Synthetic Oil vs "Severe" driving conditions

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Hello folks, hoping for some insight or a nudge in the right direction for further research, if needed.

I have a brand new 2020 Hyundai Palisade and I'm trying to figure out my oil change intervals. Owner's manual suggests 7500 miles/12 months for "normal", and 3750 miles/6 months for "severe" driving conditions. Now, I guess I "technically" fall into the severe category, since I drive/commute through LA traffic during the week. But honestly, it's not all that bad. A little stop-n-go on some parts, but mostly regular/actual driving on other parts of the commute; I'm lucky that it's not strictly bumper to bumper the entire way. I also tend to put comparatively more miles on longer distance drives on the weekends (i visit San Diego from LA almost every weekend, about 2 hour drive one way, and usually its steady highway driving the entire route). Basically, I think I may be borderline severe, as opposed to full-on severe.

In any case.. as far as I know, factory-fill is conventional, but if i were to opt for synthetic on my next change, could I reasonably extend my interval to the 7500 miles, even despite my so-called "severe" driving conditions? Hoping the jump to synthetic could "offset" or compensate for the "severe" driving conditions. Of course, I know the real answer here would be "get the oil tested" but just wanted to see if my plan to go synthetic and extend my intervals as mentioned above would at least pass the initial eye test from ya'll, so to speak. I don't necessarily mind the extra cost of synthetic; but I *do* mind the inconvenience/hassle of such a short interval as 3750 miles, so if I could, I'd extend it as much as possible.

Eager to hear what everyone else thinks.
Thanks for reading and/or replying!
 
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How far is your commute and how long does it take on average? That will help us define stop and go. For some, 5-10 minutes of stop and go is a pain. For others, 1-2 hours is the norm.

With your climate and what you've said so far you might be able to go 7500 miles. If the stop and go is more severe then 5000 is a good number.

Run a good synthetic from a major brand that meets the latest specs and you will be fine.
 
Originally Posted by PimTac
How far is your commute and how long does it take on average? That will help us define stop and go. For some, 5-10 minutes of stop and go is a pain. For others, 1-2 hours is the norm.

With your climate and what you've said so far you might be able to go 7500 miles. If the stop and go is more severe then 5000 is a good number.

Run a good synthetic from a major brand that meets the latest specs and you will be fine.


My commute is about 45 minutes each way, about 12~13 miles.
But on bad days, or if I get out of the house later than I should, it could take up to an hour.
 
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Do a couple of severe interval oil changes then run a syn oil at the maximum interval and get a lab check on the oil to see how it is holding up.. The top tier syn oils should hold up well if there is not extreme fuel dilution.
 
Originally Posted by xerostatus
Originally Posted by PimTac
How far is your commute and how long does it take on average? That will help us define stop and go. For some, 5-10 minutes of stop and go is a pain. For others, 1-2 hours is the norm.

With your climate and what you've said so far you might be able to go 7500 miles. If the stop and go is more severe then 5000 is a good number.

Run a good synthetic from a major brand that meets the latest specs and you will be fine.


My commute is about 45 minutes each way, about 12~13 miles.

That is severe service. I would dump the factory fill at 1,000 miles. Fill it with your favorite synthetic oil and drive it 5K miles and do a UOA. Wear metals will be high, its a new engine, and I wouldn't concern myself with that. But the tbn should give you an idea of how much life is left in the oil. Then you'll have something to go by, data not opinions or educated guesses.
 
Having recently been living in downtown Fort Worth I think commuting driving is harder on brakes than oil. Now if we consider highway mpg rating as normal service and city driving mpg as severe you can use what your actual MPG is during the OCI to determine how to scale an OCI as a starting point.
Now if your severe service isn't with GDI, or dusty environments you can probably push out some with a more premium formulation.
 
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Originally Posted by xerostatus
Originally Posted by PimTac
How far is your commute and how long does it take on average? That will help us define stop and go. For some, 5-10 minutes of stop and go is a pain. For others, 1-2 hours is the norm.

With your climate and what you've said so far you might be able to go 7500 miles. If the stop and go is more severe then 5000 is a good number.

Run a good synthetic from a major brand that meets the latest specs and you will be fine.


My commute is about 45 minutes each way, about 12~13 miles.
But on bad days, or if I get out of the house later than I should, it could take up to an hour.



Even with the weekend trips I would consider a 5000 mile oci.

Enjoy your new Palisade.
 
Originally Posted by cos
xerostatus,

Does your '20 Hyundai Palisade have an oil life monitor?

Never had a OLM in any HyunKia but with GM cars I changed at 20 percent. If you have one how sophisticated is it?
 
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I do 6 month oil changes on my Caravan as I consider heat and short trips with an occasional hwy run as severe. I run conventional (synthetic blend) oil as it is less than 5k so far in 6 months. I would rather change it then worry. I don't follow OLM and manual states 4k for severe.
 
Your climate isn't cold, and you're on the highway 2-3 times a month, so I would consider it "normal" driving. I would go with 5000 mile intervals, easy to remember, and within Hyundai's schedule for warranty purposes. IMO, 3750 mile intervals are kind of silly, considering the quality of modern engine oil. Exceptions would be trailer towing at max rating in hot weather, or extremely dusty conditions (i.e. mostly off road use).
 
Originally Posted by carviewsonic
Your climate isn't cold, and you're on the highway 2-3 times a month, so I would consider it "normal" driving. I would go with 5000 mile intervals, easy to remember, and within Hyundai's schedule for warranty purposes. IMO, 3750 mile intervals are kind of silly, considering the quality of modern engine oil. Exceptions would be trailer towing at max rating in hot weather, or extremely dusty conditions (i.e. mostly off road use).
100%, severe service would be a lot of cold starts in below freezing weather with a fifteen minute city commute, not a forty-five min commute where it never gets cold and a long highway blast on weekends.

That's the best case scenario for a commuter car IMO. You could run long OCIs no problemo.
 
Originally Posted by maxdustington
Originally Posted by carviewsonic
Your climate isn't cold, and you're on the highway 2-3 times a month, so I would consider it "normal" driving. I would go with 5000 mile intervals, easy to remember, and within Hyundai's schedule for warranty purposes. IMO, 3750 mile intervals are kind of silly, considering the quality of modern engine oil. Exceptions would be trailer towing at max rating in hot weather, or extremely dusty conditions (i.e. mostly off road use).
100%, severe service would be a lot of cold starts in below freezing weather with a fifteen minute city commute, not a forty-five min commute where it never gets cold and a long highway blast on weekends.

That's the best case scenario for a commuter car IMO. You could run long OCIs no problemo.




If it is taking him 45 to 60 minutes to go 12 miles he is not really getting to cruising speed much. The longer weekend drives are helping his case.
 
Originally Posted by Bryanccfshr
Having recently been living in downtown Fort Worth I think commuting driving is harder on brakes than oil. Now if we consider highway mpg rating as normal service and city driving mpg as severe you can use what your actual MPG is during the OCI to determine how to scale an OCI as a starting point.
Now if your severe service isn't with GDI, or dusty environments you can probably push out some with a more premium formulation.


You raise a very good point here! MPG very closely follows service severity in most cases.

My main concern with a 7k oci is fuel dilution and the general oil torture that can be seen put of Hyundai/Kia GDI engines. I would run a 5-6k oci if I had that car. I dont really know how to measure fuel dilution other than a UOA, but that can cost as much as doing an extra oil change. Ultimately, the choice is the OP's but my vote is lower ocis.
 
Originally Posted by PimTac
Originally Posted by xerostatus
Originally Posted by PimTac
How far is your commute and how long does it take on average? That will help us define stop and go. For some, 5-10 minutes of stop and go is a pain. For others, 1-2 hours is the norm.

With your climate and what you've said so far you might be able to go 7500 miles. If the stop and go is more severe then 5000 is a good number.

Run a good synthetic from a major brand that meets the latest specs and you will be fine.


My commute is about 45 minutes each way, about 12~13 miles.
But on bad days, or if I get out of the house later than I should, it could take up to an hour.



Even with the weekend trips I would consider a 5000 mile oci.

Enjoy your new Palisade.


I agree with PimTac then get an UOA at 5000 and you'll have a much better idea of where you're standing.
 
I'd compromise from your initial goal of 7,500 and bring it down to 5,000. Seems like a very easy solution...you won't be doing 3,500 mike short intervals and you won't be going long enough to warrant an oil analysis.

GDI in a Hyundai is not something I'd play with in terms of pushing intervals out. Especially on a new $50,000 SUV.
 
I'd change it at the severe service interval or a max of 4K miles personally in that GDI

12 miles in 45mins to an hour is a lot of slow rolling at not much more than Idle. In a GDI that's definitely "severe service"
 
Yes I am not familiar with this make, GDI has varying degrees of fuel dilution and some emerging issues with combustion byproducts where being a little conservative will. It hurt,

Originally Posted by jqgz
Originally Posted by Bryanccfshr
Having recently been living in downtown Fort Worth I think commuting driving is harder on brakes than oil. Now if we consider highway mpg rating as normal service and city driving mpg as severe you can use what your actual MPG is during the OCI to determine how to scale an OCI as a starting point.
Now if your severe service isn't with GDI, or dusty environments you can probably push out some with a more premium formulation.


You raise a very good point here! MPG very closely follows service severity in most cases.

My main concern with a 7k oci is fuel dilution and the general oil torture that can be seen put of Hyundai/Kia GDI engines. I would run a 5-6k oci if I had that car. I dont really know how to measure fuel dilution other than a UOA, but that can cost as much as doing an extra oil change. Ultimately, the choice is the OP's but my vote is lower ocis.
 
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