About Synthetic Oil and Your Car

You’ve probably heard about synthetic oil and are wondering what it is, and if it’s safe for you to use.

Regular oil, which is also known as conventional oil, is a byproduct of dead dinosaurs. The molecules of regular oil are made of long hydrocarbon chains. A good way to think about it is a chain of used and new pencils. Synthetic oil is a kind of highly refined petroleum-based oil. They contain smaller molecules with less size variance, which would be closer to a chain of pencils you get when playing miniature golf.

Synthetic oil is commonly man-made and features rounder and more uniform molecules like marbles. So as you make the transition from regular oil to synthetic blends (which is a mixture of synthetic and conventional oil) to fully synthetic oil there would be less friction acting against your engine. The less friction there is the less heat there is, and the better lubricated and protected your engine is. Synthetic blends and fully synthetic oils also come with a higher price tag.

Synthetic oils are also better resistant to thermal breakdown, leading to less passage-clogging sludge that can do some major damage.

When it comes to just which kind of oil you should use then your Spectrum Car Care Center service advisors have the answer. If you get your car and it has conventional oil then you can use any kind you want. If the car comes from the factory with a synthetic blend then you should use either a blend or full synthetic oil. If it comes out of the factory with synthetic oil then you should only use synthetic oil.

Don’t forget to regularly change your oil and, if you want your engine to have some extra protection, invest in synthetic oil. 
