Switched to Amsoil today.
 

Before getting all licker'd and turkey'd up today I switched my Cav over to Amsoil 0-30. I'm hoping to see some gains, as I didn't see any gains when I initially switched the car over to Mobil 1 from dino oil, and lately my MPGs have been in the crapper. So, I'm pulling out all the stops! :thumbup:

FE gains from lower weight synthetic oils are sometimes blown out of proportion. While they definitely do get you some increased numbers, and they are easy numbers to get (nothing much easier than changing your oil), you shouldn't expect huge gains. The difference between Mobil 1 and Amsoil shouldn't be that pronounced. Going from a 10w-30 to a 0w-20 --- now THAT MIGHT get you some gains. Still nothing unbelievable though.

I would personally look at the temps you have been driving in. Cold weather means lower FE, regardless of what oil you are using. Lower weight oils help combat this, as do grill blocks. Still, there is nothing that can totally offset the effect of cold weather on your engine.

Your drops fall right in line with the seasons, so I would be willing to bet that the temps, not the oil, are your problem.

I'm using Penzoil (dino) in my 02 Cav,but 0-20. I've used synthetic in other cars but usually got lots of oil leaks with it. I've done several things to improve MPG's and each one gave a little more. The cold weather may knock us back some,but Spring will come.

I was due for an oil change, so figured I'd play w/ the lighter weight Amsoil. I know a lot of my MPG loss has been due to my right foot getting heavy again, as the weather has only really started to get cold here. I just filled up after driving like a good boy again on the last tank, and I got my best MPG ever! So, hopefully I'll be on the up swing again. Plus I have a few other experiments I want to try out. :)

The biggest gains will be in better wear numbers...which will give you better FE numbers down the raod over the next years.

My race car dynoed 20 more hp when the oil level was reduced 1/2 way down the dipstick instead of at the full line. I do the same on my Saturn as I figure the same drag that would reduce hp would also reduce mpg. I run a larger filter, which is below that height, and increases oil capacity by 1/2 pint to offset.

I did an A/B comparison with Havoline 5w20 and RLI BioSYN 0w20 in my 2005 Civic. Both oils run for 5k miles and a used oil analysis (UOA) run on each oil. Looking at my MPG numbers, there was a bit of a drop during the synthetic run, but I was averaging 10+ MPH faster during my commute over that 5k miles...

if you're interested in the resulting wear numbers you can read more here

Nice choice for Amsoil. My father used to be a dealer back in the day - about 4 years after the company opened its doors. I'm considering becoming a dealer since there isn't one in these parts - closest one is around 20 miles away.

I ran Royal Purple for a while. Haven't run it in the race cars, Mobil 1 is in one and Dino Oil is in the other (steet rod & '63 Corvette), both are actually street cars than full race though they like premium with an occasional shot of octane booster.

In the past, I've seen the best gains on my cars I "care" about mileage on with a switch to 0-20.

cheapybob -

That's really cool. I want to ask my mechanic to do that. Can you tell me what model filter you use?

Thanks,

CarloSW2

You will not realize the full potential of running Amsoil until you switch over the transmission and gearboxes and wheel bearing grease. My 01 Impala with over 200,000 miles on it gained a consistent 1.5-MPG. So far with the weather cooling off I haven't seen a drop in FE but that may change in the next couple weeks.

I get mixxed responses when I ask people how much Amsoil improved their FE. So far most people with higher milage cars seem to gain the most.

I changed the trans fluid in my 95 F-250 4X4 Powerstroke over to Amsoil. It has a manual trans that uses ATF. So far I have noticed the truck drives a little smoother and shifts a lot better. I may have gained a little mileage but it is hard to tell because I don't drive it that often and there’s a lot of variability in how I drive when I do. I can't wait to convert the whole truck over to Amsoil but I have to save some $$$ to be able to afford it (14 quarts in the engine alone). Best mileage so far 20.05. Worst, 16.3 pulling an empty car trailer.

About 8 years ago I had a F-350 dually diesel. Swapped the tranny fluid in the crud AOD tranny to Amsoil - it was the BEST thing I ever did to that truck. Shifted noticeable smoother and those trannies might as well have been made of glass as they didn't have a good track record behind the diesels. I only drove it another 10k before Sept 11 hit and parking spots were a premium where I worked - finding a spot where I wouldn't get a ding became an ordeal. On Sept 17 I traded it for a SUV. Never saw how long the tranny fluid would of helped.

I'm still learning the numbers from the UOA. How do you determine the OCI? It's looks like you could have gone quite a bit more before you would need to change it.

The owners manual lists recommended OCI's; in my case 10k miles for normal service and 5k miles for severe service. I have previously run several 10k OCI's using (non-synthetic) Havoline with decent results.

I ran the A/B comparison of Havo to RLI BioSYN at only 5k cause it took less time to run up the miles :D And you're right, the RLI BioSYN would easily survive a 10k run.

Here are some results from a Prius owner using RLI and Mobil1...