How often should I change my oil?

The life of the oil is dependant on many factors.

Full synthetic oils last longer than semi-synthetics or mineral oils, so although they may cost more in the first place, a full synthetic can work out as a cheaper option in the log run. Many cars specify the use of full synthetic long-life oils and these may last over 20000 miles or up to 24 months.

If the car is used on track, the oil is subjected to far harsher conditions than motorway use. That may mean that a good track oil will have broken down sufficiently to need changing after 10 hours of use, whereas the same oil would be good for over 100 hours of use on motorways. Short journeys are very hard on the oil as it does not get the chance to get warm and flow properly as well as acceleration and deceleration making the engine work harder. Motorway use is the easiest condition for oil, the speeds are fairly consistent and rarely push the engine hard, there is plenty of air flow to help cool the engine and the oil has a chance to get up to temperature and flow properly.

Certain engines suffer from fuel dilution and that is one of the quickest ways that an oil can breakdown.

Updated on: 07/01/2019