Quaker State is calling for an end of the "Wear Wars" by challenging its major motor oil competitors to a motor oil comparison. Quaker State has issued a challenge to Mobil 1, Valvoline and Castrol to show that no leading full synthetic SAE 5W-30 motor oil provides better wear protection in the ASTM Sequence IVA test than Quaker State Q HorsePower Full Synthetic.
"In recent months, we have seen all of the claims going back and forth among the brands we have challenged in relation to their product's wear protection abilities via Industry's ASTM Sequence IVA test," said Steve Harman, president for the Americas, Quaker State. "This must be confusing to consumers. Today, if our competitors will only agree, we pledge to bring clarity to this 'Wear War,' by making public the scientific data that illustrates for consumers the actual wear result earned by each brand's chosen full synthetic motor oil."
Quaker State is so confident that its competitors' ILSAC GF-4 full synthetic motor oils currently available in the U.S. do not provide better wear protection in the Sequence IVA test that it wants the public to know the results of the challenge. A letter was sent from Steve Harman to executives responsible for Mobil 1, Castrol and Valvoline, and a reprint of that exact letter was published in a full-page advertisement in today's edition of USA Today to make the motoring public aware of the challenge.
Quaker State has arranged for a respected, third-party applied research and development organization to conduct a one-time, independent ASTM Sequence IVA test for each motor oil identified by the challenged brands. If the challenge is accepted, the testing firm Test Engineering Inc. will purchase off the shelf at a major national retailer the product that each brand respectively identifies for testing. The products will be marked as blind samples for the test which will be run with the results published at a 95 percent confidence level.
Competitors have been given until Friday, March 27 at 5 p.m. EST to respond. If a competitor chooses to participate, the wear results of the test will be released publicly to end the "Wear Wars."
Testing and the ASTM Sequence IVA
Under the supervision of Test Engineering Inc. Quaker State has employed independent, applied research and development organizations in San Antonio, Texas, to conduct the testing of each of the commercially available full synthetic motor oils.
The ASTM Sequence IVA wear test is the accepted, industry standard method to measure the potential for wear in the valve train area and the level of protection against that specific type of wear. The lower the score in the ASTM Sequence IVA the better, with 90 microns of wear being the maximum score accepted in order to be ILSAC GF-4 and API SM certified.
The test uses a Nissan 4-cylinder engine with an overhead camshaft and fixed slider followers. The engine is run under conditions simulating extended idling. Wear is measured on the camshaft lobes. This is an ideal position to measure wear because fixed slider followers create a condition where the camshaft lobes rotate against the non-rotating followers, creating high contact pressures and a potential for wear.