Ferrari and Pennzoil?

[metroplex]

Does Ferrari REALLY recommend the use of Pennzoil Ultra Full Synthetic in their cars (F430 Scuderia, 599 GTB, 458 Italia)? I saw an ad in Car and Driver and thought it was peculiar since Mobil 1 has been OEM-fill for many performance applications.

 

[znode]

Of course, they've got a mutual marketing deal going on.

http://www.pennzoil.com/#/motor-oil/pennzoil-ultra/

 

[Bluestream]

For the right $$$ they will recommend any oil.

 

[d00df00d]

Originally Posted By: metroplex
Does Ferrari REALLY recommend the use of Pennzoil Ultra Full Synthetic in their cars (F430 Scuderia, 599 GTB, 458 Italia)? I saw an ad in Car and Driver and thought it was peculiar since Mobil 1 has been OEM-fill for many performance applications.


Pennzoil is a subsidiary of Shell, which which Ferrari has a very close and long-standing relationship.

As I understand, Pennzoil Ultra 5w-40 and 10w-60 are the same as the current Shell Helix Ultra 5w-40 and 10w-60, and Shell Helix Ultra oils have been factory and service fill for Ferraris for a long time.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

Slack wax base = best group III+. Just like M1 0w-40 is nowhere equivalent to M1 5w-30, You'll find Ultra 5w-40 a much higher specification than the 5w-30 - though some (or most) of that is just viscosity and HTHS.

 

[Alex38]

Originally Posted By: d00df00d
Originally Posted By: metroplex
Does Ferrari REALLY recommend the use of Pennzoil Ultra Full Synthetic in their cars (F430 Scuderia, 599 GTB, 458 Italia)? I saw an ad in Car and Driver and thought it was peculiar since Mobil 1 has been OEM-fill for many performance applications.


Pennzoil is a subsidiary of Shell, which which Ferrari has a very close and long-standing relationship.

As I understand, Pennzoil Ultra 5w-40 and 10w-60 are the same as the current Shell Helix Ultra 5w-40 and 10w-60, and Shell Helix Ultra oils have been factory and service fill for Ferraris for a long time.


Exactly! Shell has been Ferrari's partner in F1 for well over a decade. It's not a new relationship...

 

[joel95ex]

most of these "recommendations" are just "deals"

 

[buster]

Shell is among the best lubricant makers in the world.

 

[d00df00d]

Originally Posted By: joel95ex
most of these "recommendations" are just "deals"

The difference being?

 

[buster]

These companies learn a lot by working with racing teams and OEM's. A lot of technology trickles down to PCMO's eventually.

XOM's SuperSyn was successful on the track and became their PCMO formulation.

 

[mechtech2]

Also, not many oils have 10-60 as an option!

 

[joel95ex]

that's what I mean, there is no difference in most cases---if a car company had run tons of miles on different oils and found a big preferable difference and published it, that would be a recommendation. a "deal" is just finding one that meets specs, and making arrangements in the marketing departments

 

[d00df00d]

Okay. So how do you know that "most" recommendations are "deals"?

 

[Ike_Clanton]

Well, for one, Ferrari North America doesn't build Ferraris.

 

[buster]

It's both a deal and a good oil. If it wasn't, Ferrari wouldn't have approved it for use.

I'm sure they are trying to cut corners on oil for their $200k+ cars.

Is that grade PAO based?

 

[Steve S]

Buster, Amsoil isn't good enough for Ferrari?

 

[Johnny]

Where did buster say that? Sure, Amsoil makes some oils that would work well in Ferrari. Shell has been working directly with the Ferrari factory in Italy for years and has established a great working relationship. Since they do not import the Shell Helix Ultra over here, why not make a recommendation of Shell North America's number one selling brand. It's not rocket science here, just a good business relationship.