Valvoline WB base stock?

[Texican]

Was looking on Valvoline's web page, and in the product info sheet for VWB is says it's formulated with synthetic blend base stocks. I don't recall that being mentioned on their PI sheets in the past, I could be wrong. Is this new or have I just overlooked it before?

 

[OPR4H]

SN? I believe it was said here that Most dino are now partly syn (a little Group III).

 

[SR5]

Yeah I have heard the same, for a mineral oil to pass API SN, it often requires a touch of Group IiI in the mix.

I was just commenting in another thread, that the new GTX UltraClean is also a synblend according to Castrol, even though it's their conventional product.

 

[aquariuscsm]

You're right,it does say that. But what does it mean? Is "synthetic" just now a marketing term? Here it is:

http://content.valvoline.com/pdf/premium_conventional.pdf

VALVOLINETM MOTOR OIL (PREMIUM CONVENTIONAL)
ValvolineTM Motor Oil (Premium Conventional) SAE 5W-20 and SAE 5W-30 are formulated with advanced additive technology and highly refined, premium quality synthetic blend basestock formulation that protect today’s engines against undesirable deposits, contamination, and viscosity and thermal breakdown under severe service conditions. They meet the performance requirements of virtually all naturally aspirated, turbocharged and supercharged gasoline fueled passenger cars and light duty trucks, including European and Japanese vehicles*.

 

[Kuato]

Synthetic is a marketing term in the US, which gives a lot of latitude to engine oil manufacturers.

 

[FCD]

Originally Posted By: Kuato
Synthetic is a marketing term in the US, which gives a lot of latitude to engine oil manufacturers.

Are there actaully any regulations that say what you can or cannot call syntheticin the US ? Could somebody make a full Group 1 Dino and cal it a synthetic and get away with it legally? Because that would clearly be false advertisement.

 

[PimTac]

Didn't this get hashed out over a decade or so ago?

 

[Nickdfresh]

Originally Posted By: FordCapriDriver
Originally Posted By: Kuato
Synthetic is a marketing term in the US, which gives a lot of latitude to engine oil manufacturers.

Are there actaully any regulations that say what you can or cannot call syntheticin the US ? Could somebody make a full Group 1 Dino and cal it a synthetic and get away with it legally? Because that would clearly be false advertisement.


No, it would be consumer fraud and would meet almost no spec's and would lead to lawsuits and multiple state attorney general inquiries...

 

[Nickdfresh]

A former poster that worked for Pennzoil stated that PYB was typically either a blend of Group II/III or was Group II+ and pretty much had to be to meet SN. And that they wanted to differentiate the oil from their syn-blends, now marketed as Dexos oils. That's why the Gold Bottle states that it's at least 50% syn...

I would say that any 5W-20 out there is a syn-blend...

 

[Nickdfresh]

Originally Posted By: Nickdfresh
Originally Posted By: FordCapriDriver
Originally Posted By: Kuato
Synthetic is a marketing term in the US, which gives a lot of latitude to engine oil manufacturers.

Are there actaully any regulations that say what you can or cannot call syntheticin the US ? Could somebody make a full Group 1 Dino and cal it a synthetic and get away with it legally? Because that would clearly be false advertisement.


No, it would be consumer fraud and would meet almost no spec's and would lead to lawsuits and multiple state attorney general inquiries...


The main issue in the US is conventional motors oils of dubious quality being sold at gas stations that do not have the API-donut or the Starburst, but are sort of masked as regular oils to unsuspecting consumers in mainly urban gastations:

http://www.pqiamerica.com/March2013PCMO/bullet.htm

 

[ARCOgraphite]

Most Group III product is not synthesized so its not a syn blend. There could be fatty esters in there so it could have gpV blend

 

[Oilied]

Originally Posted By: Nickdfresh
A former poster that worked for Pennzoil stated that PYB was typically either a blend of Group II/III or was Group II+ and pretty much had to be to meet SN. And that they wanted to differentiate the oil from their syn-blends, now marketed as Dexos oils. That's why the Gold Bottle states that it's at least 50% syn...

I would say that any 5W-20 out there is a syn-blend...


I'm new to the oil talk and I find out more and more as I read about it every day. Its amazing to me to hear how these regular conventional oils have some mix of a synthetic if I read all that right? All this talk now has me reconsidering to switch back to conventional oils for my family cars. We don't use turbos or race engines, just 4 bangers and a V8. So why spend over $20 on "synthetics" when I wont notice a real difference with conventionals. Change every 5k and save $. White bottle Valvoline seems good to me.

 

[y_p_w]

Originally Posted By: Oilied
Originally Posted By: Nickdfresh
A former poster that worked for Pennzoil stated that PYB was typically either a blend of Group II/III or was Group II+ and pretty much had to be to meet SN. And that they wanted to differentiate the oil from their syn-blends, now marketed as Dexos oils. That's why the Gold Bottle states that it's at least 50% syn...

I would say that any 5W-20 out there is a syn-blend...


I'm new to the oil talk and I find out more and more as I read about it every day. Its amazing to me to hear how these regular conventional oils have some mix of a synthetic if I read all that right? All this talk now has me reconsidering to switch back to conventional oils for my family cars. We don't use turbos or race engines, just 4 bangers and a V8. So why spend over $20 on "synthetics" when I wont notice a real difference with conventionals. Change every 5k and save $. White bottle Valvoline seems good to me.

Well - the price itself is kind of odd these days. You might be paying $22 for a 5 quart bottle of Pennzoil Platinum, or $16 for a bottle of Pennzoil yellow bottle. The lines are blurred, and so are the prices.

I remember the days when Mobil 1 was about $4/quart, while a typical "conventional oil" was maybe $1.50.

 

[sir1900]

Originally Posted By: Oilied
Originally Posted By: Nickdfresh
A former poster that worked for Pennzoil stated that PYB was typically either a blend of Group II/III or was Group II+ and pretty much had to be to meet SN. And that they wanted to differentiate the oil from their syn-blends, now marketed as Dexos oils. That's why the Gold Bottle states that it's at least 50% syn...

I would say that any 5W-20 out there is a syn-blend...


I'm new to the oil talk and I find out more and more as I read about it every day. Its amazing to me to hear how these regular conventional oils have some mix of a synthetic if I read all that right? All this talk now has me reconsidering to switch back to conventional oils for my family cars. We don't use turbos or race engines, just 4 bangers and a V8. So why spend over $20 on "synthetics" when I wont notice a real difference with conventionals. Change every 5k and save $. White bottle Valvoline seems good to me.


If you are already planning on changing your oil every 5k, then you are right -- there is no point in using synthetic. Just use a good quality conventional that meets spec.

 

[bbhero]

Great point y_p_w. There is not the price spread like there used to be there. And I agree with Oilied that "conventional" are very good indeed. At 5k mile runs PYB, VWB, Havoline DS, Formula Shell, QSGB, etc would be very good choices for him.

+ 1 to sir1900 thinking here.

How's the Murano doing so far??

 

[aquariuscsm]

If vwb is using synthetic base stocks as stated by Valvoline,then what is synthetic oil anymore these days? Or is that simply a typo on Valvoline's pds?

 

[Texican]

Castrol states the same thing for their GTX conventional oil.

 

[wemay]

Originally Posted By: Texican
Castrol states the same thing for their GTX conventional oil.


As does Havoline conv.

 

[bbhero]

Yes sir Wemay. Havoline says it as well. The real truth is that in order to pass the volatility testing involved with the API SN ILSAC GF-5 standards the oils had to add just a bit of group 3 to pass those new standards. With NOACK levels of 15% or less needed to pass the oil blenders/manufacturers added a bit of group 3 to make it below that mark. It may be only 5-20% group 3 added but it was needed, so they did what they had to do. I do think that being the fact that today's "conventional" oils are group 2 or group +2 oils plus a bit of added group 3 changes the "game" a fair amount. The days of poorer group 1 conventional oils with high volatility, prone to high shear and loss of viscosity at high temperature are long behind. When CT8 says that today's conventional oils are not what they used to be then he is more than correct in that assessment. Today's conventional oils are capable of long runs in some vehicles today given certain driving patterns and motor configurations.

 

[Nickdfresh]

I agree with most of what you're saying, but...

Originally Posted By: Oilied
...So why spend over $20 on "synthetics" when I wont notice a real difference with conventionals. Change every 5k and save $. White bottle Valvoline seems good to me.


Rebates my dear boy!