94 Accord - tires?

they're not trying to hide that connection

Yeah, I did notice that.

as pointed out

I also found, at a Chevron site, the cost differential between PAO and
Group III+; their published estimate $1.50-$2.00/gallon
(http://www.chevron.com/products/prodserv/BaseOils/pdf/0701c.pdf). Yup,
Mobil 1 could be PAO based for the cost of about $3 per 5-quart jug.
You'd think someone in their marketing dept would figure that buyers
sophisticated enough to have made Mobil 1 a hit when it cost 3 times as
much as other oils would be happy to spend the extra $3/jug for a PAO
product.

 

well detected - that's a great find. but i'm not 100% sure the author
has the full story - he says that m1 is still pao, but the msds
contradicts that - i have to go with the msds rather than the market
analyst.

interesting comment on cost. you're right, that's not much difference
to differentiate a "boutique" product. doubtless someone has done the
math on what price the market will bear for a true branded labeled pao
vs. groupIII, and has concluded that the incremental profit on gIII is
just too irresistible. and is doubtless producing a handsome bonus for
the line manager responsible! hence we have secrecy to keep the
consumer in the dark.

 

note 2001 date on article

but the msds

I'm sure the more recent msds is correct.

The article offers hope re. return of PAO. Competition will force down
the price of "synthetic" oils (I've got a coupon from Pep Boys for $15
off on a case of Pennzoil or Quaker State). Once that happens it will
be easier to put PAO back into M1 and market accordingly. Well, maybe.

 

But if the consumer were to find out, their core business model is
toast. Murphy's Law.

Smackdown!
Naked emperor syndrome vs. Murphy's Law
- film at 11

 

well, some consumers stay away when they lose confidence, but not all.
after all, you want to retire, right? what do you do with your
retirement savings? most people have some exposure to the stock market
regardless. they may adjust the extent of that exposure, and weight in
companies they feel safest, but they pretty much have to be in, whether
it's directly or indirectly.

 

an after-word on that: i wrote part of that wiki article, and keep an
eye on it from time to time. it's been interesting how persistent is
the problem of keeping that msds info up there. i can't say for sure
that it's manufacturers directly doing the removal, but it's remarkable
coincidence that it's only the mobil and amsoil links that seem to
disappear - with amusing regularity. i predict that the msds info
itself will disappear next.

 

no risk there...

kinda hard to spin up another NYSE
competitive online tire stores already exist

 

Most of my driving is in and around NYC. I had a set of Toyo Spectrum's
on my 96 Civic coupe for 37K miles. I loved them, a very good
all-around tire. I now have Pirelli 400's and after 7500 miles, I think
they are as good as the Toyo's...but we have not gotten snow here, so
the jury is still out.