Engine oil - Fully synth vs. Ester synth

[SonicSW20]

Quick question - are there many benefits to ester base synthetic vs regular synthetic?

Need to change my oil soon, usually just put in whatever suitable 5W40 fully synthetic is on offer at ECP at the time. It gets changed quite frequently due to yearly mileage and the odd track day.

With voucher codes etc, I typically pay ~£25 for 5L of 5W40 - last two times it's been Mobil 1 Super 3000 X1, for example.

Opie Oils do 5w40 Gulf Ester base oil for ~£35, and some from Fuchs and Silkolene for a little bit more.

[sky-net]

For street usage Esther based oils doesn't make any difference at all. A good quality synth will take care of your engine perfectly.

For trackdays it's a different story.

For street drive i've tried:

(Esthers based) (V)
- Motul 300v 10w40
- Millers oil 10w40
- Gulf 10w40
Fully synth (IV)
Motul X-Cess 5w40. For cat IV (PAO based ones) It's said this is the only 100% fully synth. (No minerals mixed within)
I've been using this one for quite a while and i'm happy with its Price/quality. I'll be using this one until i get my car on a trackday.

Regards

[SonicSW20]

I change oil 3-4 times a year due to mileage anyway (25k a year) - always use a 5W40 fully synth oil. I'm not doing a huge amount of track days, just a few a year and I make sure I'm changing the oil shortly after I do one. Given the Ester base oils are only £10-£15 more in the same grade, maybe it's worth spending the extra?

That's another thing as well... Are there any benefits on an NA of going for a different grade? 5W40 seems to be a good balance as far as road use goes for the UK.

[androo007]

oil changes are meant to be every 5km on the 3SGTE - 3 times in 25k is not enough imho.

[SonicSW20]

It's not a turbo - intervals are longer for a 3SGE.

Also, the oil service mileage was designed for the quality of oil at the time (and doesn't call for FS) - modern fully synthetic oils last a lot longer.

[androo007]

ahhh - I always assumed you were turdo'd!

Im not convinced, especally in an NA application that ester would provide any extra protection. Ester usually is used in jet engines.... I personally believe keeping the oil changes regular provides more benefit than going extreme on the oil quality. Providing you are using the spec Toyota prescribed, then no extra is needed.

[SonicSW20]

Toyota don't actually state a specific weight, there's a temperature range chart, of which 5W40 fits nicely for the UK. Oil grade states API SG/SH, which is now obsolete, AFAIK newer grades are backwards compatible for the most part though.

[SonicSW20]

Just ordered some more Mobil1 Super 3000 5W40 FS from ECP... Maybe I'll pop some ester in next time if I've got a track day planned!

[Willenium]

oil changes are meant to be every 5km on the 3SGTE - 3 times in 25k is not enough imho.

That's where I've been going wrong then

I use Castrol Magnatec 10W-40 as I can get a twin pack from Costco for about £40 and change it every 3000 miles or so. Seems to be doing the job well so far.