Synthetic Oil versus Regular

I ran Mobil 1 High Mileage synthetic in our previous Ford 460 powered coach for its superior cam wear characteristics. I'm now running Mobil 1 Extended Performance synthetic in our current Ford Triton V10 powered coach for the extended change intervals and better cold weather starting characteristics.

Any threads on oil tends to cause a firestorm. But I only use synthetic in all my cars, and switched to high-mileage Mobil 1 in my mini-van w/100,000+. Prefer synthetic as it has better flow characteristics in winter, but is also quieter in IMO. Don't think it saves any real MPG. And don't notice any leaks, except an occasional drop or two, with no appreciable oil burning other than what is normal with high mileage vehicles.

I once read a good analogy about standard vs synthetic oil... imagine your oil as a bunch of steel balls making one surface easily ride along the other. Now think of those balls as being similar but of slightly different sizes (standard oil) whereas another system has all the balls the same size (synth). Makes sense to me... but I'm just an internet reader, not an engineer.

You'll probably get as many replies for it as against it. I use it due to extended oil changes and better starting in cold weather. The longer change periods offset the additional cost.

Bill