Today Pennzoil announced that it has
introduced Pennzoil Ultra to its passenger
car engine oil lineup. According to Shell,
Pennzoil Ultra represents a "new tier" of
engine oils, a tier Shell refers to as "super
synthetic."
So JobbersWorld put the question to Shell, we
asked, "What makes Pennzoil Ultra different
from other synthetics, what makes it worthy
of the titles "the next generation in engine
oil protection" or "super synthetic?"
Well to sum it up, Pennzoil says, beyond just
lubricating and protecting an engine,
"Nothing keeps an engine closer to factory
clean then Pennzoil Ultra." Pennzoil Ultra is
specifically formulated to help keep engines
as close to factory clean as possible and,
Shell says, its performance "far exceeds the
most stringent car manufacturer standards for
cleanliness and protection." In addition to
its ability to help prevent sludge and other
deposits, Shell says it also cleans up
existing sludge. In fact, Shell notes
"Pennzoil Ultra cleans out over 35 percent
more engine sludge than the brand"s next best
oil, Pennzoil PlatinumŽ."
To underscore these points of
differentiation, Debbie Van Schalkwyk,
Pennzoil Global Brand Manager, notes, "At
Pennzoil, we recognized that an engine is in
its most perfect state the day it leaves the
factory. That's why we developed new Pennzoil
Ultra motor oil molecule-by-molecule to seek
out and dissolve contaminants safely into the
oil before they form deposits or corrode the
engine."
Dr. Robert Sutherland, Pennzoil Technology
Manager, adds to this by saying "As motor oil
developers, we are seeing more and more
engines with sludge and varnish, which can
compromise performance and reduce
efficiency." If left unchecked, Sutherland
says, "Deposits on critical surfaces can
restrict oil flow or act as insulators that
can cause the temperature inside of an engine
to rise to a point where damage may result.
Maintaining engine cleanliness should be a
priority for all vehicle owners to best
protect the substantial investment they have
in their vehicle."
According to Shell, the superior performance
of Pennzoil Ultra is a function of its
patented Hyper Cleansing TechnologyTM. Shell
says in addition to this proprietary
technology helping to keep engines as close
to factory clean as possible, it is designed
and engineered to exceed the toughest
industry standards. To drive this point home,
Schalkwyk says, "In addition to exceeding the
most stringent car manufacturer standards for
cleanliness and protection, Pennzoil Ultra
already exceeds the 2010 GF-5 specification's
requirements for cleanliness and protection."
In fact, "No leading synthetic outperforms
Pennzoil Ultra in certain critical industry
requirements covering American, Asian and
European vehicles," adds Van Schalkwyk.
For these reasons, Shell remains confident
Pennzoil Ultra does in fact offer the next
generation in engine oil protection, a step
change in performance, and certainly
qualifies as a super synthetic. In fact,
Pennzoil is so confident and proud of the
performance of Pennzoil Ultra that, Luis
Guimaraes, Vice President, Shell Lubricants
Marketing, Americas says, "We are backing it
with a 500,000 mile, 15-year Lubrication
Limited Warranty."
Although it all sounds impressive and
JobbersWorld was certainly intrigued by what
appears to be a very compelling story about
helping to keep engines "factory clean," you
can be sure we asked some questions. The
first is whether or not Pennzoil Ultra is
blended with Group III base stocks or PAO
(Group IV)? According to Dr. Sutherland,
whereas some of the Pennzoil Ultra grades are
blended with some PAO, Group III base oil is
the primary type used, given their superior
solvency for the product's cleansing
capabilities as compared to PAO. He added,
however, that the type of base stock in use
is selected to aid the formulator in
achieving the desired product performance.
The next question JW asked focused on the
detergent additive composition of Hyper
Cleansing TechnologyTM. Specifically we
asked if the detergent additive is based on
such existing technologies as calcium and
magnesium sulfonate, salicylate, or phenate?
To this, Shell only said, "it's a new and
unique, proprietary technology exclusive to
Shell and unlike what we have seen before."
Interesting to say the least.
Then we asked about cannibalization.
JobbersWorld's research uncovered that the
retail price of Pennzoil Ultra will be very
close to that of other synthetics, it seemed
to us that Pennzoil runs the risk of
cannibalizing its Pennzoil PlatinumŽ sales
(for little to no added margin) by splitting
the synthetic category. Pennzoil, however,
feels "just the opposite will happen."
Instead of cannibalizing the synthetic
category, Ultra will effectively pull
conventional and synthetic blend buyers up
the quality continuum to synthetics and
Pennzoil's Ultra.
Whereas only time will tell how this plays
out, Pennzoil Ultra is already in warehouses
and ready to go. In fact, on the day you read
this article, Shell says the new Pennzoil
Ultra 5W-20, 5W-30 and 10W-30 viscosities
will be available in major automotive
retailers nationwide. In addition, Pennzoil
Ultra 5W-40 and 10W-60 viscosities can be
found at retailers and select installers
servicing mostly European cars, or through
Ferrari US dealerships.