Valvoline Maxlife marketing hype

AMSOIL Motor Oils Provide Unsurpassed Protection for Old and New Engines

(Archive Article)

Valvoline is reporting a dramatic increase in sales volume, especially for premium products.  In fact, Valvoline’s total operating income has increased a full 36 percent over the past year, jumping from $11 million to $15 million.  Sales for MaxLife motor oil, introduced two years ago as a lubricant for higher mileage engines, has sold particularly well, growing at a 43 percent rate.

Valvoline claims it was the first company to produce a motor oil specifically formulated for higher mileage engines, but does Valvoline MaxLife really provide unique protection for higher mileage engines?  Are all the consumers who are purchasing MaxLife really getting their money’s worth, or are they just buying into marketing hype?

High mileage engines often lose compression, the gaskets become brittle, the rings wear and valves do not seal as tightly.  However, these problems are most commonly associated with engines running conventional oils.  MaxLife supposedly combats problems such as increased oil consumption, reduced fuel economy, decreased performance and more rapid oil breakdown.  However, these problems can be avoided by running a high quality synthetic motor oil.  By using a premium synthetic from the start, these problems would never be an issue. My case in particular, I have been a mechanic for our local Corvair club. I do oil changes for several of these 100,000 + mile air cooled engines. All my customers return satisfied. But the bulk of AMSOIL’s customers are represented by all types of vehicles who’s owners are seeking the best value for their money.

AMSOIL Gasoline rated synthetic engine oils are guaranteed for 25,000 miles or one year which has stood true without a single failure since 1972.

According to Valvoline, MaxLife motor oil helps condition seals and prevent leaks, helps reduce oil consumption, helps reduce deposit formation and helps provide easier cold starts.

Benefits such as these are nothing new for our users.  AMSOIL motor oils effectively condition seals, keep oil consumption to an absolute minimum, resist oil breakdown and deposit formation and permit easy engine cranking and quick starts in the coldest temperatures, all while keeping friction and wear to a minimum for extended drain intervals.

The Solution?? AMSOIL?

Here’s two cost conscious products to consider. You decide if you want a 3000 to 7000 oil at a great price (Less than $6 per quart) choose the AMSOIL OE or a once per year oil change (12,000 mile max) for a little more money choose our XL Line.

Why continue to shell out money for oils that do nothing special, have to be changed frequently, and cost you more? In fact, AMSOIL’s XL line-up is great for higher mileage engines which may have a higher degree of sludge and varnish, The XL Series contain slightly less detergents for engines with more wear and carbon build-up. AMSOIL XL actually cost less than our main line. Give us a call and we’ll help you decide what’s best for your engine. 800-579-0580

AMSOIL motor oils provide the best protection possible for the entire life and every stage of life for any engine.

What should a quality synthetic lubricant do?

AMSOIL gives you more for your money as it performs these tasks longer.

Clean – Maintain internal cleanliness by suspending contaminants or keeping contaminants from adhering to components. Critical function for used vehicles where you don’t know about the maintenance performed.

Cool moving elements – Reducing friction will reduce the amount of heat that is generated, which will lower the operating temperature of the element or component. We also rely on the lubricant to absorb heat from the contact surface area and transport it to a location in which it can be safely dissipated.

Prevent contamination (seal) – We rely on the lubricant to act as a dynamic seal in locations such as the piston, piston ring and cylinder contact areas. This minimizes combustion by-products (for example) from contaminating the lubrication system. We also rely on the lubricant to support mechanical seals found elsewhere, minimizing external contamination and fluid loss. AMSOIL Synthetic Lubricants and industrial oils excel in Carbon Formation Resistance, Antifoam, Demulsibility and Hydrolytic stability. Other brands fail here. Do your own analysis.

Dampen shock – A lubricant may be required to cushion the blow of mechanical shock. A lubricant film can absorb and disperse these energy spikes over a broader contact area. This is AMSOIL’s most commented on attribute. Our large vehicle and motorcycle customers frequently comment on noise and vibration reduction.

Prevent corrosion – A lubricant must have the ability to prevent or minimize internal component corrosion. This can be accomplished either by chemically neutralizing the corrosive products or by setting up a barrier between the components and the corrosive material.

Transfer energy – A lubricant may be required to act as an energy transfer median as in the case of hydraulic equipment or valve lifters in an automotive engine.

Coping With Complexity

by Ed Newman
AMSOIL Director of Advertising
This article appeared in National Oil & Lube News, August 2009

I recently heard a story about someone who said he wished his computer was as simple to operate as his phone. He got his wish. Phones are so complicated he can’t figure his out any more.

By now you’ve noticed that life, at least here in Western Civilization, is more complicated than it used to be. The evidence is all around us. For example, when many of us were young there were only three TV stations, unless you were from a major metro area like New York. But when cable came along we suddenly had dozens, then hundreds. And with internet video options, it’s thousands.

Medical care used to be easier, too. You went to the doctor and after a diagnosis he prescribed a medicine. Today we have a whole range of health services, from traditional to alternative, herbal to homeopathic. We’re ushered to specialists from allergists to urologists and everything in between. If we get prescriptions we no longer just listen to our doctors but go online to see what the side effects will be and what alternatives there might be, whether herbal supplements or aroma therapies.

So it’s no surprise that our cars are more complicated as well. In the old days you popped the hood and with a minimum of training could figure out many repairs all by yourself. Just use a little applied logic and elbow grease. Nowadays, you open the hood and can hardly find your engine because it is buried beneath a mass of cables, couplings and devices.  Exhaust gas recycling, direct fuel injection, variable speed transmissions, electro-magnetic valve actuators, connectors, brain boxes, sensors and chips… It’s a whole new world.

RESPONSES TO COMPLEXITY
There are a variety of ways people respond to complexity. Some people retreat from it, others get jazzed by it. Many of us have found, however, that as systems become increasingly complex they also become increasingly unpredictable. Ultimately, the law of unintended consequences and subsequent failings undercuts our confidence in what we think we know.  This can lead to insecurity, though as Dave Barry notes, guys can often mask their insecurity by walking around with large tools in their hands.

The study of complexity has become one of the newest branches of science. In his book Making Things Work, Yaneer Bar-Yam applies insights from this new science to everyday problems. Early in the book Bar-Yam shows how many problems occur because people focus too much on details without a reference to the bigger picture. It is the old dilemma of not being able to see the forest for the trees.

In the auto industry, numerous problems have been created when engineers make modifications in one particular without seeing its full impact on the whole. I will cite just one example because it has a bearing on lube selection. That detail is aerodynamics.

As early as the 1920’s auto engineers began to consider the aerodynamics of a car, with wind tunnels eventually being used to define shapes and styling for improved airflow benefits. Though now replaced with computer-aided design tools, the ultimate goal of
reducing drag to improve fuel economy has been a perpetual pursuit. Unfortunately, one of the adjustments to improve air flows was to bring the drivetrain up tighter into the belly of the undercarriage. Transmissions and differentials were suddenly running hotter, so hot in fact that interior carpets have caught fire during some tests where SUVs were pulling heavy loads.

Synthetic transmission fluids and gear lubes are useful for addressing this issue, helping reduce internal friction to keep parts running cooler as well as more efficiently.

In fact, synthetic motor oils and drivetrain fluids have been discovered as a solution for many of the issues auto engineers have encountered while in pursuit of improved engine design and function. The high torque and tight tolerances in the Corvette led GM to make synthetics the designated factory fill back in the 90’s. Several years ago Toyota had a problem with gummy sludge interfering with important sensors, with subsequent negative consequences for engine operation. Synthetic motor oils that resisted oxidation and sludge formation helped keep this negative at bay.

IS MOTOR OIL TOO COMPLICATED?
There are some who might suggest that synthetic motor oils and other specialty oils have made the motor oil field too complicated. I would suggest that this complexity can be simplified quite easily with a single question.  Is your customer driving a vehicle with a mechanically sound engine?  If yes, then he should be using a premium synthetic motor oil. It will protect his engine longer and keep it running more efficiently than a conventional motor oil.

As for viscosity selection, just check the owner’s manual and you’ll be good to go. Unless I’m missing something, this prescription seems pretty clear and simple to me.