When it comes to the topic of synthetic oils for your vehicle, you’ll likely hear plenty of opinions that are divisive when it comes to their advantages compared to conventional oils. Some automotive enthusiasts will argue that conventional oil performs the same as synthetic oil, adding that synthetic oil is simply marketing. Generally speaking however, synthetic oil does offer many benefits compared to conventional oil, it’s just a matter of whether or not your vehicle will take advantage of those benefits on a daily basis.
If you’re reading this page, you’ve likely decided that you want to purchase synthetic oil for your vehicle and are looking for the best options. Truth be told, you’ll find that many of the products in today’s marketplace perform similarly and you could make a case that it does all come down to marketing. At the end of the day, it’s difficult for most vehicle owners to tell the difference between different brands of oil, unless they’re monitoring numerous aspects about their vehicle and changing their oil on their own at regular intervals.
Before we get into any of the real nitty gritty, there’s one thing to get out of the way. Whatever oil viscosity your car runs, stick with it. If your owner’s manual says 5W30, or 15W40, or 10W60 as an oil viscosity grade, that’s what you’re looking for in your new oil regardless of what brand name is on the bottle.
Knowing that, it’s not surprising that the majority of products you find will have an overwhelming number of positive reviews. For most drivers, any particular oil is doing its job so long as the engine runs and isn’t falling apart. Generally, most companies will advertise the same properties for their synthetic oil offerings, but there are some defining features for each product, which we’ll go into detail below.
If you’re searching for more information about synthetic oil products, refer to our table of contents, where we go more in depth about what makes synthetic oil different than conventional oil, and the benefits you can expect for paying the higher price.