This thread piqued my interest. Sunoco makes some great gasoline in my recent experience and opinion, and its stations are coming back in southern Virginia after over 20 years' absence. I noticed that in the spec sheets for 2003 that are included with Michael Kaufman's book
The Motor Oil Bible Sunoco oils are missing, though some pretty obscure oils made it on his lists.
Here's what I found:
1. Sunoco Canada is a separate company from Sunoco US and is owned by Suncor Energy. The Sunoco logo used up north is an "older" version. The Canadian operation sells Pennzoil motor oils at its retail outlets.
2. On its US website Sunoco lists only the Ultra oil line for automotive use and the Super C oil in 15W40 for diesels. For the Ultra, the site says that it "exceeds API SJ for wear and deposit control" but also says that it "exceeds the highest API standard". The current API spec has been SL since mid-2001. So which does it meet, SL or only SJ? The Super C meets API CI-4, which came out in fall 2002, but only API SJ. However, the Super C also meets a whole list of specific manufacturers' requirements: Mack EO-M, Cummins CES-20071, etc.
This is the entire actual spec listed on the US site--no viscosity, flash point, or Noack data--only generic advertising blather about "exceptional protection", "excellent control of oil consumption", "helps promote long engine life", and the ever-helpful "stays in grade". There isn't even anything about the type of oil, conventional or synthetic. The Super C, however, "permits consideration of entended drain", possibly implying some synthetic content.
3. The Sunoco Belgium website lists these oils, assuming that the same name indicates the same or very similar oil, along with some very interesting synthetics with decent specs that we evidently don't get here--plus some "garbage" such as nondetergent oils meant for older cars. The Belgian site claims that everything is formulated to Sunoco US specifications.
Let's look at some specifics:
On the Belgian site Ultra is listed as a semi-synthetic, available there in only 5W30 and 5W40. By contrast, the US site gives all the popular weights sold in America: 5W20, 5W30, 10W30, 10W40, 20W50, straight SAE 30, but not the 5W40. If Ultra there is Ultra here, then it is a semi-synthetic oil. Here are the Belgian specs:
Parameter...............5W30.......5W40
----------------------------------------------
ACEA specs met.....A1-98,B1-98..A3-98,B3-98
Density, 15 deg C.......0.865.....0.856
Viscosity, 100 C, cSt...10.4......14.1
Viscosity, 40 C, cSt....63........88.8
CCS visc, cP, @ deg C...................
.................... Pour point, deg C.......-42...... Flash point, deg C.......224.......235
TBN.........................9.3.......9.7
Noack %, HTHS, and viscosity index not given for either.
It's apparent that the 5W40 is a rather different oil from the 5W30. The former meets the rather more stringent ACEA A3 and B3 specs, and it is probably unlike the Ultra sold here in the other weights. I would guess that the 5W30 is the same as, or similar to, that sold here. So we have a synthetic blend, it appears.
Things get interesting fast with the Super C, which is sold there only as 15W40 as here. According to the Belgian website, this oil does meet API SL as well as CI-4 and is sold for "mixed fleet" gas and diesel use. Broadly speaking, the same manufacturers' specs are listed in both websites. Here are the Belgian specs:
ACEA specs met: A3, B3, B4, E3, E5
Density at 15 dec C:............0.883
Viscosity, cSt, 100 deg C:....14.2
Viscosity, cSt, 40 deg C:.....103.
CCS visc, cP@deg C:........ Viscosity index:...............140
Pour point, deg C:..............-33
Flash point, deg C:.............230
TBN..............................10.2
Noack % and HTHS not given.
However, the type of oil is not given, so do we assume it's conventional? No mention of synthetic or semi-synthetic here. But note that the US website mentions the possibility of entended drains with Super C.
So there we have it. If the Sunoco Belgium site specs apply to the oils sold here, then these oils are pretty good but in my opinion not outstanding. But I'm concerned about the missing data. The synthetics sold in Europe give Noack and HTHS data, but not these. Why can't Sunoco sell the good full-synthetic stuff in the US? And why doesn't it list
all the specs for the oils that it does sell here? This gets curiouser and curiouser . . . And for that matter, why doesn't the Canadian operation sell Sunoco's oils? Even curiouser . . .