Can synthetic oil make your shifting feel different? That might explain why after bringing my car in to the Mazda dealership for an oil change (and, while I was at it, get the recall/PCM stuff done), my shifting feels completely different.

I noticed this on the way to work today. The sticker that tells you when your next oil change is due says: "Quaker State Synthetic 5W-20"

However, the service invoice says:
5W-20-QT SAE 5W-20 SUP PR MTR: 4 qts. @ $2.85/qt.

I'm not sure if this price reflects what a synthetic would cost (esp. at dealership prices).

So how do you know what they actually put in??

 

i usually just...ask them

 

This new learning of yours amazes me, Sir Bedevere! Explain to me again how sheep's bladders may be employed to prevent earthquakes. :D

But seriously forks, I doubt they are going to remember what whoever worked on my car last week put in...and if I were a dealer trying to cover my butt I'd assure the customer that I put in 5W-20 non-synthetic, you betcha.

 

lick the dipstick if it tastes like plastic, it's synthetic, otherwise, it's dino

 

ROTFLMAO :D :D :D :D

But besides that, things are usually MORE expensive at the dealership. Synthetic usually runs upwards of $6 a liter if you buy it yourself.

No, the oil in your enigne in no way touches your shifting mechanism.

If anything, if they did use a full synthetic in your car, it would be quieter, cooler, and rev faster.

 

... am I going to get beat down for asking this again... but - I run Mobile1 Synthetic in my Jeep (I know, different machine altogether!)... but can I run the same oil in the Renesis effectively?

Thanks speedsters.

 

Yes you can put any oil in your RX-8, but the results may be unpredictable. From what I understand the RX-7 had issues with synthetic oil. When engines were being rebuilt they would find little ***** of gummy oil in the combustion chamber.

Theory being that synthetic does not break down like regular oil, and since oil actually enters the combustion chamber in the rotary, you need it to burn off. Synthetic oil burns at a higher temperature, so after using it long enough you would get these ***** in your engine. Eventually, the ***** would ruin performance because they would interfere with the combustion process.

Short answer; don't use synthetic unless you’re willing to deal with the possibility of long term consequences. Besides, if you’re changing your oil every 3 thousand miles, your unlikely to reap the benefits that synthetic oil offers.

 

I pretty much know the easiest way to found out! I do it myself and put my own in! LOL :D

 

Dunno, I always heard synthetic engines were much cleaner than dino oil engines. Besides, the engine is rediclously hot, unless the oil is made of some sort of metal its gonna burn...

14K miles with synthetic here. No issues.