In 2022 and 2023, many well-known manufacturers of motor oils left the Russian market. How to service their cars to owners now

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In 2022 and 2023, many well-known manufacturers of motor oils left the Russian market. Offers from car companies that used oil of the same brand when servicing cars also began to decrease. If at the beginning of 2022 such products had a share of 14.1% of the market, then in 2023 only 10.4%.

Simultaneously with the departure of Western oil producers, a new problem has escalated: counterfeit products have flooded into the market. Plus, little-known Asian companies appeared, which began to offer their lubricants for engines.

But despite all the difficulties, the Russian automotive oil market has resisted and now offers a wide range of motor oils. Including for the most modern units with turbocharging systems.

An international company in Russia

ROLF Lubricants GmbH is a German manufacturer of motor oils with headquarters in Leverkusen, founded in 1992 by experts in petrochemistry. For a long time, the company has been developing formulations of lubricants for engines and transmissions, as well as advising partners on their implementation around the world. When the decision was made to start the production of oils, it was focused on the most dynamically growing markets:Russia, CIS countries, Southeast Asia and the Middle East.

It was in Russia in August 2023 that a new line of Rolf Ultra oils was presented as part of the international exhibition of auto parts and automotive components MIMS. This innovative oil has several differences from other lubricants at once. For example, this product for passenger car engines has a basis created using two advanced technologies at once: PAO (polyalphaolefins) and GTL (Gas-To-Liquid).

Two technologies in one

Modern lubricants for engines are made using the following technology: manufacturers take so-called base oils and add additive packages to them by blending. It is the base oil that is the foundation and foundation on which everything is built.

Photo:ROLF Lubricants GmbH

As a result of long work, Rolf Lubricants technologists have developed a new line of synthetic motor oils, which contain a combination of base oils created using two of the most modern technologies: PAO (polyalphaolefins) and GTL (or Gas-To-Liquid). These foundations are created from gas, not oil. In the Russian market, oils are known only on the basis of either PAO or GTL. A product using two technologies at once has not been offered before, it simply did not exist. But it has a number of advantages:improved low-temperature properties, extremely low carbon monoxide consumption, very high thermal oxidizing ability. This makes the engine oil able to withstand increased loads and at the same time provide maximum engine protection, and, as a result, is suitable for the most modern engines,” Artem Chaltsev, Director of Research and Development at Rolf Lubricants Vostok, said during a presentation in Moscow.

Record temperatures

There are several categories of base oils. Usually they are made from oil, such oils are cheaper, but have a number of disadvantages. At the same time, there are two technologies that allow us to produce higher-quality and cleaner synthetic oils. They received the designation PAO and GTL. The former are obtained by chemical synthesis from ethylene or butylene gas. Sometimes oils made using PAO technology are called “real synthetics” and thus they are contrasted with synthetic oils that are created from oil. GTL technology (from English Gas-To-Liquid or “gas to liquid”) allows you to get oil from natural gas.

The oils created by PAO and GTL technologies are superior in their characteristics to traditional “oil” oils. They have excellent fluidity and a very low pour point. So low that it is simply impossible to achieve it when using base oils from oil.

Plus, for example, GTL oils have excellent resistance to oxidation at high temperatures and have a low consumption for carbon monoxide. But, as always, such oils have not only advantages. For example, PAO-oils, which have exactly the same long-length molecules, slightly worse dissolve various additives that are necessary to protect engine parts from friction, wear and corrosion.

That is why the engineers of ROLF Lubricants GmbH decided to combine the two technologies and take only the best from them to create oils that would perfectly protect the engine in the most difficult conditions.

Winter summer

The result is amazing: thanks to the introduction of the base oils of the PAO group into GTL oils, it was possible to obtain a record freezing temperature of up to minus 65 degrees!

Also, Ultra series oils, which have already been on sale in the Russian market, have excellent fluidity at low temperatures. This means that even if it is minus 30 degrees outside, it will not be difficult for the motor starter to turn the crankshaft and spin it up to the required revolutions. Running in winter — as in summer. Isn’t this fantastic?

Photo: ROLF Lubricants GmbH

«The inclusion of PAO in the new Rolf Ultra line made it possible to reduce the already excellent solidification temperature of GTL-based oils to minimum values. For example, Rolf Ultra in the popular viscosity 5W-40 SP freezes at a temperature of minus 61°C, and its index MRV — dynamic viscosity at negative temperatures — is 19100 centipoise, which is three times better than the standard», — noted Artem Chaltsev.

Saving on topping up

At the same time, Rolf Ultra oils have an impressive resistance to oxidation at high temperatures. And this is very important for the so-called “heat-loaded motors”, that is, for almost all modern small-volume supercharged units. And for engines with decent mileage, such oil will be useful, because they usually have problems with the removal of thermal energy due to dirty radiators.

There is another important advantage of Rolf Ultra. The oil resource with “double” technology has become higher than that of traditional “oil” products. However, it is better to change Rolf Ultra strictly according to the manufacturer’s recommendations, but when using this oil, you can be sure that it will retain all its properties until the end. Also, due to 40% less losses from evaporation, in comparison with many other oils, drivers can significantly save when refilling oil from TO TO.

“We get all the components of the oil from abroad, including additives. In Russia, blending takes place, that is, the process of mixing base oils and an additive package. Rolf Ultra engine oils meet the necessary requirements and have approvals from leading automakers. I would like to note separately that many oils of the Rolf Ultra line comply with the latest API SP specification, which was developed by the American Petroleum Institute, explained Artem Chaltsev.

Bank against counterfeiting

At the forefront of the key consumer issues, of course, is the protection of Rolf Ultra oil from counterfeiting. Experts note that in 2022 and 2023, thanks to the possibilities of the so-called “parallel import”, a flood of fakes and counterfeit goods poured into Russia. That is why, to protect the products, Rolf Ultra oils will be poured exclusively into tin cans, which are unprofitable to forge — too expensive.

Distribution, marketing and sales development of ROLF products in the Russian and CIS markets is carried out by SINTEC Group, an exclusive partner of Rolf Lubricants GmbH.

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