Switch to Synthetic?
 

My Bullitt is used primarily for autoslalom competition and track use with very little actual street time. This type of use involves a lot of higher RPM running. I have always used fresh Ford dino oil every spring and changed out to cheap dino oil for winter storage.

I am thinking I should change to full synthetic (probably Royal Purple).

Any comments? Will there be better engine lubrication by doing so? Should I use the same 5W20 weight? The motor is stock except for the CAI and canned tune with 72000km.

I am a huge fan of synthetic fluids, and imo once you switch to synthetic you shouldn't be switching back and forth, just stick with one. There are a few threads with all this info. Here is a link that I posted on an older thread, you might find it useful.


http://www.carbibles.com/additives.html

Depends on how many miles you run in a year, the synthetic is hella expensive, but you don't change it as much. Or so I've heard.

I've been running synthetic in my cars and motorcycles forever once the initial break-in period has finished for three main reasons: 1 - cold weather start-ups are easier on the engine with synthetic, so much so that it is now referred to by many as a 'liquid block heater'; 2 - synthetic doesn't break down as quickly as dino oil when the oil temperature gets high; 3 - it's hard to get the wife to follow a maintenance schedule, so if you're a traditionalist like me and like to change your oil every 5,000 km (or 3 months), going over by a few thousand km isn't as upsetting.

That's just my two cents :tup

The car gets less than 1,000km per year now, as it is mostly a trailer queen. My concern isn't so much the cost as the proper engine lubrication for my particular usage.

I have done a ton of research on oil and additives and which one is better, or worse, and there's a lot of different views out there. I personally looked into everything about the oils themselves, and the companies that are developing/marketing the oil. It came as a bit of surprise to me that the company that spends the most on research and development, was the Ford Motor Company, with their Motorcraft product.
Anyway, this place is no different, you're going to get a lot of different views on what to use as well. All I can say, is that to me, spending the extra money on a premium synthetic oil change, is a small price to pay, when you're talking about maintenance on a 4-5 thousand dollar engine, or even more in some cases.
I use Motorcraft full synthetic oil in my engine, and switched to that immediately, on the cars first oil change, and will not be switching oils. Like you, I don't drive my car much. It has never seen rain, and will never see snow as I park it from Oct-April, depending on the spring, and I change the oil the day I park it for the winter, and again when I bring it out, so yeah basically it sits all winter with fresh oil, and then I change it with less than 50 km's on it. Is it a waste???? Maybe, but I feel better about having the fresh oil in it when spring comes around. Like I said, though, you will get other opinions, and you need to do what you feel is right, and gives you piece of mind. Research, research, research. :tup

Thanks for the advice. I do the same as you in the off season, but just use a cheaper oil for storage and I don't start it at all until I change the oil again in the spring.

Any thoughts on oil weight? should I go with 5W30 instead?

I would run 5w30 Motorcraft synthetic

^^ Agreed.

i run 5w20 royal purple in my car. during my recent visit to the local ford dealership to inquire about getting the valve seats changed, i asked him if i could use a thicker oil. his answer was no. when they develop an engine they make it to run on a specific oil type. some of the oil passages can be quite small. with a thicker oil it might not pass as easy making some parts lack oil or maybe no oil at all. so i stuck with the 5w20. it smokes a bit after idling for 30 seconds but i think its better than the alternative he gave me. as dubldee said you will get alot of opinions. even the service manager said i should not switch to motorcraft. he said royal purple is a top quality oil and he wouldnt recommend motorcraft over royal purple.