Rotella T Synthetic on sale again

[kentdiesel]

For those of you that use Rotella T Synthetic you might want to check your local Walmart. I just came from the one in Hickory, NC and Rotella T Synthetic is on sale for $12. 84 a gallon.



Kent

 

[jrandol]

Wow! Things must be way more expensive on the east coast. I buy Rotella T for $6. 99 to $7. 99 per gallon even at the parts stores. Could there really be that much difference in price?

 

[jrandol]

Oops, disregard the last post, I know read you mentioned Rotella SYNTHETIC. My fault. How is this synthetic stuff? Is it a blend or is it 100% synthetic.

 

[TowPro]

I think its really Crude thats refined enough that it "looks like" synthetic. There was a court case about this a couple years ago between mobile and Castrol. Castrol was using oil from the ground, but making it meet the standards for synthetics. Castrol won, but they call it Group III synthetic, where Man Made synthetic is called Group IIII.

Originally posted by jrandol

Oops, disregard the last post, I know read you mentioned Rotella SYNTHETIC. My fault. How is this synthetic stuff? Is it a blend or is it 100% synthetic.

 

[pwr2tow]

Towpro pretty much got this one right.



I used Rotella synthetic for awhile but wal-mart keeps changeing the prices. I will stick with mobil synthetic 5-40 group IV oil instead of switching back and forth every time wal-mart decides to change the prices.



Ron

 

[illflem]

For what it's worth

Reading the recent issue of Machinery Lubrication one lube expert states that the characteristics of Group III dinos and Group IV synthetics is becoming a blur as dino oil improves. He also predicts in the very near future there will be little difference between the two except in the terminology of the base stock.

 

[redram]

Illfem,



Just aritcle is just one man's opinion. And it is an opinion of a major oil manufacturer trying to compete against a higher performing product.

There are quite a few differences between a Group II, Group III, and Group IV oils. The biggest is additive solubility, pour points, and oxidation resistance. The majors have had problems with keeping additives in solution using Group II and Group III oils.



It's not as cut and dried (simplified) as you make it sound.



Here's the rub - who cares if it's group XYZ - it's the finished formulation's performance that counts. If a manufacturer can take horse pee and make it out perform Group x what difference do you as an end user care what it's made out of?



Hell, we don't ask Goodyear or Michellin what type of rubber compound they make tires out of? At least I don't. I look at the performance numbers - not the chemical formula!



JMHO

 

[DocStressor]

What really matters is how an oil performs in an engine. Pretty much any CI-4 oil protects about the same as any other after a fresh change. So the difference is how long the oil holds up under specific conditions. Rotella holds up for 10K in the VW TDI, which is my favorite torture test for diesel oils. Other Group III and Group IV/V hold up longer. By hold up, I mean still give about the same wear rates from 9-10K mile as they did from 0-1K miles, remain within the original viscosity range, and retain some reserve oxidation, nitration, and acid resistance.



Group III base stocks are much cheaper to produce than Group IV/V stocks. They are priced to rip you off. The extra cost of producing Group III base stock is partially offset by the fact that a greater percentage of the feeder oil is converted to the useable lubricant fraction. It turns out that Group III base stock costs only about 25% more than Group II stock that is made by a similar, but not as severe, hydrocracking process. The additive packages used in both types of finished oils are similar. So why do they charge only $6. 64 per gallon for Group II+ Delo 400 and almost twice that price for Group III Rotella synthetic? The answer is marketing. People are used to paying $4-5 per quart for Group IV/V synthetic oils. So once Castrol won the settlement from Mobile that let them call Group III oils "synthetic", they continued to market their Syntec product at the same price point (~4. 59 per quart) as before they made the switch from Group IV/V.



Group III oils work well, but they are the SUV of the lubricant world. They make a ton of profit on Group III synthetics. If that world was fair, and it's not, we would pay about $1. 50 per quart for a Group II oil, maybe $2. 50 per quart for Group III, and $4-5 per quart for Group IV/V.