Originally Posted By: mozart
They may do the same job in terms of meeting spec, but do they do as good a job in terms of performance improvements/fuel economy? Perhaps the price differential in going to syn wipes out the potential fuel efficiency benefits.
I don't think you're going to see any statistically significant fuel economy benefits in switching from a conventional to a synthetic in the same grade. You might get somewhere by going to a lighter grade or even going from a 5w30 to a 0w-30 (as in AFE 0w-30 or Petro-Canada Supreme Synthetic 0w-30, not GC). But, look at vanilla M1 5w30, with an HTHS 0.1 higher than most other 5w30 grades.
When following warranty severe service intervals in my G37, the PYB was absolutely fine. I can't see myself having magically saved any dollars by going to a synthetic 5w30, much less an extended drain 5w30, like M1 EP, Amsoil SS, or the high end Castrol stuff, at OEM OCIs.
As for fuel economy in general, I've already posted ages ago here, with error calculations, that the fuel economy in my G37 is the same, within the error bars, using 5w-40 as it was with 5w30. I know I'm burning more fuel, but outside of a lab or a much more controlled environment than the "real world," I'll never be able to adequately demonstrate it.