Are there any advantages to synthetic?
Yes.
There are several grades of synthetic.
Synthetics have the parrafin filtered out (wax) that will still be in regular motor oils. This helps prevent burning/carbon deposits from building up in the engine. Also the chains of hydrocarbons in synthetics are more or less the same size, versus a lot of varying lengths in regular motor oil, so there is less breakdown of the oil over time and less ‘engine gunk’ created by the breakdown. This can help the oil perform better on startup, and at both temperature extremes.
And if you go over the recommended oil change miles, because of all this, synthetics will offer greater protection and better protection than regular motor oil will.
Overall yes, especially in cold climates and extreme hot climates, you really want the straight dope on oil go to
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