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March
20, 2009
Dear
Sirs and
Madams:
As the
senior
executive
with
responsibility
for
Quaker
State, I
am
writing
to
invite
you to a
motor
oil
challenge.
In
recent
months,
some
companies
have
generated
marketing
materials
that
make
claims
and
comparisons
against
one
another
related
to
engine
wear
protection
via
results
from the
ASTM
Sequence
IVA
test.
Interestingly,
you did
not
include
Quaker
State Q
HorsePower®
full
synthetic
motor
oil in
the war
of words
about
wear
protection.
Perhaps
because
you know
what the
team at
Quaker
State
has
always
known –
that no
leading
full
synthetic
SAE
5W-30
motor
oil
provides
better
wear
protection
than
Quaker
State Q
HorsePower
- not
Castrol,
not
Valvoline,
not
Mobil 1.
But
with all
the
claims
going
back and
forth,
consumers
must be
confused.
So at
Quaker
State,
we feel
the need
to erase
any
doubt.
Today,
we
hereby
pledge
to bring
clarity
to this
“Wear
War,” by
making
public
the
scientific
data
that
illustrates
for
consumers
the
actual
wear
rating
of each
brand’s
full
synthetic
motor
oil.
To
facilitate
this,
Quaker
State
now
officially
challenges
your
brands
in the
Sequence
IVA
test.
We’ll
even pay
for it.
We would
be
grateful
if you
could
name one
ILSAC
GF-4,
SAE
5W-30
full
synthetic
motor
oils
from
your
brands
that is
widely
available
across
the US
to take
part in
this
challenge
against
our
Quaker
State Q
HorsePower
5W30
full
synthetic
motor
oil.
In
conducting
the
test, a
score of
90
microns
of wear
is the
acceptable
threshold
for the
most
current
ILSAC
GF-4 and
API SM
certifications,
and the
lower
the
score in
the ASTM
Sequence
IVA the
higher
the
level of
wear
protection
provided
by the
motor
oil.
Quaker
State
has
already
arranged
for a
respected,
third-party
applied
research
and
development
organization
to
conduct
the
one-time,
unbiased
ASTM
Sequence
IVA
test. If
you
accept
the
challenge,
the
independent
testing
firm
Test
Engineers
Inc.
will
purchase
off the
shelf at
a major
national
retailer
the
product
that you
identify
for
testing.
The
products
will be
marked
as blind
samples
for the
test.
The
results
of the
test
will be
analyzed
at 95%
statistical
confidence
level to
determine
which
oil
truly
performs
best on
the
Sequence
IVA wear
protection
test.
The
results
of the
test
will be
published.
So, if
you
really
believe
your
product
can
protect
against
wear the
best,
here is
your
opportunity
to prove
it.
Please
reply to
this
challenge
at the
address
below by
Friday,
March 27
at 5
p.m.
EST.
Best
Regards,
Steve
Harman
President
Americas
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