I have used Chevron Delo in my diesels for years with no problems, but I have recently switched over to synthetics in all my vehicles. I am changing my Duramax and my wife's Honda Pilot at at 15K miles. I have a little Chevy Aveo commuter car and I just went 20K miles on the oil change. I have my fluids tested on my backhoe before I change it's fluids (makes the 4-gallons of oil that goes into my twin Suzuki's seem like a drop in the bucket). I have gone hundreds of hours and over two years with the oil in my backhoe still testing good.
I plan on changing my two DF150s' oil only once per year with the Synthetic. I would feel comfortable exceeding 200 hours after my warranty is up next year. I am a firm believer in the long interval oil changes, saves a lot of money when your engines hold 8-quarts each. Also better for the environment by using less oil with less frequent changes.
Another thing to consider is the additive package in the oil. Most marine oils will have special additives to prevent corrosion when the engines sit for a long time. The additives in oil formulated for a road vehicle are formulated for more frequent driving, and will not protect the inside of your engine as well when all the oil settles in the pan.
If you are interested, Amsoil has some interesting reading on oil comparisons
AMSOIL - Comparative Motor Oil Testing
I know of an independant race team that ran a test on dozens of different brands of oil, both conventional and synthetic. They put a thin oil film on a motor driven shaft and applied pressure to the spinning shaft with a bearing attached to a measuring device. All of the synthetics outperformed the conventional oils by ridiculous margins (time and resistance applied). That convinced me about the power of synthetic technology vs. conventional fossil lubricants.
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