I would agree to a certain point. If you look at lab results, you'll find that conventional and synthetic both protect very well. The big difference, they say, is that synthetic doesn't break down as fast and can be used much longer. They say you have excessive wear on the engine on the first start-up after your oil change. So, essentially...(from what they said) the only benefit of using synthetic motor oil is getting to run it longer, while still protecting your engine...thus needing fewer oil changes which in turn causes less damage (from the starts right after your oil change). Obviously I'm using second hand information but I've always used full synthetics on all my vehicles and I've had a 270k Acura TL Type-S (had since 50k) and a Chevy Suburban (that i still have) that has 340k. A few others too but those I had the longest and the most miles.
The truth is, most all these major brand oils are extremely good compared to what everyone had years ago. As long as you do regular maintenance and keep it topped off... you should be fine under normal driving conditions but you have to note too that these cars came with a synthetic blend and with it being GDI and turbo, the engine really depends on a good quality oil.... especially if you drive it hard.
FWIW, my 2 cents. I think you feel the oil our cars came with is somehow substandard, that is not the case. The blend the car came with is what is specified along with the Full Syn version for a reason. I believe Ford feels as I do that some Dino oils is beneficial in break-in and that most ST owners will probably switch to the full syn oil at the first oil change. What you are missing is the add pack of the oils specified. The Motorcraft oils are made by Kendall and the same as Kendall GT oils. Kendall invented the liquid titanium compound in their oils. Castrol Edge also adds Titanium. The reason that is important is that it is proven by independant test to work, one of which is by the U.S. National Institute of Standard and Testing which is quoted in the abstract of the test below. In a nutshell is was proven to reduce wear, decrease friction and reduce heat. All things I consider to be a requirement for longevity. I plan on keeping my ST for many years so I will stick to the only additived proven at this point to do those things. It should be noted this is the oils specified by Ford and the other titanium added oil is Castrol Edge, the standard oil for the racing Ford GT's. Ford is a believer in titanium.
So I will follow with Fords recommended oil, if you can find it the Motorcraft it makes it easy but all I can find is the blend, if not chase down the Kendall GT online. The oil tested was the Kendall GT oil as at the time it was to only commercial gasoline engine oil with it, no name mentioned in the study for "non-endorsement" regulations. The Valvoline I am sure is a very good oil, but if there were some super secret formula that did something no other oil did it would be all over the label and ads. The fact that it is not tells me they are just spouting the generic benefits of all synthetics. You will notice Kendall and Castrol Edge display the "Titanium" on their labels. Below is the quote. I did not read the complete paper......the abstract was entertaining enough for me. I did read part of the study with a trucking company and Kendall Diesel oil with titanium that showed extended time between rebuilds and increased mileage with the friction reduction. I think on our engines temp is very important and this oil reduces temps with the friction reduction and the thinner 20 weight circulates faster. So all in all I think Ford made a wise decision given they could have used any oil they wanted. Who knows where oil will be in 5 years?
Published: February 27, 2007
Author(s)
J M. Guevremont, G H. Guinther, D Szemenyei, Mark Devlin, T-C Jao, Cherno Jaye, Joseph C. Woicik, Daniel A. Fischer
Abstract
Traditionally, wear protection and friction modification by engine oil are provided by zinc dithiophosphate (ZDDP) or other phosphorus compounds. These additives provide effective wear protection and friction control on engine parts through formation of a glassy polyphosphate antiwear film. However, the deposition of phosphorus species on automotive catalytic converters from lubricants has been known for some time to have a detrimental effect of poisoning the catalysts. To mitigate the situation, the industry has been making every effort to find ZDDP-replacement additives that are friendly to catalysts. Toward this goal we have investigated a titanium additive chemistry as a ZDDP replacement. Fully formulated engine oils incorporating this additive component have been found to be effective in reducing wear and controlling friction in a 4-ball bench wear, Sequence IIIG and Sequence IVA engine tests. Surface analysis of the tested parts by Auger electron spectroscopy, secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS), and X-Ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) have shown that Ti species have been incorporated into the wear tracks and can only be found on the wear tracks. We used synchrotron based Near Edge X-ray Absorption Fine Structure (NEXAFS) to investigate the chemical bonding mechanism of the Ti additive with the metal surface that affects the wear improvement mechanism. We postulate that Ti provides antiwear enhancement through inclusion in the metal/metal oxide structure of the ferrous surface by forming Fe2TiO3.
Proceedings Title: STLE Annual Meeting & Exhibition | 62nd| | STLE
Conference Dates: May 6-10, 2007
Conference Title: Society of Tribologists & Lubrication Engineers (STLE) Proceedings
Pub Type: Conferences
Keywords
antiwear, barrier films, EXAFS, friction modifying, titanium