US Lotus Oil FAQ
Synthetic or Conventional Oil?
As is normal when any one purchases a new car they want to make it last and they want to make sure that the motor makes the most power. With this in mind the question always arises to use synthetic or not.
From countless hours of research on the web and in print I would have to voice my opinion as, yes but with one caveat. You should break the motor in with regular conventional oil.
First off let me tell you that there is no such thing as break-in oil used by any car company so don't worry about that. In the beginning it's important to change the oil frequently because during break-in the motor is starting to "wear together" and can produce metal shavings in the process. In order to ensure that any metal shavings don't re-circulate through the engine for very long I like to change the oil and filter at 100, 500, 1000, 2000, and 5000 miles with conventional oil (Catrol GTX or similar) and a manufacturer oil filter.
After 5000 miles I like to maintain a strict 3,000 mile interval, at 8,000 or 11,000 I will switch to Synthetic as the engine has had time to break-in and now I'm just trying to increase the life of the motor.
As for running Synthetic at the beginning? It's not a good idea, Synthetic is too slippery for the break-in period. Dunning engine break-in the rings need to wear and mate to the cylinder walls of the block. Synthetic doesn't provide the friction necessary for this process to occur and the engine may never fully seal and therefore provide inefficient combustion.
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