Hey guys, I've been seeing a lot of big car shows lately and EVERYONE is using the Royal Purple Synthetic. I searched the forum and found many arguements for and against synthetics, everyone has their opinion, that's cool. I was wondering if anyone noticed a marked improvement in either fuel mileage or h.p. after switching to Royal Purple? I priced it out today and is about $6.99 a quart, ouch, but if it improves then it could be worth it. Let me know what you guys have noticed if anything. Thanks. Sean

 

Royal Purple has a pretty good reputation, and it's rather inexpensive if I buy it on base, so I tried it for a few oil changes in my '05 SCrew. There was no increase in gas mileage, and no noticeable increase in power. At 5K miles, it was still pretty clean, but so is the OEM synthetic blend oil at 5K. In the end, the only thing I noticed was a bigger hole in my wallet from using it. I also used Mobile 1 for a while and it also no no effect on MPG or power.

The only oil I've used that definitely had a noticeable increase in MPG was Castrol GTX, and that 1 MPG gain was only in my 4.6L trucks. No difference in my 5.4L's.

 

I ran it in my Ranger 5 years ago or so. worked great in texas, didn't notice any MPG improvements though. When I was up North went to start it on a -15 degree morning, very hard to start and had to stay on the gas or it would stallout. after it warmed up, was fine. changed oil back to conventional and was back up a month later. another -15 degree morning truck started fine, no lugging issues.
i know RP is supposed to better for heat protection, maybe not for cold. If you live in CA, should be fine.

it might cost you an extra $15, $3 x 5 qts, per oil change. if you change oil at 3000 miles and get an extra 1 MPG ~ 25 Miles over 10 tanks = 250 miles. so about 3/4 a tank of gas saving - so you might come out $15 ahead depending on gas price etc. and if you push it out to 5000 miles or more could save more - assuming you do save that 1 MPG.

 

Thanks for the info guys, that helps. Like some people have said...unless I'm driving it like a performance car, the regular oil is probably fine. With the price of gas these days, we have to drive them "somewhat" normal huh? lol.
Yeah DallasScrew, if we see even 10 degrees in CA, something is wrong, haha. Coldest we get here in Central CA is like high 20's at worst, so that wouldn't be a problem. If I knew it would save on the MPG, then it might be worth it long term. I am seeing pretty good improvements on the MPG just with the K&N, so that's a start. Thanks again for the info. Laterrrr. Sean

 

I always put mobil one in my ranger and i never had a problem starting or anything, and that was in the snow so i dont think that the oil has anything to do with the truck being hard to start.

 

The more extreme use of your truck, the bigger the benefit of synthetic. Living here in hell (AKA Phoenix) we see some extreme hot temps in the summer. I switched to NEO (another high-end synthetic, kinda like RP) and my engine does run cooler (according to the temp guage in my Edge) - it ran 204-208 with Mobil1, and it runs in the 198-202 range with Neo, so I interpret that as a reduction in friction. Mileage difference? Not enough to notice.

 

Thanks for the reply 2001 Screw4x4. That is interesting that it dropped the temp like that. We have been getting pretty crazy hot here in central CA last few years too, maybe not like Phoenix, but still nasty. Thanks for the info. Sean

 

I've been using Royal Purple for a couple yrs now, cars being my 2002 Trans Am WS6, and my 2001 F150 Supercrew 5.4L, no mpg difference but ehh it keeps cooler and I can race a couple more times instead or worrying about overheating the engine. Good thing I have my connections I can get 2 cases of Royal Purple for the price of 1

 

I cant offer you any thoughts about RP.

I dont run it, as a matter fact I cant find it around my area (west side). I started using Mobile 1 full syn. and noticed nothing different except I could at least 6k between changes, and $60 a case more for that than other syn. on the market. AH the joys of living in Hell, 120* degrees, the syn makes a diference. Lets not forget I was using 2 quarts of the cheap oil a week, now Im down to nothing.

One thing I do as an extra precaution is change the filter at least twice between oil changes, in the silty sandy areas of PHX, its a good idea and cheap insurance that the silica particles stay out of your engine. My buddy sends his AMSOIL from a 04 spyder off to a laboratory for testing every 6months and found that the claims of the manufacturer just arent so, oil was contaminated......had about 6% more silica than the normal standards allowed by the tests. dirt in your engine is a bad thing, $9 for filter or $3200+ for new engine..