Like blood to our bodies, motor oil is the lifeline of your engine. It helps prevent excessive wear and tear, provides necessary lubrication, and maintains peak viscosity while protecting your engine from acid caused by combustion and condensation. In addition, motor oil inhibits corrosion, cleans engine parts, and aids in heat transfer. So when it comes time to change your oil, there’s only one brand to remember because Pennzoil is not the top choice – it’s the only choice. 

With the introduction of Pennzoil Platinum® with PurePlus™ Technology, the proprietary additives make it a revolutionary new blend of oils that outperform the competition. From Helio Castroneves and Joey Logano to the engineers at SRT and Hennessey, Pennzoil Platinum lives up to its name while setting the benchmark for high-performance lubrication.

Always forward-thinking, Pennzoil stays at the cutting edge of technology. Equally important to their success are the relationships they forge with other world-class brands, and their latest partnership is with Universal Technical Institute (UTI). We were fortunate enough to have the opportunity to sit down with Don Moser, N. American Marketing Operations Team Lead for Pennzoil & Shell, who gave us some insight into their latest technology as well as Pennzoil’s exciting new partnership with UTI. 

Please give us an overview of the new Pennzoil Platinum products.

Pennzoil Platinum products are formulated to offer complete protection for the engine and employ Shell’s unique PurePlus Technology. PurePlus Technology is the name we give to our proprietary gas-to-liquids synthetic base oil. This synthetic base oil enables Shell to formulate synthetic product offerings, which provide advantages in engine cleanliness, fuel economy, and low-temperature performance, to name a few benefits. 

Does Pennzoil Platinum have a longer life span of effectiveness?

Trading up to a Pennzoil Platinum product ensures the oil stays fresher for longer throughout the oil drain, helping the engine deliver its rated design performance rather than seeing performance drop through the oil drain and engine life. 

Most consumers don’t realize there’s a science behind motor oil. That said, how long does it take for Pennzoil to research and develop new oil? 

Racing engine oil development typically takes place over months and is dependent on several factors. The two main reasons to introduce a new oil are associated with a change in engine hardware or when we’re looking for performance gains from the oil in existing hardware. 

What kind of money is required to formulate new oil? And does testing take place on one sample motor or over multiple units?

Dependent on the nature of the formulation changes and performance targets, costs can be in the multiple millions. However, they are generally significantly lower. Costs are often driven by the requirement to perform fired or motored engine hardware testing. This can require the design and implementation of bespoke engine testing, which is a costly activity. Additionally, engine testing often results in an engine test program, which will use multiple engines instead of testing on just one motor to ensure repeatable and statistically valid results. This also adds to cost.

 Which racing applications are suitable for this new oil, and what are some of the advantages? 

The racing engine oils developed for our partners, such as Team Penske, are custom designed for their specific hardware and not offered for other applications. This does not mean the oils are not suitable for other applications. These team-specific oils are intended to support our Pennzoil brand while providing a competitive advantage to our racing partners. 

Does the testing feedback from formulating race oils make its way into consumer-level oils? 

Yes. What we learn in formulating racing oils finds application in our branded products as we see hardware move from racing to road applications.

 Is there an advantage to using the new Pennzoil PurePlus oil on older engines or classic cars? Or would you recommend another from the Pennzoil family of oils?

In short, no. Newly designed race oils are intended to provide maximum protection and performance for a specific intended application, such as new or recently rebuilt engines. As for higher-mileage vehicles with older engines, I would recommend Pennzoil High Mileage Vehicle oil. 

What are some of the disadvantages of using cheaper oil?

The disadvantage of using oil not optimized for the specific application is sacrificing performance, durability, or both. Top-tier products like Pennzoil Platinum with PurePlus Technology are formulated to a very high level of performance and help maintain that performance better than an entry-level product meeting minimum industry specifications. 

Why has Pennzoil partnered with UTI to become the official oil of the school? 

The partnership between Pennzoil and UTI took place as a result of good timing and a mutual relationship with Penske. We work heavily with Team Penske, and at the time, we had mentioned that we were trying to align ourselves with great brands. That’s when UTI was recommended as a potential partner. It turns out that UTI was looking for an oil manufacturer to work with as well and, after looking into its programs, we decided it would be a great fit.