Synthetic Oils: Should They Be Used?

Increasing the efficiency of moving parts of a vehicle has been a top priority for car manufacturers over the years. Synthetic oils have been picking up steam in the automobile community. These oils are manufactured in a specific way and pumped into the engines in order to increase efficiency. There has been a lot of debate about which kind of oil to choose – synthetic oil or traditional oil? Let's try and find out!

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What are synthetic oils?

Synthetic oils are essentially lubricants that have been molded from chemical compounds. The traditional oil molecules are processed and refined to smaller particles in order to increase the efficiency of the engine.

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What are the types of synthetic oils?

There are two major types of synthetic oils being used in the market:

• Synthetic blend or semi-synthetic oils: These are conventional oils that are mixed with certain additives to make them more synthetic.
• Fully synthetic oils: These are refined oils that are processed in such a way that the alignment of the molecules is drastically altered.

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Why synthetic oils make much more sense?

When the synthetic and traditional oils are compared to each other, the pros of synthetic oils trump the traditional oils. Let us take a look at why synthetic oils make much more sense in today's scenario.

• One of the major concerns in today's world is emissions. Traditional oils tend to cause harmful emissions to escape from the exhaust pipes. Synthetic oils have proved to reduce emissions.
• Synthetic oils are resistant to viscous breakdowns, which is why they function well in all sorts of temperature conditions – cold, extreme heat, along with impurities like chemical contaminants.
• The oil-change frequency is much lesser for synthetic oils. On average, traditional oils need to be changed every 5,000 km, whereas synthetic oils can last up to 16,000 km without needing to be changed.
• They reduce the problems of oil sludge collection and oxidation inside the engine.
• Synthetic oils have the ability to increase the fuel economy of engines – the energy spent on sourcing the fuel is reduced.
• Deposits such as “ash” on various parts of the engine are reduced in the case of synthetic oils.
• We know that these are excellent lubricants which is a huge advantage, especially in slightly older vehicles that require more lubrication for the turning parts.
• The oil waste that is generated from engines is reduced exponentially. The drain intervals are extended as opposed to traditional oils.
• The drag on the engine is reduced, which leads to an increase in the horsepower generated by the engine.
• Replacing an engine can be a costly affair – it can take lakhs to buy a new engine. Synthetic oils tend to increase the lifetime of the engine.