Synthetics are worth the extra money when factoring costs not just the price.
Synthetics are for people that think....to paraphrase Bill O'Reilly.
Synthetics are the next step, technologically speaking, when consumers are looking to optimize their cash outflow and hold their hard earned dollars in their pockets longer.
Synthetics are NOT geological accidents. They are chemically engineered sloutions, "sort of like balanced and blueprinted" oils.
As you read below I am not talking about the AMERICAN SYNTHETIC INSTITUTE.........just the American Petroleum Institute.
The API, as a Certification Organization is on its' way out the door, in terms as an influential player. Unless some large thought process changes occur...........
API is like dial-up internet service versus cable modems.
ILSAC is the organization that will be the player by the end of this decade. This is true primarily due to the recent mergers betwqeen US and European manufacturers (e.g Ford & Volvo).
API can't enforce its' standards due to lack of funding..................
Essentially, the 1990s has shown it functioned as more of a barrier to innovation and progress in the lubrication industry.
Tie new specs up in committee and make the Auto manufacturers wait for technology innovations... for years sometimes.
This has beared itself out in the marketplace when examining the specs touted by manufacturers such as MACK for diesel engines for example.
They got tired of waiting..............
The API EOLCS is simply a way to slow down the introduction of synthetics in large bulk contracts such as state and federal agencies.
It also doesn't force a company to properly blend the lubricant to the standards required in an API specification for a given viscosity grade.
After the test results are submitted to the API then an oil company can produce practically anything they want..because the API doesn't have the adequate monitoring capabilities to see if the oils are properly labeled and the proper viscosities are in the right containers.
Many large fleets don't check, on a regular basis, to determine if the oil meets specs before putting it in their applications.
The ILMA organization is struggling with this fact with ..........I suppose unethical companies.
See Lubes N Greases on the recent North Carolina debacle regarding this matter.
It also effectively allows the US to stay behind the power curve to the more stringent European Standards.
The API standards show a lack of innovative flawed engineering thought processes by assuming phosphorous is bad in high levels.
The API didn't decide to examine the fact that there is high volatility phosphorous (i.e. cheap)
and that there is low volatility phosphorous.
The API decided to say it is bad....... without thinking about HOW phosphorous "unzips" and how it contaminates a converter.
API = Keep the price down Bubba.
In every case the API slows down progress to the consumer by forcing them to accept a standard as a minimum..... sort of like dial-up versus cable.
API is not your cable guy.
Innovation rarely comes from within an organization.
Here is an example........
The Wright Brothers Did Not Have A Pilot's License
[ September 12, 2004, 06:57 PM: Message edited by: theoilzone ]