[smokeydadog]

You got that right! Last time I read Motor Trend it was so GM-biased that it made me sick. I haven't picked up the magazine since. I don't believe the claims of companies trying to sell a performance product either. Without naming names, a certain website selling the Gibson exhaust claims "The Swept Side is dyno-tested for average gains of 15-20 horsepower." However, a Frontier owner independently tested the exhaust and came up with gains of 5.7 HP/5.7 TQ. His website is here: http://www.jackphelps.com/frontier/dyno3.htm These days, I only believe data obtained by non-biased owners or third parties.

 

[smokeydadog]

Were they advocating any particular brand, or just synthetics in general? If they're reporting on the benefits of synthetic oil rather than plugging a certain company, then I'd probably believe the results.

 

[smokeydadog]

You sure about that? Scroll down and read the post under "Guerilla Marketing"...

http://www.penny-arcade.com/2006/01/27

 

[smokeydadog]

I change my own oil, but I've never done transmissions or differentials. Any idea what the total cost on this would be? If you replace the trans and diff fluids with synthetics, then you never have to do it again, right? I'd be interested if someone gave me a quick how-to. I don't have access to a dyno, though. I did have the transmission fluid in my old car changed to synthetic, and it really smoothed out the shifting. It was worth the money for that benefit alone, although my Frontier shifts much better than that car anyway.