Is It Time to Join the High Mile Club?

If you’re anything like the millions of other American drivers on the road every day, then you’ve owned your vehicle for some time. According to a recent study from IHS Markit, the average vehicle age in the U.S. is now just shy of 12 years.

Twelve years!

That means the standard crossover zipping down Main Street remembers Crocs, the Balloon Boy Hoax, “David After Dentist,” and the last time Biden was in the White House. Throw in the Federal Highway Administration’s estimate that the average American drives around 13,500 miles a year, and it’s safe to say your vehicle is starting to feel its age.

True, longer lifespans indicate better build quality and vehicle dependability. But the fact remains that even superior engineering will only get you so far. Proper maintenance is critical if you want to see your ride make it past middle age. And just like humans turn to heart-healthy diets as they grow older, your aging vehicle could use a little vascular support for its own powerplant.

“All engines wear, and all engines get deposits. As a result, I guess you could say their ‘lubrication appetite’ changes,” explains Michael Warholic, Ph.D., Technology Manager at Valvoline. “People should be aware of that, and they should look at changing the type of oil they use as their engine ages.”

Valvoline High Mileage with MaxLife Technology Motor Oils

At Valvoline, when a vehicle’s odometer rolls past the 75,000-mile mark, it officially becomes a high mileage ride. That’s because it stands a much greater risk of engine breakdown, thanks to four major pain points: wear, friction, heat, and deposits.

Valvoline High Mileage with MaxLife Technology Motor Oil is specially formulated to target these mechanical ailments, maximizing engine life in the process. Available in full synthetic and synthetic blend formulations, vehicle owners can choose what kind of performance pedigree they want based on budget and driving habits.

If you’re worried that a synthetic oil is “fake” or “damaging,” you can relax – that’s just a myth. Synthetic motor oils derive from very real crude oil, natural gas, or other chemical feed materials. More importantly, they are inherently better for your engine than conventional oil, says Warholic.

“Even outside of the high mileage category, most engine oils are now trending toward full synthetic. This is because a synthetic base oil has much better thermal stability, so it provides better protection and develops less deposits,” he explains. “It also provides better performance, and I think consumers really see the value in that – especially if they see their vehicle as a long-term investment.”

To turn a synthetic oil from high-performing to truly rejuvenating, Valvoline introduces a secret sauce of anti-wear additives, added detergents, and premium seal conditioners. These features ensure the company’s high mileage motor oils not only meet the new API SP and ILSAC GF-6 specifications, but also provide 40% better wear protection than industry standards.

Hopefully, you’re thinking differently about your aging vehicle’s needs. But just in case you’re not totally convinced, here are a few more reasons you should reach for Valvoline’s High Mileage line next time you hit the parts store.

Valvoline was the first.

“The High Mileage category in light duty engine oils was actually invented by Valvoline,” says Warholic. “Back in 2000, the marketing and technology team observed cars were getting older, and asked the question: ‘Do those engines need different types of oil? What types of protection do they need?’”

To find the answer, they did what any self-respecting gearhead with a challenge would do: they hit the junkyard.

After buying up a bunch of old engines and tearing them apart, the team realized several problems kept appearing: leaky seals, hard deposits, oil oxidization, and general wear and tear.

“Those were the primary drivers for the initial high mileage oils,” says Warholic. “A simple thing like brittle seals led to the addition of a conditioner that helps to soften seals and keep them pliable, basically stopping your engine from leaking. And oil oxidization – they saw the oil was aging faster, due to the fact that you get a lot more blow-by in an engine, so the gases from the combustion chamber go into the oil. That led to the addition of anti-oxidants.”

Detergents joined the mix to help protect against sludge and deposits, while extra wear protection additives stand up to high temperatures and friction under the most severe driving conditions.

And, speaking of driving conditions…

Valvoline tests at home and on the track.

“We really ground our products in technology,” says Warholic. “We are the only motor oil brand that has a dedicated engine lab where we can actually test the oil live in a fired engine.”

Combined with Valvoline’s 155-year legacy, this technical background overshadows the competition. But, as we all know, knowledge without practice is useless – so Valvoline tests its products on a universal proving ground: the racetrack.

From WoO dirt track racing and SCCA autocross to Formula DRIFT and ATV motocross, the Valvoline logo can be seen whizzing around many a racing circuit. The brand is also the official motor oil for Hendrick Motorsports NASCAR drivers – a relationship Warholic says is invaluable to product development.

“We learn a lot from racing interactions because those engines run so differently from engines on the road,” he says. “They really test the oil, so you learn things about how it behaves and how it may degrade.”

Valvoline doesn’t rest on its laurels.

Modern and next-generation engines continue to push the envelope by squeezing big power into ever-smaller packages. That means oil marketers must revisit their formulations and change-up the chemistry.

“A smaller four-cylinder engine can give you the same amount of power that a six-cylinder did a few years ago,” explains Warholic. “But because of that, the engine runs hotter. It has more demands on the oil and can have a negative impact on the performance. Changes in engine design prioritize fuel efficiency, but still provide the necessary power for people to drive their families around, tow trailers and boats, etc… That’s really what’s driving a lot of the changes in oil formulation.”

Recently-introduced ILSAC GF-6 specifications raise the bar on modern lubricants. These tests ensure oils can stand up to new challenges like chain wear, low speed pre-ignition, and changing emissions standards. As such, Valvoline reformulated its entire oil line, including the High Mileage product, in May 2020.

The challenge is to remain “backward-compatible” with older technology from 10-15 years ago in the process, says Warholic. We may think of direct-injection and turbocharging as new science, but the truth is they’ve been around for a while now. “Those engines are actually part of the high-mileage category,” he explains.

As what constitutes a high mileage vehicle continues to evolve, so does Valvoline. “We’re investing in engine life,” says Warholic, who notes a six-figure odometer simply isn’t a big deal anymore. “But older engines do have different requirements. So, we’re identifying those areas in need of more or different protection and developing products accordingly.”

Valvoline cares about the details.

It would be a disservice to the Valvoline packaging engineers to talk about High Mileage with MaxLife Technology Motor Oil and not discuss its Easy Pour bottle.

From the simple pull-ring tab, to the anti-glug pour spout, to the resealable cap (!!), this thing is a true masterpiece. They even moved the handle to the middle portion of the bottle, so it better aligns with the bottle’s center of gravity. Like we said, thing of beauty.

“We have a packaging and marketing group who worked several years on developing this new bottle,” says Warholic. “There was a lot of different prototypes put together, debated to get down to that final design — and it really does make it so much easier to get the oil in the engine!”

As Valvoline says, Pouring is believing. So, if you’re battling engine-aging concerns, Valvoline has a solution: High Mileage with MaxLife Technology Motor Oil in full synthetic or synthetic blend. Help your engine run like new for longer.