The tech at the audi dealer said its better to synthetic early...is it true? I have a 99 with 30k, and I'm goin to chip it and start running synth. Any suggestion on a good synth oil, and will dealer change it out for me?

Used to be that old engines would spit the stuff out every seal. I don't think that applies any more. I changed my 5KTQ to synthetic at 160K without any problems.

Mobil 1, Redline, Amsoil and Royal Purple are all good synthetics, in no particular order. I personally will never run Castrol Syntec again. Their Dino oil is fine, but that stuff is horrible. I use Mobil 1 because I can get it at any Autozone or Walmart.

Todd W

BTW, if you go to synthetics and the oil starts sneaking past the seals, you can go back to dino oil without problems. (Assuming your car doesn't have 100k miles on it.)

The upshot of going to synthetics for me was that the engine became much quieter - less cam/valve/lifter noise. It seems that the synthetic coats quicker on cold starts.