[BR3W CITY]

The oil consumption thing is a beast of many heads, and its also a talking point for the LS haters. There have been oil-rings to blame, PCV design (which did change slightly through the engines), and the least-talked about....maintenance.

If your seeing aggressive oil use, it sometimes boils down to what oil is being used, what weight of said brand, and under what mileage/conditions. It seems like nitpicking, but oil spec's aren't nearly as cut-n-dry as factory recommendations would allude;

Part of the problem is that many synthetic oils (even at the same weight), actually tend to run thinner than rated at the base rating, and lose their maximum viscosity* through the heat cycles (mileage and age are just used as a determinate factor, since its unreasonable for most companies to expect anyone to actually know the exposure to heat-from-friction that their oil supply see's in a given period). This is often one of the thing people notice when they buy an LS for the first time, and start running a high $ synthetic, only to feel like they are using more oil. On an engine that saw only 5-20 dino oil for 75k miles, the change to 5-20 full syn is actually a thinner oil, and more will pass by the oil ring. The LS engine and Royal Purple are not always friends for this reason in particular.

This also applies to the way an engine is being used. 3k miles on a weekend warrior may actually be MORE heat cycles and heat from friction than the same 3k in a commuter car. If your application requires it, its worth considering slightly upping your oil weight (for advanced users only, oil testing also preferred) OR going to a race application oil or straight-weight oil. For disclaimer sake, I'm not telling you to do this, I'm only shedding light on the beginning of a topic that is well beyond what most people consider when buying oil.

*Note I say viscosity and not lubricity. The oil companies will show bearing tests and results that "prove" a lack of breakdown by maintaining lubricity. Thats fine, but its not the same as maintaining viscosity. Lubricity is essentially "will it lube", and not "how thick will it be while lubing".

I highly suggest anyone spend some time on BobIsTheOilGuy if they feel like nerding out on this stuff.