Synth Blend Oils

[scape]

So I'm coming up to my 23k oil change (I always do them early) and I'm thinking synthetic, but simply cannot justify the costs of full synthetic-- I'm so cheap, haha; so I'm really thinking about synth blends. I like the idea of offsetting some regular oil with synthetic[mineral] oil (though it may take that same amount or more in regular oil to manufacture this, funny enough) but also I think it may provide slightly better protection with the way I drive (occasionally WOTing it up to redline territory). I also wanted to ask about full synthetic oil change cycles, many brands specify near 10k miles, but I find that hard to believe since more than just the oil is eventually getting filtered through that engine.

Here was a good read, especially at Synthetics topic near the bottom:http://www.kitcarmag.com/techarticle...ech/index.html

The last 3 paragraphs caught my eye:

To offset the higher cost of synthetic oil, some of the oil companies claim you can run the oil longer between changes. They say you do not have to change the oil every 3,000 miles. Valvoline does not make that claim. McClanahan says, "The additives in synthetics are superior but they still break down at the same rate and you need to replenish them often. We are unaware of any additive package that lasts longer than what the manufacturer recommends. Those 10,000-mile claims are ludicrous."

The base oil is good forever. The additives and VI improvers break down over time. The thing that destroys the ability of the oil to lubricate is the accumulation of gasoline, dirt, and engine contaminates in the oil. Oil is supposed to get dirty. Its job is to remove contaminants out of the engine. Even with the superior additive package of the synthetic, contaminates still accumulate and need to be flushed out of the engine. Therefore, you need to change your oil often.

Every time you change the oil, you must change the oil filter. The oil filter traps the dirt. By adding new clean oil and not changing the filter, all you are doing is adding dirt to the clean oil. An oil filter has a relief valve that allows oil to pass through the filter when it is full. A that point, you are circulating dirty oil.

So my question regarding full synth oil change cycles is about the oil filter, maybe the synthetic compounds don't break down as quickly as regular oil, but the oil is probably still accumulating contaminates elsewise, and how long until that filter is full?

The other question is, who's using synth blend oils and finds them likable? I'm not interested in full-synthetic unless the price is comparable I suppose. I still would change my oil at the recommended 5k intervals (or for me, probably closer to 4).