Pennzoil Ultra full-synthetic engine oil tempts buyers with the promise of a cleaner, longer-lived engine, guaranteed for 500,000 miles. This vow exceeds by far the 300,000-mile warranty originated last year by rival brand Valvoline. In return, vehicle owners of course must dedicate themselves to getting regular oil changes only with Pennzoil Ultra, which will carry a top-tier price.

The new product is aimed at drivers in North America and is said to meet all North American and European engine protection specifications and approvals. Multigrades including SAE 5W-20, 5W-30 and 10W-30 will be sold by major automotive retailers, while SAE 5W-40 and 10W-60 grades will be available additionally to retailers and installers servicing mostly European cars, and through Ferrari dealerships.

Pennzoil claims to be the number one selling motor oil in the United States, and is produced and marketed by Shell Lubricants, which collectively refers to the companies of Royal Dutch Shell that are engaged in the lubricants business. Boasting a 13 percent global market share by volume, Shell Lubricants leads the lubricants industry worldwide, according to the industry research firm Kline & Company. Its Jiffy Lube chain is the worlds largest chain of quick-lube outlets, further bolstering the potential reach for the new motor oil.

Shells enthusiasm for Pennzoil Ultra appears to be sky high. Pointing to the importance Pennzoil has placed on this product, Van Schalkwyk said, This effort will be the largest single investment in synthetic oil in Pennzoils history, and its not a one-time shot either. Were committed to a long-term promotion of this product.

To get the word out, she added, we are backing this launch with a 360-degree marketing program – TV, print, radio, digital media, as well as a grassroots educational and knowledge sharing effort aimed at our primary audience, car enthusiasts and people who already know the value of synthetic oil.

The all-out marketing effort included a Jan. 12 unveiling for trade press at Richard Childress Racing in Welcome, N.C., where a scrum of automotive reporters got an early peek at the product. Media attending the event were able to take a tour of the Childress engine shop, view planned commercials and advertising, and ask company officials about technical performance.

The full-synthetic motor oil, they heard, contains a trademarked Hyper Cleansing Technology – which pretty much sums up the product, and which Shell calls the next generation of engine cleansing and protection. Furthermore, it said the new oil is 35 percent better at cleaning out existing sludge than its next-best oil, Pennzoil Platinum.

Consultant Jim Linden, recently retired as General Motors head of engine development, also made an appearance on Pennzoils behalf at the Richard Childress media event, where he fielded questions about the importance of engine cleanliness. Speaking more recently to LubesnGreases, he reiterated the point: A clean engine is not a want, but a need for todays consumers to help maintain engine efficiency and performance.

Target Customers

In her interview with LubesnGreases, Van Schalkwyk elaborated on the target audience for the oil. Our primary market is those customers who understand the benefits of synthetic oil and have already moved in that direction, she said. They are often enthusiasts who have a big interest in cars and engines and are quite knowledgeable and know a lot more than the general population. Theyre looking for new technology advancements and breakthroughs, and the message we got from them is they want more information and they want to be assured that the oils have passed all the tests.

Weve used focus groups and consumer research to identify the market for Pennzoil Ultra. Our research has been very extensive over a two-and-a-half-year period. Were prepared to provide product information via training, on our web site and in our extensive marketing effort.

And in case cleanliness is not sexy enough, Shell also has drawn on its longstanding technical partnership with Ferrari to burnish Pennzoil Ultras appeal: Its now the only motor oil recommended by Ferrari North America. Van Schalkwyk expressed great pride in the relationship with the luxury automaker. We believe its very important for people who care about cars to know that Pennzoil Ultra is endorsed by Ferrari, a great OEM that prides itself on building beautiful engines and cars, and wants to keep them that way.

Technical Brags

Bob Sutherland, Pennzoils technology manager for the Americas, also told LubesnGreases last month that, clean is the core of a motor oil formulation that allows an oil to do everything else that its supposed to do. If you dont keep an engine clean – for example, if you dirty-up piston under-crowns – you create an insulator, so you limit the ability of the oil to perform one of its principal functions of removing heat from certain hot spots and the engine overall. If you have lots of crud in the oil, whatever it might be, and coming out on surfaces, then wear becomes an issue. If you dont keep parts clean, you run into trouble.

That is the fundamental part of what a motor oil needs to do and impacts directly on the longevity of the engine. So, the holy grail of engine oil is keeping an engine factory-clean for its life, which has been a nearly decade-long quest for us.

Sutherland said Shell employed both field tests and laboratory testing for the new formulation. Weve supported a considerable number of field tests of all our oils, including Pennzoil Ultra, in taxi fleets and other oil-stressed venues. During the development process extensive field trials have been run and will continue to run for some time, generating ongoing support for the factory-clean positioning of the new Pennzoil Ultra.

As for laboratory tests, he continued, you really have only two choices when you want performance as good as we have in Pennzoil Ultra. One is to do multiple tests [comparing] yourself and the rest of the world, and the other is simply to achieve a value of excellence so high that it cant be surpassed. On the quest for clean, we choose the latter, to basically ring the bell on the test.

In the lab, research focused on three fired-engine tests: the Sequence IIIG wear test, the Sequence VG sludge test and the Sequence IVA wear test. Weve run just a huge number of these tests over the years, mostly on SAE 5W-30 oils, Sutherland observed.

He said Pennzoil Ultra passed the piston-cleanliness hurdles of the IIIG test by a considerable margin. High expectations also were set for the VG sludge test. This tests limits are a 7.0 average rating for engine sludge overall, and 8.0 for rocker arm cover sludge. The test goes up to 10.0 and we set very high goals up that scale to be able to generate test results that were within the ability of the test to see differences. So, essentially, the higher the better, and we were hitting the test ceiling with Pennzoil Ultra.

Likewise, on the IVA, where the latest test limit is 90 microns of wear, Sutherland continued. With a plus or minus on what the test is able to see, our goal was to achieve a number so low that the test couldnt see the difference between that and any other number. We did this and so we have essentially taken the guess-work out of this test result.

Sutherland added, While sludge and wear are key parameters of our clean efforts, we also considered other areas of engine cleanliness where Pennzoil Ultra is at the top of the food chain. So its not a single issue. Weve got very strong performance across all aspects of engine cleanliness – which puts Pennzoil Ultra on a pedestal above all other products.

Premium Product, and Price

Developing this level of performance was not easy, commented Peter Sant, global product marketing manager. It required a global scope, with work done in our labs in Japan, Germany, England and the U.S. Weve drawn on all of our knowledge centers around the world along with help from our additive partners to develop this product, which we believe is the best there is.

He added, The goal of our teams is to help the cleaning effect ripple down to our other products and, indeed, throughout the market.

Bigger ripples first may come from the engine warranty offered for the product. Were so proud of the performance of Pennzoils Ultra that we are backing it with a 500,000 mile, 15-year lubrication limited warranty, announced Luis Guimaraes, Shells marketing vice president for the Americas. To qualify for this warranty, the vehicle owner must change his or her oil every 4,000 miles using Pennzoil Ultra, and keep detailed records of the changes.

Shells marketing team acknowledged that most auto manufacturers now recommend drain intervals of more than 4,000 miles. Additionally, some vehicle makers do not indicate a specific drain interval in their manuals at all, but instead tell drivers to follow the guidance of on-board oil systems, such as General Motors Oil Life Monitor (OLM) and Mercedes-Benzs Flexible Service System (FSS). Such systems can indicate drain intervals ranging up to 12,000 miles or beyond, depending on engine operating conditions.

Sant pointed out however, Weve put in the 4,000-mile requirement because we have no way of knowing what the customers driving cycle is. We got information from GM that some consumers have had their OLM recommend that they change their oil at 3,000 miles, but we went to 4,000 miles. At that change interval with Pennzoil Ultra, we expect the engine to be as factory clean as possible for the life of the engine.

And what will this top-shelf oil cost? While long-time synthetics category leader Mobil 1 retails for $7 to $8 a quart, Pennzoils own Platinum brand usually gets between $5.99 and $6.49. Ultra hopes to kick that up a notch. We have data that shows that Pennzoil Ultra keeps engines cleaner and cleans up sludge more than our other great oil, Pennzoil Platinum, said Sant. Pennzoil Ultra will be priced higher than Pennzoil Platinum because it represents a new level of technology in the marketplace.