 |
 | Home | Contact Us | FAQ | Search & Site Map | Link to Us |
 | Sign In | Join | Other 45 Sites in Network |
Car Forum / Honda Cars / October 2006motor oil thoughts
i'm sure we've all read the story about castrol and mobil's legal struggle over use of the word "synthetic". to recap, we have "synthetic" as in poly alpha olefins [pao's] and "synthetic" as in group III mineral oils as per the following descriptions: from http://www.valvoline.com/carcare/articleviewer.asp?pg=vcc20060101so&cccid=2&scccid=2 we read "...synthetic base oils are created through a series of chemical synthesis. The starting materials may be a mixture of relatively pure small molecules. In this case the small molecules are combined to make new, larger molecules. Alternatively the starting material may be a broad mixture of larger molecules. In this case the large molecules are broken down and rearranged." i.e. valvoline's defintion of "synthetic" include both pao's /and/ group III's since they use the word "alternatively" rather than something inclusive like "additionally". i think we can therefore conclude that valvoline doesn't include pao's - ok, no problem so far. otoh, we have http://mobil1.com/USA-English/MotorOil/Synthetics/Why_Synthetics.aspx where we have "...Mobil 1® uses high-performance fluids, including polyalphaolefins (PAOs)" note the magic word "including". by reputation, M1 has a pao base, but use of that one simple word clearly leaves the door wide open for something else. so, reading further we have: http://mobil1.com/USA-English/MotorOil/Oils/Mobil_1_Extended_Performance_FAQs.as px#FAQs2 where: "...Mobil 1 Extended Performance, with the Advanced SuperSyn System, contains 50 percent more SuperSyn than Mobil 1." really? so, since "SuperSyn" is the magic pao ingredient, how is it mathematically possible for one type to contain "50% more" pao if pao is the base for both??? answer: it's not. conclusion: the much-vaunted mobil 1 is not as is popularly believed. it's simply a group III mineral oil, with additives, /including/ pao's, the proportions of which are undetermined, but may vary depending on price point. personally, i'd like to see ingredients lists on oil like we have for foods or things like shampoo. that latter is an extremely high margin and competitive industry. constituent lists for shampoo enjoy legal protections, so fear of competition is no excuse. why not publish constituent lists for motor oil? there's no legal reason not to do it. > personally, i'd like to see ingredients lists on oil like we have for > foods or things like shampoo. that latter is an extremely high margin > and competitive industry. constituent lists for shampoo enjoy legal > protections, so fear of competition is no excuse. why not publish > constituent lists for motor oil? there's no legal reason not to do it. I suppose this would be fine, but it would also be meaningless to 99.99% of consumers. And, ultimately, what's important is which service grades (e.g. ILSAC, API, manufacturer specs) the oil is tested and proven to meet. -- Mike Smith >> personally, i'd like to see ingredients lists on oil like we have for >> foods or things like shampoo. that latter is an extremely high margin [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > I suppose this would be fine, but it would also be meaningless to 99.99% > of consumers. both oil and shampoo, but is that a reason? i think not. consumers are quite capable of reading food ingredient labels if they have an allergy - i see no difference here other than oilcos not having as much vacuum into which marketing can be injected, but that doesn't disadvantage the consumer. > And, ultimately, what's important is which service grades > (e.g. ILSAC, API, manufacturer specs) the oil is tested and proven to meet. You pour shampoo on your head, at least I do. You don't pour motor oil on your head, at least I don't. People having their hair fall out and getting strange rashes from poorly concocted formulations is thought to be the business of government, while having your pockets emptied is your own lookout. It's not a problem if you don't buy synthetic. Earle > i'm sure we've all read the story about castrol and mobil's legal > struggle over use of the word "synthetic". to recap, we have > "synthetic" as in poly alpha olefins [pao's] and "synthetic" as in group > III mineral oils as per the following descriptions: > > from http://www.valvoline.com/carcare/articleviewer.asp?pg=vcc20060101so&cccid=2&scccid=2 > we read > [quoted text clipped - 20 lines] > use of that one simple word clearly leaves the door wide open for > something else. so, reading further we have: http://mobil1.com/USA-English/MotorOil/Oils/Mobil_1_Extended_Performance_FAQs.as px#FAQs2 > where: > [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > protections, so fear of competition is no excuse. why not publish > constituent lists for motor oil? there's no legal reason not to do it.  SignaturePosted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com > You pour shampoo on your head, at least I do. You don't pour motor oil on > your head, at least I don't. People having their hair fall out and getting > strange rashes from poorly concocted formulations is thought to be the > business of government, while having your pockets emptied is your own > lookout. "thought to be" vs. "is"??? how do you differentiate? consumers only get to know where their money goes if it's a health issue but anything else is fair game? revealing perspective. > It's not a problem if you don't buy synthetic. > [quoted text clipped - 54 lines] >> protections, so fear of competition is no excuse. why not publish >> constituent lists for motor oil? there's no legal reason not to do it. Jim, I think you nailed it. I've been convinced for a long time: Synthetics are a blend, because it costs too much to synthesize a whole quart to sell for only $6.00. That means that the "synthetic blends" are a misnomer; they're just /further diluted/ synthetic base with a whole lot of mineral oil. Unjust enrichment, bait and switch deceptive ads, disgorgement of profits, all that class action stuff, will probably get us fifty-cent off coupons in 2 or 3 years when some law firm gets hold of this. > i'm sure we've all read the story about castrol and mobil's legal > struggle over use of the word "synthetic". to recap, we have [quoted text clipped - 49 lines] > protections, so fear of competition is no excuse. why not publish > constituent lists for motor oil? there's no legal reason not to do it. |
Reply to this Message |
 Sign In
 Join
 My Latest Posts My Monitored Threads My Blog My Photo Gallery My Profile My Homepage Start New Thread Enable EMail Alerts Rate this Thread
|
©2009 Advenet LLC Privacy Policy - Terms of Use
This website includes both content owned or controlled by Advenet as well as content owned or controlled by third parties.