The car in our time has ceased to be only a luxury item, although for some owners this is still true. But only spending with the purchase of a personal vehicle does not end, and in order for it to serve faithfully for a long time, it is necessary to monitor its technical condition. In particular, we are talking about consumables like synthetic oil and repair.
It is no accident that the synthetics are indicated in the example, because such a consumable is deservedly popular among most motorists. What caused this, we will now understand.
Why do I need motor oil?
And why, in fact, absolutely all drivers buy automobile oil in stores or markets? Yes, now this question can hardly occur to anyone, but it’s still worth recalling once again the importance of such a need.
What is an engine? This is a very complex unit, which each time becomes more complicated and even more complicated. It is safe to say that automation began to rule the world, so modern cars are equipped with an ECU (electronic control unit), which, in fact, is a computer. Of course, this is not the device that almost every family now has, but it does its job with a bang.
But back to our topic of synthetic motor oil. It is thanks to the engine and a number of other mechanisms that the car rides, performing the task assigned to it. And since in the engine, due to the specifics of its operation, some parts rub against each other, friction force inevitably arises, which eventually destructively affects their technical condition. Motor oil is created with one main goal - to significantly reduce this friction.
In addition, modern lubricants help clean parts by absorbing various contaminants such as soot, soot and other contaminants. Due to such consumables, the parts of the power unit heat up less, thereby increasing its service life.
An important parameter of any oil is viscosity. If it has a liquid consistency, it will simply drain off and not lubricate the engine parts. Likewise, the opposite is true for grease that is too thick. The operation of the power unit will be significantly difficult. For this reason, it is worth knowing for what period of time to use mineral or synthetic motor oil.
Automotive Synthetics
With the start of automobile production on an industrial scale, natural-based mineral oils were poured into the engines, which had a number of significant drawbacks. In this regard, soon there was a need to improve the basic characteristics of the lubricant.
In the middle of the 20th century, many manufacturers of motor oils began to think about solving this problem. And by the middle of the 70s of the last century, the first of its kind engine oil of synthetic origin appeared. To this day, many drivers use what was created almost 50 years ago.
What is mineral oil? In fact, this is crude oil, which is far from having the best lubrication characteristics. But after multi-stage refining, distillation and refining, the properties of oil increase, and it becomes more resistant to temperature changes.
Synthetics
How to get synthetic engine oil? For this, organic synthesis of a number of oil products is used. In this case, a wide variety of compounds are obtained that differ in composition. Synthetic lubricants for automotive engines can have a different basis:
- Polyalphaolefins (PAO).
- Glycols.
- Polyorganosiloxanes (silicone).
- Esters.
Of these, the first base is deservedly popular due to its high viscosity index. Thanks to this, the engine starts without problems in winter in frosty weather, and does not overheat in summer.
The manufacture is based on lengthening short chains of butylene or ethylene in a long line. And the longer and more uniformly its atoms, the more resistant the oil is to destruction. And this property is especially important when the power unit is operating in atypical conditions (speed, high load, speed, temperature).
In other words, in order to increase the life of the engine, it is necessary that the structure of the synthetic oil does not crystallize under the influence of negative temperature and at the same time maintain its density at a very high temperature. PAO oils fully comply with these requirements.
But synthetics are synthetics, and there are products made on the basis of esters. These are products of the neutralization of carboxylic acids under the influence of alcohols. Due to the polarity of the molecules, the oil adheres to the surfaces of parts. This property allows you to do without all sorts of additives that usually burn out in the engine, which leads to the formation of soot on the surface of the engine assemblies. Only now the cost of such a seemingly perfect motor oil exceeds the price of a mineral analogue by 10 times.
Glycol synthetics cannot be mixed with mineral water, with semi-synthetic options, or with synthetics on other bases. For this reason, such mixtures are available for the manufacture of oils, but are still used in the manufacture of antifreeze.
Advantages
Now it’s worth touching on perhaps the main question that worries any car enthusiast: what are the advantages of synthetic lubricants? Actually, here are the main advantages:
- Flowability - Synthetic-based oils have a better performance than products based on other materials. Due to this, friction is significantly reduced, which leads to fuel economy.
- Stability - synthetic grease has a stable structure to temperature changes, and despite the external weather conditions overboard the car.
- Higher use interval - due to improved characteristics, synthetic lubricants do not change their properties almost throughout the entire life cycle.
- Detergent and anti-wear properties at a higher level.
- The use of additives - in synthetic motor products they dissolve completely, without forming a precipitate.
In addition, synthetic oil has detergent and anti-wear properties at a higher level. However, there are also disadvantages, and about them below.
No flaws too
For example, PAO oils have a significant drawback that ester analogues do not have. We are talking about the dissolving ability, and it is significantly lower for oils based on polyalphaolefins. Of course, here they should take into account their excellent detergent properties, which contributes to the softening of soot. It’s just that it does not completely dissolve, and its particles come off from the parts, which leads to clogging of the oil channels and the entire lubrication system as a whole.
In addition, such oils are quite expensive, due to the peculiarities of their production. Manufacturers of synthetic motor oils 5W40 and any other type in this case incur large costs that are difficult to pay off.
Using
As you can already understand, synthetic motor lubricants are reliable protection for the engine, and even working in extreme conditions. And it doesn’t matter if the cars are equipped with turbocharging or not. In modern cars, where newer power units are, it is just advisable to use synthetics. They will protect the engine from carbon deposits and corrosion, ensuring the stability of its work.
But no matter how best the synthetic oil would be, for older cars that managed to leave more than one hundred kilometers, it is better to choose semi-synthetic or mineral analogues. In such cars, the engines, as a rule, are already worn out: a lot of deposits accumulated inside them during operation, the gaps between the rubbing parts became larger, and there were microcracks in the piston group. Synthetics, having increased fluidity, is simply not able to fill these spaces, and because of this, “oil starvation” arises.
Only during the selection of such engine oil, however, this applies to any other purchase, not only in relation to the car, should be more careful. The more popular a product, the more fakes are made on it. Therefore, it is better not to buy cheap products, because any high-quality products are highly valued.
The best synthetic oils
There are topics in the world around which there is a lot of controversy, rumors of myths, etc. The automotive industry is no exception, and among many owners, the topic of choosing the best motor oil for your iron horse is relevant. It is enough to visit some forum dedicated to motorists to personally verify this by reading the numerous reviews of synthetic oils.
And since there is simply a huge amount of lubricants being sold on the modern market, both ordinary drivers and experts in the automotive industry cannot give a clear answer in terms of which manufacturer is best to give preference to.
Since the main indicator for choosing a motor oil is its viscosity, then a kind of rating will be compiled on its basis of the most common classes:
But still it is important to clarify one simple truth - such a thing as the best engine oil for an engine simply does not exist! Any material is distinguished by its strengths and weaknesses. At the same time, a number of car manufacturers recommend purchasing one product, while others advise giving preference to another brand. On the one hand, it looks like some kind of conspiracy or conspiracy, but in reality the quality and duration of operation are directly dependent on the properties of motor oil.
MOBIL 1 ESP Formula 5W-30
Synthetic Mobil oil is practically not inferior to its French competitor in the person of the company Motul, except that a little more high-temperature deposits. Just to feel the difference, you need to do 5 or 6 oil changes. However, the difference in cost will be on the side of Mobile and even some money will remain. But as for the northern regions, here it already surpasses Motul - the engine is easier to start in cold weather.
Motul 8100 X-clean FE 5W30
Many motorists have a double attitude towards this manufacturer. Someone does not tolerate it, while others value quality. It is impossible to definitely recommend all Motul oils, but specifically this product has excellent performance.
It's all about anti-friction and extreme pressure additives that provide engine parts with reliable wear protection.
Motul Specific DEXOS2 5W-30
The quality of this product was appreciated and approved by such a world-famous concern as General Motors. It is characterized by energy-saving properties and good lubricity. The dexos2 standard indicates high resistance to high temperature loads.
MOBIL Super 3000 X1 5W-40
According to the test results, including the opinion of motorists themselves, Mobil synthetic motor oil showed its best side. For its pumping in conditions of negative temperature, there are no special barriers. At the same time, at 100 ° C its performance is slightly lower than that of other analogues, but again, everything is within normal limits. Moreover, its service life is quite long.
ELF Evolution 900 NF 5W-40
Ideal for cars equipped with a Renault powertrain, but they are also placed under Volvo hoods. The oil has a stable viscosity, and holds despite the excess of temperature specified by the standard. Only in the cold, the product noticeably thickens and if this is not critical for residents of the middle or southern strip, those living in the north should choose another option.
Lukoil Lux 5W-40
Synthetic oil “Lukoil”, produced domestically, enjoys well-deserved popularity among many Russians. Moreover, it is suitable for some foreign cars like Volkswagen diesel engines, the engines of which are equipped with pump nozzles. But where the level of VW 505 01 is required, this oil is not suitable Those who are generally skeptical of domestic products should know that Lukoil to some extent even surpasses a number of analogues.
The transmission also needs protection.
In a car, not only the engine needs high-quality lubrication of parts, the transmission also needs this. And it is mainly a question of an automatic transmission, since it is more sensitive to external factors than its mechanical counterpart.
In automatic transmissions, most of the parts that are in motion and fray under the influence of friction, which is inevitably accompanied by an increase in temperature. And here among the existing oils specially designed for transmission parts, the superiority branch also belongs to synthetic lubricants.
As in motor lubricants, synthetic gear oils also contain various additives. They only serve for specific purposes, whether it is an increase in viscosity or an improvement in corrosion resistance. Often chlorine, zinc, sulfur and phosphorus are added to these synthetic oils. It turns out a mixture of almost indissoluble level.