Does oil settle?

[Luisraul924]

Originally Posted By: Clevy
Originally Posted By: CELICA_XX
Originally Posted By: Garak
Yep, as I keep screaming, it's not really marketed effectively as a top tier oil. Even vanilla M1 or black bottle Castrol are guaranteed for 10,000 mile OCIs. PU is good for 3,750 mile OCIs on something like my G37, according to Pennzoil. It's no better for long intervals, according to Pennzoil themselves, than PYB, PP, or their blends. So, it shouldn't surprise anyone, Pennzoil least of all, that no one is buying.


Being a "top-tier" oil doesn't always have to mean extended drain. It could be any number of attributes.

I think their problem is availability.



Of course top tier means extended intervals. Why else pay a premium if it doesn't last longer.


Top tier does not equal extended OCIs. Period.

 

[Luisraul924]

Originally Posted By: CELICA_XX
Originally Posted By: 2004WJ
What really bothers me is that I cannot walk in and buy this Pennsoil "Ultra" labeled oil anywhere. I had to order it through Walmart (of all places) and wait a week for it to arrive. Nobody stocks it except online. Big marketing for such a top tier oil but its hard to get!!


I agree with you, I am done chasing this oil.

I've been using it for a few years, but I am going to switch to M1 once my Pennzoil Ultra stash is is depleted.


Are you looking for Pennzoil Ultra Platinum? or Pennzoil Ultra? They're two different oils. PU was replaced by PUP. I can find PUP everywhere around me but the CHEAPEST place to get the stuff is Wal-Mart.

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: CELICA_XX
Being a "top-tier" oil doesn't always have to mean extended drain. It could be any number of attributes.

I think their problem is availability.

But, I think that's why they're having this circular problem. The reason why it's unavailable is very, very likely because they're not selling enough of it. And if they can't differentiate it from Pennzoil Gold, much less Pennzoil Platinum, they're not going to be selling enough of it. We have the same problem up here, and Castrol gold bottle had the same problem up here until they started with the extended OCI guarantee. M1 EP never had the problem. Gold bottle Edge was sitting on the shelf for over two years without moving, in SM/GF-4 long, long after SN/GF-5 came out up here. The mileage guarantee was pushed, and it started to sell.

Luisrial924: We're using PU as a shortcut for PUP, since Pennzoil and Castrol like to fiddle with names. The black bottle Castrol is still Syntec to me and the gold bottle is Edge.

If a synthetic cannot be used to extend drains over a conventional, then its benefits are highly, highly dubious. Obviously, certain vehicles specify something that turns out to be synthetic only, but they're generally not doing a short OCI.

If PP and PUP (or whatever they want to call them this month) have the exact same certifications and the exact same warranty, then they are interchangeable. Charging a boatload more money doesn't make it a better choice.

Clevy is reading this thread. Ask him what NAPA Canada's (one of the last Ultra holdouts in Canada) regular price on the product is. Note that we'll call the regular price of Pennzoil Platinum $50 for a five litre jug, just for comparison's sake. Then, when Clevy tells you the magic figure for PUP, explain to us what this "interesting" little price premium gets us.

 

[CELICA_XX]

Originally Posted By: Clevy
Of course top tier means extended intervals. Why else pay a premium if it doesn't last longer.


That's like saying the price of a vehicle will always directly correspond to its horsepower or top speed.

Different companies will target different things. Top speed... power... luxury... off-road capability... quietness... family image... value... durability... safety...




Being a "top-tier" oil doesn't always have to mean extended drains. Different companies target different things.

"Castrol has the lowest wear oils with MAGNATEC"
"Pennzoil has the cleanest engine oils with Ultra Platinum"
"Amsoil has the longest extended drain oils"
"Mobil 1 has most widely accepted / NASCAR approved oil"
"Supertech Synthetics are a great value oil"
"Redline oils offer the best in high performance"
"Joe Gibbs oils offer the best break-in oils"

 

[Luisraul924]

Originally Posted By: Garak
If PP and PUP (or whatever they want to call them this month) have the exact same certifications and the exact same warranty, then they are interchangeable. Charging a boatload more money doesn't make it a better choice.


Thank you for the PU/PUP clarification. As for pricing I guess I'm one of the lucky ones? I mean Wal-Marts in my area carry both PP and PU and the PU 5qt jug is only $2 more than the PP 5qt jug. I wouldn't call $2 a "boatload". Just my opinion though.

 

[Garak]

I suppose $2 isn't a boatload. However, if all U.S. Walmarts were moving PUP left and right, all U.S. Walmarts would be carrying it. Clevy didn't get back to us yet, so I'll spill the beans. NAPA Canada, last time he checked, wanted something like $74 regular price for a jug of Ultra. For a product with essentially the same certifications as PP, and, in the case of someone needing only SN/GF-5, totally interchangeable, that's pretty nuts. Now, if Pennzoil states that $74 Ultra cannot go longer in my engine than conventional Pennzoil (which is still expensive up here) or Formula Shell conventional, which can be had for about $15 a jug, what's the real point?

Wakefield Canada markets Castrol aggressively. SOPUS should pay attention to some of their techniques. As I said, the gold bottle was a dismal failure for quite a while. They didn't even lower the price to fix the problem. They marketed it as even more of an extended drain than black bottle, just like M1 does with M1 EP versus M1.

Look at it from this perspective. Royal Purple has a 12,000 mile drain warranty and is cheaper in Canada (and, ironically, far more readily available) than Ultra. Is Shell saying it cannot do this, while its major competition can, along with a boutique?

I dare Shell to have a Q&A with just their marketing people. I have some very difficult questions for them. I'm not interested in marketing people answering questions about thin viscosity oils. I'm interested in marketing people answering questions about marketing.

 

[CELICA_XX]

Originally Posted By: Garak
Now, if Pennzoil states that $74 Ultra cannot go longer in my engine than conventional Pennzoil (which is still expensive up here) or Formula Shell conventional, which can be had for about $15 a jug, what's the real point?


I don't know why people keep talking about extended drains.

Pennzoil is not even trying to convince you their oils are for extended drains.

Their top-tier oil target cleanliness.




Originally Posted By: Pennzoil
With Pennzoil Ultra Platinum™, pistons were:
· up to 25% cleaner than with Mobil 1
· up to 35% cleaner than with Valvoline® Synpower®

With Pennzoil Platinum®, pistons were:
· up to 8% cleaner than with Mobil 1
· up to 17% cleaner than with Valvoline® Synpower®

 

[Garak]

I realize that they're not talking about extended drains. That's my whole point. I wager that's part of the reason Ultra is so hard to find, particularly up here. I'm not interested in "up to X%" cleaner than Mobil 1, when the top Pennzoil product can only, according to their marketing strategy, handle 33% of the OCI that M1 can and 20% what M1 EP can.