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The Future of Synthetic Motor Oils

By Shawn Mc Carthy

 Where is the lubricants industry heading with synthetic motor oils?  The answer is simple...FORWARD.  As quality standards get tighter and tighter, synthetic lubes will play an ever-increasing role.  They’ll help engineers meet these performance requirements.

             Synthetic motor oil sales are growing each year at double digit rates.  Some industry experts say it could be as high as 40% of the market in 5 years.  There are many reasons why this is occurring.  But before we get into the reasons why lets put to rest some false rumors on synthetics.

1. You can’t switch back to mineral oils after using a synthetic oil.  The truth is you can go back and forth as many times as you like.  I have done this myself.  If I am at a facility that is out of synthetic oil I will use conventional motor oil.

2. Synthetics are too expensive.  They have a higher up front cost but they have long term cost savings.  They protect the engine better and need to be changed less often.  Fewer oil changes mean more time to do other more important things.  We all could do something better with the 20-30 minutes it takes to get an oil change.

3. Only high performance and ultra luxury cars need synthetics.  The fact is any car can use them, including my Hyundai Sonata.

4. Synthetics damage seals.  The fact is that there is not a synthetic motor oil that will create a leak.  What it could do is clean up the contaminants that were built up from conventional oils and were masking a worn engine seal.

Now that we have dispelled those rumors the question is “what are the benefits of using a synthetic motor oil versus a conventional motor oil?”  The answer to this question is the same reason as to why synthetic motor oil sales are increasing at double digit rates. 

The main benefit of synthetic motor oil is that it takes longer to break down.  This allows for extended oil drains which results in

much needed time savings.  By extending the oil drains this helps the environment by generating less waste oil and less package waste.  Synthetic motor oils are designed with improved lubrication properties and higher viscosity indexes.  The benefits from that is superior engine wear protection, decreased oil consumption, improved fuel mileage, easier cold starting and a reduction in engine deposits. 

             At Ocean State Oil we recognize the importance of synthetics in the marketplace.  That is why we have aligned ourselves with Total Lubricants.  Both Total Lubricants and Ocean State Oil are committed to providing you with premium synthetic oils that meet the manufacturer’s demands now and also what the demands will be in the future.  As demand for synthetic oils grow, so do expectations on what the oil can do.  For example, the Total Quartz Ineo MC3 5w/30 now meets the MB specs 229.5 and 229.51, the VW specs 502.00 and 505.01, the BMW LL-04 spec, as well as the latest Porsche specs.  By having these manufacturer’s approvals it separates Total’s synthetic oils from most other synthetics. 

If a car requires an approved oil it is vital for the installer to use an approved oil.  Not all synthetic oils carry these approvals.  There are plenty of synthetic oils that are fine products but they do not carry these approvals.  So if you are going to carry, sell, or use a synthetic motor oil why not carry an oil that has the manufacturer approvals and meets the specs of over 90% of the cars on the road.  When consolidation of inventory is becoming more and more desirable it is good to know that Total and Ocean State Oil have an answer.  If you should have any questions we here at Ocean State Oil would be glad to assist you. 

Information gathered from:

Total Quartz Ineo MC3 product data sheet

How Stuff Works. What’s new in synthetic oil technology? By Kristen Hall-Geisler

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