 
|
|
|
 |
| << Back |
 |
| High performance: From the race track to your car |
 Noticed your car or truck performing better lately?
If so -- and you use Valvoline motor oil -- you might want to thank Ray Evernham, Mark McArdle and Tommy Wheeler at Evernham Engines.
Even better, you might want to thank a team that's greatly responsible for putting those talented race car drivers in the winner's circle so frequently -- Valvoline's research and development team.
Led by Dr. Fran Lockwood, Valvoline's vice president of technology and product development, this team of dedicated scientists leaves no stone unturned in its continuous quest for the ultimate racing lubricants -- and the fruits of their efforts are often higher performing products for you -- the consumer.
"We're constantly learning from our racing effort," said Lockwood. "The not-street-legal racing oil we recently developed is the forerunner to a series of high performance products that will find its way to the consumer side. Valvoline's racing program definitely benefits the general, driving public."
Developing state-of-the-art, below-the-hood products requires creative and innovative thinking, a passionate dissatisfaction with the status quo, and an unquestioned commitment to cutting-edge technology -- but perhaps above all, it requires a rigorous and comprehensive testing program.
 At Valvoline, the process begins at its New Product Development Laboratory in Lexington, KY. Actual testing continues at its own engine laboratory in Ashland, KY, where the properties of various blends of racing oil are examined at engine speeds exceeding 8,000 revolutions per minute. The testing then gets a little more intense -- moving to the race shops of NASCAR's Valvoline Evernham Racing and NHRA's Don Schumacher Racing, the teams responsible for building, maintaining and fine-tuning the powerful cars of Scott Riggs, Kasey Kahne, Elliott Sadler and Tony Schumacher. Finally, when those teams are satisfied, the survivors, or highest performing blends, are placed in actual race cars and subjected to the demands of race conditions.
"Race engines produce an enormous amount of horsepower and operate in extremely hostile environments," said Lockwood. "Engine temperatures can easily exceed 300 degrees Fahrenheit. In the face of those conditions, all racing oils -- at a minimum -- must protect moving parts, reduce friction, cool the engine, and prevent wear. Our goal is to develop products that not only meet these minimum requirements -- but also go much further -- and consistently perform better than our competitors' products."
Though not nearly as extreme as racing conditions, engine conditions in passenger cars can also be quite severe. But Lockwood says the rigorous, often grueling tests conducted on Valvoline racing oils have helped her team develop motor oils for consumers that provide much better protection under those conditions than ever before.
In addition to using Valvoline motor oil, many racing teams use Valvoline gear oil and greases as well as new water-based coolants in their high performance race cars.
So when you see Kahne or Sadler or Riggs or Schumacher or Capps in the winner's circle, remember -- the same high performance testing that helped to put them there is helping consumers get the highest level of performance out of their cars, too.
|
|
| << Back |
|
|
|
|
©2001-2008 Ashland. All Rights Reserved.
 |
|
|
|
|
