Finally ...Rotella T6 5w40 at WalMart...

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Well, I was not going to post this, but here is the email communications starting at the bottom and working there way up. After reading it you can come to your own conclusions.

From:
Date: December 21, 2009 10:11:37 AM CST
To:
Subject: Re: Shell Rotella T6

Johnny,
The T6 label is part of a marketing re-imaging of the Rotella line.
I don't believe there is much if any change otherwise for this
particular product.
Keith

On Mon, 21 Dec 2009 09:54:49 -0600 you wrote:

Keith,

Appreciate the reply, but it does not quite answer my question.

I've been to the Rotella.com site, looked at all the graphs, and
read
all of the information. And, we both agree it shows the Rotella T6
delivers 34% better wear protection that the previous CI-4 PLUS
formulation.
However, I have in my garage a case of gallons jugs of the Shell
Rotella T Synthetic 5W-40 that meets the CJ4 specification. I
purchased this oil from my Shell distributor about six or seven
months
ago. It's the same blue bottle as the new stuff, the difference is
the label on the gallon jugs. Mine do not say T6. So my question
is,
is the new T6 the same CJ4 product that I have now.

I am not a spy from one of your competitors. I am a retired Shell
employee and if that needs to be verified you can ask Dan A who I
am.

Thank you,

Johnny P


On Dec 21, 2009, at 7:40 AM,
wrote:

Johnny,
The new T6 formulation provides better wear protection and
low-temperature flow. See more at Rotella.com then select Products
then Select Rotella T6. You'll find a graph.
PROTECTION AGAINST WEAR
Shell Rotella® T6 delivers 34% better wear performance on average
compared to the previous API CI-4 PLUS 5W-40 formulation. In seven
out of seven industry-standard, diesel-engine wear test
measurements,
Shell Rotella® T6 outperformed the previous formulation.


Regards,
Keith
Shell Technical Information

On Mon, 21 Dec 2009 04:54:03 -0600 you wrote:

I see your comparisons to the older CI4+ Rotella T Synthetic
5W-40,
but how does it compare to the CJ4 Rotella T Synthetic 5W-40 that
the
new T6 replaced? What changed other than the label on the bottle?

Thank you,

Johnny P

 
Thanks Johnny for posting that. But it doesn't seem Shell technical really answered the question of whether its a Group III or Group IV, other than restate what is on the T6 label. In either sense, I it appears the T6 is a fine oil. I just switched over to the T6 from the Mobil 1 TDT in my '04 Ford 6.0 Powerstroke Diesel, and I will see how it holds up. Thanks again!

Reshard
 
Well, this quote tells me it's the same fine product that it was before.

Johnny,
The T6 label is part of a marketing re-imaging of the Rotella line.
I don't believe there is much if any change otherwise for this
particular product.
Keith


A major change in base stocks would be just that, a major change.

One of the few chemist I still know there did tell me they changed the viscosity index improver to make it more shear stable.

It has always been a great product and if I had a need for a diesel oil it is the one that I would use, no questions asked.
 
Even if it is group III, Shells group III is perhaps the best group III base stick available. It's used to formulate the oil Ferrari uses has factory fill and in their Helix Ultra oils.

It's like Group III+.
 
The way I see it, if RTS now contained PAO, Shell would have surely tried to monetize on it by touting it in all its marketing materials, kind of like Castrol did when they started to sell Edge in the US, to make it look like something uber special and charge more money for it.

As Johnny's info confirms, it doesn't look like such formulation change has taken place. But again, we should not focus on whether it's Group III or IV, but rather on the actual price-to-performance aspects.
 
Originally Posted By: Mokanic
The price alone should be enough to tell anyone that it cannot be a predominant PAO product.

There are exceptions. For example, GC is believed to be a Group IV/V mix, and when on sale (which is quite often), it can be had for as little as $5/qt (same as Rotella T), and a free oil filter.
 
The fact that Ferrari use's a particular GIII base stock meanslittle to me. THink about what we have seen with the Good Doctors exotic fleet. They appear to be built like TOyota's with reguard to almost any synthetic oil even as far off from the recomended viscosity as the 0W20 and 5W20's that the good Doctor has used have produced great results. So Helix Ultra is just other over hyped and heavily marketed GIII. It does not matter to me how much a company hypes something a diamond is a diamond, a turd is a turd,POE is POE and GIII is GIII.......All of the above have purpose's and distinct chateristics no amount of hype or advertising will make any of them more then what they are and none of the above will go away anytime soon. None of the above can stand in for each other either. So if a GIII is all you need then so be it but lets leave the hype pf the magic pony out of oil!
 
Quatropete keep in mind that until about a year ago maybe 2 that RTS 5W40 sold for $12 a gallon so most of use that use it used to get it for $3 a quartnot on sale at it's full price. It has only been recently that my Walmart over the last year went from $12 to $16 then to $19 a gallon for RTS.

We also know that true GC had a mix of base stocks but was mostly PAO. It's magic was in it's high end European Gear Lube Viscosity Improver's. It has almost no additive package to speak of.....I think my well watter has more AW and EP additives then GC has.....LOL
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: JohnBrowning
Quatropete keep in mind that until about a year ago maybe 2 that RTS 5W40 sold for $12 a gallon so most of use that use it used to get it for $3 a quartnot on sale at it's full price. It has only been recently that my Walmart over the last year went from $12 to $16 then to $19 a gallon for RTS.

Sure, all oils were cheaper back in the day. But if PYB now costs $3+ per quart, would you expect a stout GIII such as Rotella T to still cost the same?

Quote:

We also know that true GC had a mix of base stocks but was mostly PAO. It's magic was in it's high end European Gear Lube Viscosity Improver's. It has almost no additive package to speak of.....I think my well watter has more AW and EP additives then GC has.....LOL

And gold GC has even more watered down additive package than the original green GC, yet, the package is still robust enough so that GC cannot meet API SM certification, so I don't know about "it has almost no additive package to speak of..." statement.
 
Well needless to say I am very impressed with the cold start properties of the Shell T6. Seems to be less clatter on initial start-up than the Mobil 1 TDT. I had used the Mobil 1 TDT for the several OCI, but decided to use the T6 last week and very impressed thus far. I really think the T6 and it is a stout oil for the 6.0 powerstroke...This is a great forum BTW..
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: ronrackley
Am I the only person who suspects that T6 is the same oil that RTS has been since the CJ conversion - just renamed to differentiate it from the other Rotella brands they have introduced lately?


No. Johnny confirms this. Same oil different label, which now includes JASO MA. And apparently the difference between these two and RTS CI is that the CJ/T-6 has better anti-shear protection.
 
Originally Posted By: another Todd
Originally Posted By: ronrackley
Am I the only person who suspects that T6 is the same oil that RTS has been since the CJ conversion - just renamed to differentiate it from the other Rotella brands they have introduced lately?


No. Johnny confirms this. Same oil different label, which now includes JASO MA. And apparently the difference between these two and RTS CI is that the CJ/T-6 has better anti-shear protection.


I believe I said that about 6 weeks ago when this frenzy started ..."a pretty new label".

Charlie
 
T6 meets ACEA E9 where the previous CJ-4 RTS did not. Is this due solely to the visco change, or some other change?
 
Pricing on Group IV verses Group 111, In Canada I can buy Group 1V POA XD3 HDEO CJ-4/SM for $5.00 per litre, SM rated or CJ-4/SM rated Mobil 1 Group 1V can run up to 10.00 per litre, irony is these oils are all made by Mobil/Esso. Group 1V oils can have a vast price range, just an observation on pricing of Groups in oils.

Cyprs
 
Originally Posted By: Powerstroke
Originally Posted By: lipadj46
Group III, a great oil.


The T6 is a completely new formulation from Group IV based oils to be more competitive with Mobil 1 and extended oil drain capability.



Uh-oh. This looks like its going to be another one of those zombie rumors that just won't die. Like "The PT Cruiser is built on a Neon chassis" and "if the water flows too fast through the radiator, the engine will overheat."
grin2.gif



There's another good thread on T6 out there.

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=1725770&page=1

Page 2, post 1725253 and a few following.
 
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