Patience is a virtue ... one I do not possess.

Hit 400mi today on my new G35x. Don't know if I'll be able to last until 1,200mi. From looking through the Search archives, it seems like some folks consider even one or two "over-4000rps" blips to be ruinous. If that's the case, I'm ruined already. I punched the throttle half a dozen times during the test drive.

Asked the dealership if I should change oil at 500 or 1k miles. They said, "No." According to the Infiniti service guy, the oil and filter they use eliminate the need to do an early oil change. Should I do it out of paranoia anyway?

I've always used Mobil 1 oil in past vehicles, and changed oil every 7,500mi. My Infiniti comes with free oil changes for life every 3,750mi ... is there still a benefit to using Mobil 1 (which will cost me the difference in price between std and synthetic oil)? Or should I just use whatever the Infiniti dealership uses standard since it will be changed regularly?

The car has been great so far, but she wants to runnnnnn!

 

I took it easy on my car for about 200 miles. I did not stay under 4K rpm. after that I drove it normally. Most of your break in is done in the first few miuntes of running the engine which generally is done at the engine assembly plant. Infiniti tells you to take it easy so if something is defective, Hopefully it won't go when your rapping the engine at 6800 rpm.

 

Synthetic oil is for the lazy ppl that don't get their oil changed on time. If ur supposed to get the oil changed at 3,500k and get it done at like 4,500 the synthetic is supposed to help keep ur engine from building up carbon inthe pistons and btwn the sparkplugs. It will cost morebut its worth it. The only time i go over 6,000rpm's is when im in a rush or when i need to get infront of a **** head. My car only has 615 miles on it n i got it June 30th. =/

 

hahaha.. funny.. I have been an auto mechanic for many years, since before high school, and I'm 47 now. I have seen many engines taken apart after runnning both types of oil.. engines that used Synthetic oils showed NO wear. Synthetic oil, just like regular oil, is designed to lubricate and cool the engine. Regular is isolated from natural crude oil. The impurities are taken out and what is left are the liquids with the best lubrication and cooling properties that nature can provide. Synthetics, on the other hand, are made by chemically reacting basic compounds. They're made in the lab from scratch. This allows tighter control of properties. Thus, the synthetics have higher resistance to breakdown at high temperatures, and conserve their characters and properties over a larger range of temperature and pressure. THis is why synthetics are more expensive AND better for your engine.. Even if you have free oil changes, Infiniti offers the Mobile one upgrade for about 30.00. I take the upgrade as should you..

 

I changed at 2200 because I had the car on the lift anyway. I couldn't think of a reason not to as the requirement would come due in a couple of weeks anyway. If I hadn't been installing the splash guards, I probably would have waited until 3000.

I went over 4000 a couple of times during the 1200 as a result of learning to anticipate the manual mode of my auto. I doubt I hurt anything. I followed the break-in procedure as best I could, but also had to get heavy into the brakes a couple of times which is also not recommended. The alternative was worse. LOL.

As for dino vs synthetic - I'm torn. I change my oil religiously, I'm not hard on the car, and as soon as I move out of Texas I won't be driving in extreme conditions. I'll likely use good dino and continue to do my own oil changes every 3000.

In my diesel truck I use synthetic because I usually have 8000-10000 pounds strapped to the back of it when it's on the highway. Extreme use calls for more durable lubrication. 12 quarts per change is pretty expensive, but in the long run it's worth it. I may have the truck for 100,000 miles, I doubt I'll have the G that long. My last car was a Maxima, almost 8 years old, and when I traded her I only had 50,000 miles on the ODO.

 

In all the different car forums and shop talks and just about anywhere else you talk automotive stuff, the debate between synthetic and non-syn rage on. I think it is a matter of piece of mind for each individual.

My take on it is this (without trying to ruffle any feathers)... Historically, changing your oil on a regular basis even with non-syn will get you between 100,000 and 200,000 miles of engine life. Driving conditions (city, highway, autocross, heat, cold, etc) can add and detract mileage from that.

Let's say then for the sake of argument that the average lifespan is 150,000 miles based on regular interval non-syn oil changes (and other reasonable care). Two questions come to mind:

1. How many more miles will the engine see if you use Synthetic instead, all other things remaining the same?
2. More importantly... how many more miles do you want? How many people will be keeping their G beyond 150K miles? Certainly there is the used market in 5+ years and re-sale value to consider but...

I personally don't see the extra value in synthetics unless the manufacturer is saying it is the requirement. But it doesn't mean it doesn't add value to you. I just change the oil every 3,000 miles (and even that might be overkill based on manufacturer recommendations) and know I *shouldn't* have any oil based issues to deal with while I own the car.

This is coming from a guy with a 1988 300ZX Turbo that I have owned for over 11 years, 130,000 miles... no engine or TURBO problems. Plenty of other probs though. ha ha

 

You may be correct in your grandmas LeMans but if you drive a high performance car ie: Infiniti, and you drive it fairly hard as I do, you should use synthetic especially if you plan on keeping the car.
More and more high performance car manufacturers are putting Sythetic oil in from the factory and recommending that it be replaced with sythetic IE: MB, Corvette, Lexus, Porsche, etc.
There are lab tests that show a slight HP increase on a dyno where a car made several dyno runs with good quality crude oil then changed the oil with synthetic and revealed a slight HP increase, 1-2 hp only, but it was an increase based on the synthetic oils lubricating qualities. If I can find the link, I will post it.
There are independant studies done all the time on this topic such as the one I posted here.
http://www.nordicgroup.us/oil.htm#Pr...0with%20Coffee
If you drive the Infiniti like it was made to drive, use synthetic. If you a grandma and never "floor" the throttle and dont plan on keeping your car or your so cheap that you cant afford the additional 30.00 every 7500 miles, then use the crude oil.

 

The occasional venture to the upper reaches of the rev band aren't going to hurt anything at all. No worries. If anything, it's probably good for it.

If you've got your oil changes included, pay the diff for synthetic. It's worth the extra for engine longevity.

C.

 

amen...