No leading motor oil provides more horsepower than Castrol SYNTEC*

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"No leading motor oil provides more horsepower than Castrol SYNTEC"

"provides" Ponder the word. If you leave the cap off the oil will the horsepower within ooze out and crawl across the floor?

Perhaps "allows an engine to develop more horsepower due to decreased friction" would be a more accurate statement.

And, who and how defines "leading"? Are oil containers allowed to slide down an inclined plane and the first three to cross the finish line are leaders?

"more horsepower" By golly, what if every other "leading" oil reduced friction thus allowing a wee bit more horsepower at the exact same level as Castrol's product? As long as they didn't allow more horsepower!!!!!

Then, the entire statement. It doesn't claim any percentage increase. What if there actually is reduced friction. Would that allow an increase of 50 hp? 5? .5? .05? Without a declarative statement backed by replicable tests the statement is meaningless.

Further down the puffery-laden Marketing department written concoction;

"SYNTEC delivers the ultimate performance"

Ooooooooooo "ultimate" Non-pareil, unbeatable, nothing can outperform the goop.... well, until the next "ultimate" oil is introduced to the marketplace.

"SYNTEC offers a level of protection that Outperforms All Leading Conventional Oils"

Ahhhhhhhhh........ that "leading" word again. No telling what they mean by "leading" and then there's the "conventional" word. Is Syntec a synthetic oil? A blend of conventional and synthetic? Is Castrol comparing the latest technology against older technology? Well.... comparing my 2004 Chevy with a 1954 Chevy, I betcha' my engine and tranny lasts longer. And, my tires will likely last longer than tires of old.

Castrol's comparison to other oils is suspect.

I quit the Marketing degree quest after obtaining the 2-year AS degree. I was apalled by the amount of lying, skullduggery, a multitude of things I considered to be immoral. However, with the amount of training received I always look askance at the Bee Ess business tosses at us. So much is mere propaganda.

Of course........ with the horde of ignoramuses filling this country the corporate world likely shuns facts and data and logic since the average American would likelt merely become confused.
 
Pennzoil Platinum:
Full Synthetic Motor Oil Ultimate Protection, Superior resistance to shear under heavy loads to keep your engine running stronger, longer.


Quaker State Q:
New Q helps maximize your engine’s power. Q’s patented heat-activated formula reduces power-robbing friction better than any conventional motor oil – to help maximize the horsepower you need to accelerate, to pass, to win. Just ask Jeff and Jimmie. NASCAR’s winningest team uses Q exclusively.


Havoline synthetic:
Formulated using 100% synthetic base stocks, you gain an extra measure of performance and protection. Result? Maximized engine life, reduced maintenance costs and improved resale value.


Who's the best?

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well what i was getting at beyond the marketing stuff was it has this;

"*10W-30 as tested vs. leading competitive 10W-30S"

presumably they have dyno tests for this claim, the statement with note is strong/firm enough they could be sued otherwise.
 
+1 to what obbop said about the words and marketing.

Many/most folks today are unable to reason critically and understand ALL the words.

Not to mention reading between the lines and seeing what words are NOT there.

That reminds me of an advert that appeared at our Metro bus and train stops for a local casino. They showed several stacks of chips with the advertisers stack about 5x to 10x as high as the stacks representing the other casinos, indicating some 9x.x percent pay out. The problem was, the other casinos, also had a 9x.x% payout. Yes, they were all lower than "The loosest slots, period!" guys, but still, the graphic only showed the top 1-2% of the graph.

If the entire graph was shown to scale, it wouldn't look so different.

So many folks think 9x.x% payout is good.

I understand math, which means odds are pretty good that they will get at least 100-9x.x% from me over time.

Why gamble?

But the parking lots are not empty when I see the casino from the train.

But it must work to some extent since the ads are sold?

Or does it? Maybe the biggest "sale" was convincing businesses that they needed to spend so much money on advertising.

My impression, and I reserve the right to be wrong, is that for many companies, such as auto manufactuers, there is more spent on advertising than spent on engineering the product.

If that is the case, it's truely sad.
 
All the advertisments mean nothing to me. Most if not all are hype. I choose the oil I'm going to use by my type of driving and oil analysis found on this site, and the recommendations of people on this site that I trust. There are some very knowledgeable folks here.

Thanks

Westex
 
quote:

Originally posted by javacontour:
Many/most folks today are unable to reason critically and understand ALL the words.

Yep. "No leading motor oil provides more horsepower than Castrol SYNTEC®" is not at all equivalent to stating, "Castrol SYNTEC® provides more horsepower than any other leading motor oil." Looked at critically, Castrol's statement doesn't say anything more than that Castrol's a player in an already competent field. But marketing savvy copywriters carefully guided by BP's corporate lawyers would love uncritical minds to believe otherwise. Before someone pounces, I'm NOT anti-Castrol. BP's Castrol brand motor oils are fine. But, the company's playing the lowest common denominator in just skirting around outright advertising trickery.
 
Say what you want about Castrol Syntec, but it has the most advances additive package of any of the "store bought" synthetic motor oils.
 
"No leading motor oil provides more horsepower than Castrol SYNTEC."

This is true. No motor oil provides *less* horsepower than Syntec either. No motor oil provides any kind of horsepower at all.

I think "No leading motor oil advertising provides more horse patties than Castrol SYNTEC" would be a statement I could firmly agree with.
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FWIW, I don't believe the statements by those who claim their oil provided an x% increase in HP.

Most of the time, from what I've seen, the increase is in the range of being sample error for the dyno gear, maybe a 1 or 2% change.

Not to mention, how much can be attributed to new, clean fluids, vs fluid of unknown viscosity and age.

I recall a case where some "tuner" was going on and on how this Ford Focus (this was prior to the SVT Focus) beat a V8 Mustang. They were touting this.

I asked the question, is this a typical result? The guy could only come back with on this occassion the Focus won.

You see those ads all the time with the work from home or lose all your weight by taking this pill or ordering meals from our warehouse that have that caveat stating the results cited are NOT typical results.

So, a one-time result or outlying data point can become the subject of the ad copy you will soon see.
 
It's just marketting verbeage...

Just like Q.S.: "Get all the horsepower you paid for by using Q.S."
 
As long as you dont quote actual numbers, you cant be sued or procecuted for false claims. They all know that. "Puffery" is the term used to describe these non-specific claims and keeps the companies out of court. Even if they say "Up to five percent, or more", no one could hold them liable.
 
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