles. By the color of the oil 4k miles after, Im sure it cleaned a lot of old Vii that collected around like varnish. Even the filler cap, that sits well above the engine got a good cleanup. The little clatter also went away.

 

[stchman]

Originally Posted By: PandaBear
Performance? No. Noise level? Yes.


Also in one's head.

 

[Merkava_4]

The biggest change I've ever experienced was going from Valvoline 10w30 to Exxon Superflo 20W-50 in a 7.0L Cadillac V8. I got huge gains in torque and horsepower when switching to 20W-50. And as and added benefit, fuel mileage had increased by 5mpg and the engine got super quiet at idle. It was a win win win.

 

[Xrs2zz]

Originally Posted By: AirgunSavant
Must be in my head than.
I know guys that can not discern smoothness or noise. For one they are numb and deaf!
I disagree. I can feel-notice the difference of a small amount of oil loss in an engine.


Maybe it's like how some people are better food or wine tasters than others? I'm not one to notice a difference, but I won't tell someone else they can't.

Just because most of us can't tell a difference doesn't mean everyone can't?

 

[Fsharp]

Originally Posted By: HerrStig
The truck has a thermostat which sets the coolant temp, if the oil reduced heat the thermostat would close a bit.


I understand this and thought at the time, "why the lower temp?" It's possible that my thermostat was bad. However, the truck warmed up pretty fast. What I think it was is that thermostats are not so sensitive as to completely compensate for small temperature variances like the 5-10 degrees I mentioned. It's also possible that the thermostat was full open and better oil kept the coolant from gettin any hotter than the thermostat's setting.