Our background started with the US Air Force back in 1966 while maintaining
jet engines. That was our first experience with synthetic oils. Over
the next several years we gained experience in several markets including
the Trucking, Automotive, RV, Motorcycle, Marine, Construction, Farming,
Racing, and Industrial.
We became very strong supporters of using and recommending the very
best synthetic lubricants available due to the results we were seeing
in the field. We don't always recommend synthetics due to economics,
but if they can be used cost effectively, we almost always recommend
them.
There is several synthetics on the market presently using many different
base stocks. In 1999 the National Advertising Division (NAD) of the
council of Better Business Bureau ruled in a debate of what is "synthetic".
Mobil challenged Castrol's replacement of polyalphaolefins (PAO's)
with hydroisomerized waxes in their synthetic formulations. The Bureau
ruled in Castrols favor and allowed them to call this hydroisomerized
processed petroleum oil a synthetic. The NAD ruled that synthetic was
just a marketing term since there was no true definition of what synthetic
is. Since then many oil companies have replaced their True Synthetics
with this highly refined petroleum oil in place of the more expensive
True Synthetic PAO's. These new highly refined petroleum oils are better
in quality and performance than the cheaper refined oils, but only
come close in some parameters to a True synthetic oil and are cheaper
to manufacture.
There is a growing place in the market place for these new oils,
as the bar keeps raising in regards to motor oil improvements required
for new engines. They will never be able to measure up to the parameters
of hot and cold temperatures that True Synthetics can safely handle
though. We will recommend these new generation petroleum synthetic
oils in situations where the customer doesn't need the greater protection
of a True Synthetic and is not interested in the extended oil change
intervals or higher all around performance that a True synthetic can
provide.