Is Synthetic oil right for the new Tundra?

After first purchasing a new vehicle, a lot of people wonder if they should start using synthetic oil. There are many benefits to synthetic oil over regular oil, including but not limited to higher purity, better resistance to high heat, better viscosity, and being less likely to break-down or turn into sludge. But these advantages may not matter depending upon how you use and maintain your new Tundra.

If you are the type of person that changes your oil exactly when you're supposed to , then there's a pretty good chance you don't need to use synthetic. On the other hand, if you've been known to skip an oil change or if you can go more than six months between changes, synthetic is a perfect choice for you. Synthetic oil can save your engine if you forget to maintain it, but if you're good at changing your oil than you won't see one the biggest synthetic oil benefits (protection against long term breakdwon).

For instance my aunt drives about 7k miles per year. At that rate she's only going to see an oil change about every 9 months. Since regular oil starts to wear out after 6 months, she should use synthetic. The best advice I can give you is think about who is in charge of maintaining the vehicles in your family and recommend synthetic oil to those people that will exceed the time threshold or those people that might space an oil change.

Another reason to consider using synthetic oil is if you find yourself in extreme conditions often, or if you find you're running your engine a lot when the vehicle is parked. Extreme conditions (like high temps or high altitudes) will often cause the engine to run at higher-than-normal temperatures, which in turn will lead to accelerated oil break-down. If you're running your engine a lot when your vehicle is parked, you're also creating higher-than-normal temperatures in your engine. Synthetic oil performs better in these situations.

The last example of a high-temperature use that would benefit from synthetic oil would be racing. Hopefully, if you’re racing, you’re using the best oil you can and changing it often.

Some experts suggest synthetic oil in stop and go traffic. I believe it depends on where you live. It depends on your typical drive and just how much “stop” is mixed in with your “go”. If idle is excessive, then you can go synthetic. There is also some advice out there stating that if you only drive your vehicle short distances, you should use synthetic. The theory is that synthetic coats the engine better in a short time period than natural oil. In my opinion, if you only drive short distances, synthetic oil will not save your engine. Short distances are bad because the engine never gets a chance to fully lubricate and cycle the oil in the system. With modern engine tolerances being so high, I really don’t think synthetic will make much of a difference by sticking to all your parts better than regular oil. My advice to people that only drive short distances - stop it. Drive an extra 10 minutes. Join a carpool. Take the long way home…etc. Stop hurting your motor.

If you do decide that you would see some benefit from running synthetic oil, be conscious of “synthetic blends”. While many manufacturer’s have a synthetic blend as their standard oil, the term synthetic blend is not regulated. Any mixture of regular and synthetic oil is considered a blend, even if it’s just 1% synthetic and 99% regular. If it’s not a manufacturer provided oil (i.e. Motorcraft, Goodwrench, Genuine Toyota Motor Oil, etc.) then it could be a very low percentage of synthetic in the oil. Some companies will state the percentage, but you’d be surprised to find that big names like Valvoline, Penzoil, Quaker State, etc., have very low percentages of synthetic in their blended oils.

So you say that's all fine and good, but what do the people that MAKE the vehicles think? Toyota has no stance on synthetic oil, they only want you to use good oil and change it regularly.

Bottomline: Unless you’re subjecting your new 2007 Toyota Tundra (and the oil that’s in it) to extreme conditions, save money and use regular oil.

Article Source: http://publisherscloninghouse.com

Author Jason Lancaster has been working in the auto business and with the Toyota Tundra for almost 10 years. Get more Tundra Info at his website, www.tundraheadquarters.com.
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