It seems that the name Group II+ has been accepted by big oil companies like Chevron, but is Group III+ accepted?
My understanding is that the VI is 140 and higher.
With Group III starting at a VI of 120, it seems like its easy to have one company making oil and calling it synthetic at say VI 125 and aother company using Group II+ at a VI of 110 to 115 and calling it conventional (not likely though - I'd think they'd blend it down with Group II).
On the Chevron site, the Group II+ is made with a typical VI of 118, thats darn close.
I can understand people blasting group IIIs being called synthetics, particularly if they just barely made it above a VI of 120 (and the other criteria, sulfur etc).
The twist to all this is the BBB selection of what is synthetic. When Castrol started all of this, it could have been a different story if they just would have drawn the line with wax isomerates with VI 140 or higher (Group III+).
I was reading a story from 2000 where the industry started making group III's all over the map it terms of what is allowed in the WIDE band - future processes could produce good quality Group III and other processes that would barely make the grade.
My understanding is that the VI is 140 and higher.
With Group III starting at a VI of 120, it seems like its easy to have one company making oil and calling it synthetic at say VI 125 and aother company using Group II+ at a VI of 110 to 115 and calling it conventional (not likely though - I'd think they'd blend it down with Group II).
On the Chevron site, the Group II+ is made with a typical VI of 118, thats darn close.
I can understand people blasting group IIIs being called synthetics, particularly if they just barely made it above a VI of 120 (and the other criteria, sulfur etc).
The twist to all this is the BBB selection of what is synthetic. When Castrol started all of this, it could have been a different story if they just would have drawn the line with wax isomerates with VI 140 or higher (Group III+).
I was reading a story from 2000 where the industry started making group III's all over the map it terms of what is allowed in the WIDE band - future processes could produce good quality Group III and other processes that would barely make the grade.
