People get all wrapped up in formulation chemistry that they don't understand anyway....
You can't tell anything from a VOA that you won't find on a spec sheet for free, except the absolute levels of antiwear and detergent additives. You can only tell a very limited amount about physical/chemical properties from standardized bench tests. You can tell a lot by oil testing various oils in the same engine, under the same conditions - and with the same driver.
I should add that there really are NO secret ingredients when it comes to basestocks and/or additives. ExxonMobil and Chevron combined have about 70% of the world wide PAO market, and everyone buys additives from the usual suspects like Lubrizol, Ethyl, Infinium and Oronite/Chevron. Basically, you can get a very good idea of the quality of oil you are buying simply by the cost. The price of admission to get a world class synthetic, regardless of who makes the stuff is $6.00-$10.00 per quart.
The bottom of that range would be oils like Delvac 1, the Synergyn 3w-30, Royal Purple and the Amsoil 5w-30/10w-30/10w-40. The top of that range would be oils like the Synergyn 0w-20, the Amsoil S2000/S3000, the better "Euro" synlubes and some of the Redline formulations.
The Mobil 1, 0w-20/10w-30/15w-50 and the GC, 0w-30 are probably the best oils you can buy for < $5.00/qt, if that's the most you want to spend. I also like some of the 5w-40, GP III oils like the Petro Canada Duron and Delo 400 ....The 5w-40 Valvoline "synpower" seems to be one of the better GP III, ACEA "A3/B3" formulations.
TS