Don't use synthetic in a turbo car!

[BuickGN]

This was the advise someone gave a friend of mine who just bought a GN. This guy is very respected in the GN community and had a 7 second single turbo car and is like a walking car encyclopedia. He recommends running only Castrol conventional. I'm wondering what his reasoning could be.

This is a mid 11 sec stock from the throttlebody down car so it has a flat tappet cam.

 

[cosynthetics]

I don't know what about a GN would make a difference but as a general statement that is purely hogwash.

 

[ToyotaNSaturn]

+1 regarding hogwash.

 

[Quest]

total poppycock!

Q.

 

[bluesubie]

There are Subaru Service Managers advising customers not to run synthetic.

-Dennis

 

[Drew99GT]

A contrarian view: how many of us routinely tear motors apart and mic engine parts??? Who are we to question someone who does this on a routine basis (like I'd assume someone who has a 7 second GN does).

 

[06VtecV6]

Originally Posted By: BuickGN
This was the advise someone gave a friend of mine who just bought a GN. This guy is very respected in the GN community and had a 7 second single turbo car and is like a walking car encyclopedia. He recommends running only Castrol conventional. I'm wondering what his reasoning could be.

This is a mid 11 sec stock from the throttlebody down car so it has a flat tappet cam.


Agree 100%. I use a syn blend atleast but perhaps Castrol conventional is basically a syn blend in 'conventional' cloak.

I guess you use synthetic if you are afraid of sludging in your car's design or you are just paranoid about wear that a UOA cannot backup or distinguish from a good conventional. We have all seen plenty of UOA of conventional oil in various applications equal or eclipse synthetics and the proof is just a short stop away in the UOA section.

What this guy basically prooved with much more bravado and panache then any UOA can do.

Synthetics are very overrated for what they do in many instances that other oils with less elite titled oils such as 'conventional oil or synthetic blends can just the same..

 

[BuickGN]

I found it a little weird that he suggested this but both him and his son drive 9 second cars to work everyday and he does this for a living. I was thinking maybe he's stuck in his old ways since he's an old timer but I can only imagine the number of teardowns he sees. Besides, stuck in their old ways old timers generally don't run turbo V6s with Motec engine management.

I haven't run anything but synthetic in the TL but the teardowns on my GN always looked better with 20-50 Superflo than 15-50 M1, especially in the cylinder/ring/piston area. Still going to give Redline a shot though.

 

[Nickdfresh]

Originally Posted By: BuickGN
...He recommends running only Castrol conventional. I'm wondering what his reasoning could be.

....


He doesn't know what he's talking about?

 

[lewk]

Does castrol sponsor him??????

 

[BuickGN]

Originally Posted By: lewk
Does castrol sponsor him??????


The 7 second car is the only one I know of that was sponsored and I don't remember Castrol anywhere on it. The two 9 second cars are personal daily drivers, not sponsored, and he specifically said he runs dino in those too.

I'm not arguing either side, just curious what others think about this opinion. I always chalked the better wear with dino up to my learning to tune the car.

 

[Steve S]

Why would you want to run syn ? Why would you not want to run syn? People think syn oil is the cats meow . I really haven't found any evidence that syn is always better. The opinion of someone who has hands on knowledge is much better than someone who has never seen the insides on an engine but reads articles in a magazine or advertisements. There are many over the road trucks with turbos that run dino oil and run a million miles..

 

[skippy]

I've run nothing but syn in my turbo car for 20 years and 170K miles. Still has the original motor and turbo. Runs like a watch too.

 

[glennc]

If wear performance were slightly better with conventional then it would be a small enough difference that it would only be noticeable under particular conditions, like racing stress or perhaps extreme mileage.

This is an interesting opinion especially since it comes from somebody with solid background, and especially backed-up with BGN's observations about his own motors.

 

[MGregoir]

I don't know, I think that the main logic behind synthetics and turbos is coking. Someone really into their car would let it cool down after running or have a turbo timer, and a 20W-50 oil definitely offers the high temperature protection under boost,

No worries about seal compatibility, on a car like that you would change oil fairly often, and if you made sure to take care of the turbo I am sure that it would do adequately.

I would say synthetics could offer benefits in a situation like that but it is quite possible conventional can do fine, especially considering the performance of newer conventionals,

 

[Cutehumor]

one thing to say not to use syn in a turbo. but to say to use castrol dino only. I haven't ever used castrol yet for an oil change I have ever done.

 

[MGregoir]

One thing Castrol GTX does seem to nail is high temperature performance. As an all around oil not so great, but when things start to cook I think that is when GTX shines. That is where their product goals seem to lie.

 

[mechtech2]

Turbo cars get some very hot localized spots that the oil sees.
A full synthetic is much better for this problem.

A 7 second 1/4 mile car only sees under 1,000 total engine revolutions, and can use anything fresh.

This is not real life for the street, however.

 

[Pablo]

Maybe he changes his oil. A LOT.

You should have asked him what his reasoning is.

Maybe he is a great builder. But my turbo went 270,000 miles after I bought it used with a dead Garrett turbo (it's 2nd turbo!), with totally coked oil lines. Nothing but Castrol in that car before I got it and it killed 2 turbos....not a great testimonial IMHO. After I finally got the engine all clean and turbo replaced, I ran Amsoil at 10,000 mile intervals. The oil lines were spotless.

 

[Brett Miller]

Maybe John Force is his neighbor?