AMSOIL Becomes Official Partner of Monster Jam

AMSOIL Becomes Official Partner of Monster Jam

AMSOIL is the official and exclusive motor oil of Monster Jam featuring the AMSOIL Series. The 2016 season will showcase the best Monster Jam vehicles and competitors battling it out in the East and West. Featuring new athletes and expanding some of your favorite teams, the leader of each tour will get a bid to compete at the Monster Jam World Finals XVI. Following the format from 2015, each athlete will hit the track in Monster Jam Speedsters, ATVs and trucks to accumulate points and dazzle the crowd.

Check out the tour dates below and visit www.amsoilracing.com/series/monster-jam-featuring-the-amsoil-series for more information.

EAST

DATE

WEST

Louisville, Ky.

Jan. 15-17, 2016

Tacoma, Wash.

Milwaukee, Wis.

Jan. 22-23, 2016

Salt Lake City, Utah

Dayton, Ohio

Jan. 29-31, 2016

Sacramento, Calif.

Kansas City, Mo.

Feb. 5-7, 2016

Spokane, Wash.

Rosemont, Ill.

Feb. 11-15, 2016

Portland, Ore.

Providence, R.I.

Feb. 19-21, 2016

Albuquerque, N.M.

Baltimore, Md.

Feb. 26-28, 2016

Nampa, Idaho

Grand Rapids, Mich.

Mar. 4-6, 2016

Reno, Nev.

 

AMSOIL Monster Jam UTV Sweepstakes

AMSOIL has teamed up with Monster Jam and Feld Motorsports to offer you the chance to hit the trails in a brand new Polaris® RZR 900. Built to take you anywhere, this dynamic UTV features:

875cc / 75 HP ProStar® 900 Engine

High Performance True On-Demand AWD

Automatic PVT Transmission

Adjustable ZF Sachs Shocks

The sweepstakes runs from January 2 to March 6, 2016. For complete contest details visit:www.AMSOIL.com/monsterjam

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Outstanding Motorcycle Chain Protection

Outstanding Motorcycle Chain Protection

In order to ensure optimum performance and life, motorcycle chains require premium lubrication. Sport bike riders need a chain lubricant that can withstand the stress of regularly going 0-60 mph in a matter of seconds, cruiser riders need a chain lubricant that helps protect and prolong chain life and dirt bike riders need a chain lubricant that protects against the elements. New AMSOIL Chain Lube (ACLSC) helps riders avoid the hassles of frequent reapplication and the stresses of worrying about chain durability, enabling them to focus on riding and providing the confidence to keep up with their buddies on the trail or street.

AMSOIL Chain Lube

AMSOIL Chain Lube (ACLSC) is a dedicated aerosol chain lubricant that provides outstanding wear and corrosion protection for all types of chains and sprockets. It penetrates deep into the pins and bushings of chains and leaves a protective coating that will not fling off or attract dirt, dust, sand or grit.

Outstanding protection against wear and corrosion

Helps extend chain life

Does not attract dirt

Does not fling off

Easy application

Fast-drying

Sprays from any position

Applications

AMSOIL Chain Lube is suitable for all types of chains, including O, X and Z roller chains found in street, off-road and racing motorcycles. It is also excellent for bicycle, agricultural and industrial applications.

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A Closer Look at Gear Lube

A Closer Look at Gear Lube

Automakers continue building vehicles that produce substantially more horsepower, torque and towing capacity than their predecessors, yet differential gears and bearings remain largely unchanged. Increasingly, synthetic gear lubes are recommended to meet these higher demands.

Increased Wear Resistance

Ring gear and input pinion in differentialDifferential designs come with inherent suffering points, and it’s here synthetics prove their worth. In a traditional automotive differential, the pinion gear concentrates intense pressure on the ring gear. As all the gear teeth mesh, they slide against one another repeatedly, separated only by a microscopic film of lubricant. The constant stress the lubricant film bears can shear lesser gear lubes, causing permanent viscosity loss. Once sheared, the fluid film weakens, ruptures and allows metal-to-metal contact, eventually leading to gear and bearing failure. The situation is worse in commercial vehicles used for towing, hauling and other severe-service application.

Conventional lubes formulated with viscosity index (VI) improvers shear more readily under stress. AMSOIL synthetic gear lubes, however, maintain viscosity better than other conventional and synthetic gear lubes despite rigorous use. AMSOIL Severe Gear® Synthetic EP Gear Lubes contain extreme-pressure (EP) additives that form a durable iron-sulfide barrier on gear and bearing surfaces to guard against metal-to-metal contact in the harshest conditions.

AMSOIL Server Gear Cost ComparisonIncreased Operating Temperatures

Differentials have always run hot, but increases in power and torque coupled with reduced fluid volume only worsen the problem. Testing has shown applications simulating trailer towing at 55 mph at a 3.5 percent grade can experience differential temperatures as high as 370ºF. Those readings could be even higher using today’s more powerful vehicles.

Thermal Runaway

As temperatures in the differential climb, gear lubricants tend to lose viscosity, while extreme loads and pressures can break the lubricant film, causing increased metal-to-metal contact and heat. The increased friction and heat, in turn, cause the lubricant to further lose viscosity, which further increases friction and heat. Friction and heat continue to spiral upward, creating a vicious cycle known as thermal runaway that eventually leads to greatly increased wear and irreparable equipment damage.

Here again AMSOIL synthetic gear lubes outperform conventional gear lubes. Not only do they resist viscosity loss due to mechanical shear, they resist thinning at high temperatures better than conventional lubes. In addition, the deposits conventional gear lubes leave behind coat gears and bearings, inhibiting heat transfer and shortening their life spans. What’s more, the lubricant thickens, increasing internal drag and reducing fuel economy.

AMSOIL synthetic gear lubes, however, are engineered in a lab and contain only uniform molecules less prone to volatilizing at high temperatures. As a result, they not only resist thinning in heat to provide better cooling and protection, they stay fluid in cold weather to ensure immediate startup protection. Their uniform molecules also reduce friction, effectively reducing drag and maximizing fuel economy. The lower cost of AMSOIL synthetic gear lubes combined with their extended-drain capabilities and superior performance make them the ideal choice.

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Upgrade to AMSOIL Performance to Get the Most Out of your Vehicle

Upgrade to AMSOIL Performance to Get the Most Out of your Vehicle

Excessive engine wear eventually leads to costly breakdowns and catastrophic engine failure. But even if your engine doesn’t fail, wear robs your vehicle of power, performance and that “like-new” feeling you crave when driving.

Modern engine parts are finely engineered to tight tolerances. This helps engines run more efficiently and last longer. Over time, however, wear causes bearings, pistons, piston rings and other parts to deviate from their original specifications. Bearings no longer run “true,” causing noise and heat. Worn piston rings and cylinders reduce the effectiveness of the dynamic seal that forms between the ring and cylinder wall, resulting in compression loss and increased oil consumption. Engines that lose compression produce less power.

Valve and camshaft wear are also a problem. Worn valve stems and cam lobes negatively affect valve timing and lift, which reduces efficiency and power. Variable valve timing (VVT) systems, common on most newer vehicles, contain intricate components that are especially prone to the ill effects of wear. VVT systems use oil-pressure-operated mechanical devices to change valve timing, duration and lift to achieve improved fuel economy and performance compared to traditional engines. Since most VVT systems are non-serviceable, wear can lead to costly problems down the road, in addition to poor performance.

To demonstrate its superior wear protection, AMSOIL Signature Series 5W-30 Synthetic Motor Oil was subjected to the 100-hour Sequence IIIG Engine Test (ASTM D 7320), an industry-standard test designed to evaluate motor oil in several key performance areas. It must be passed to meet the API SN and ILSAC GF-5 motor oil specifications.

AMSOIL instructed the lab that performed the test to double it to 200 hours. Signature Series not only passed the double-length test, it did so with flying colors. Its superior wear protection in the test, and because reducing wear has a direct correlation with reducing horsepower loss, allows AMSOIL to confidently claim Signature Series guards against wear and horsepower loss 75 percent better than required by a leading industry standard.

Upgrade to AMSOIL performance to protect your vehicle against wear and horsepower loss.

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AMSOIL Synthetic 2-Stroke Oil Saves Racing Engine

AMSOIL Synthetic 2-Stroke Oil Saves Racing Engine

After a successful weekend of racing during the opening rounds of AMSOIL Championship Snocross over Thanksgiving weekend, AMSOIL/Scheuring Speed Sports driver Lincoln Lemieux made the Pro Open final on Sunday.

Lemieux fought his way into the top-three and was running strong. But, about 14 laps into the 20-lap race, he started slowing down and losing power. He pulled off the track and drove back to the trailer.

When team owner Steve Scheuring arrived, the heat from Lemieux’s Ski-Doo* RS600 engine was overwhelming. “There were parts of the engine that melted,” said Scheuring. “You could smell that antifreeze had gotten hot. Everything was just hot. That’s the best way I can describe it. Just hot.”

Julian DhananiThe crew opened the engine panels and noticed a $1 clamp had broken, separating the coolant lines and causing the engine coolant to pump from the system. Further inspection revealed intense heat had melted the exhaust power valve covers. The rubber O-rings that separate the cylinder from the head also melted, which caused the engine to lose compression and power. “There were a few other gaskets that actually melted inside the motor,” said Scheuring.

In stock condition, the engine produces about 130 hp, but the team relies on piping, clutch, carburetion and other modifications to increase power by 20 percent. “We can’t do anything to the internals of the motor, so we need to take every one of the options we have and bring them right to the edge,” said Scheuring. The modifications and lack of coolant exposed the engine to intense heat “well in excess of beyond operating temperatures,” Scheuring said.

Julian Dhanani“In a normal situation when something like this happens, the motor will lock up because of the high temperatures. The rings will stick to the piston. The pistons will score the cylinder walls. There’s a good chance the crank bearings will seize,” said Scheuring.

Instead, the rings and pistons were still free and the crankshaft still turned freely. “We saw some minor [piston] scuffing,” said Scheuring, “and it was like, ‘this is crazy how well the inside of this motor looks.’”

Each one of Scheuring’s Ski-Doo engines makes up a big portion of a race sled’s high cost. “We could take this motor, put new gaskets in it, put new exhaust valve covers on it and go racing,” said Scheuring. “We go above and beyond the capabilities of these motors. If they fail they cost us money, they cost us time and they cost us races, and we can’t afford to lose any of those.”

Scheuring credits AMSOIL DOMINATOR® Synthetic 2-Stroke Racing Oil with saving his engine. “We’ve worked with AMSOIL the last 20 years developing two-stroke oils for our race sleds,” said Scheuring. “In my opinion, I believe 100 percent the reason that motor lived was because of the AMSOIL products.”

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European Car Formula Evolves

European Car Formula Evolves

European Car Formula 5W-30 Synthetic Motor Oil (AEL) has been reformulated to broaden its application potential in European and domestic models, including the Chevrolet* Cruze* Clean Turbo Diesel, Jeep* Grand Cherokee* 3.0L EcoDiesel* V6 and Dodge* Ram* 1500 EcoDiesel. It now meets the following additional specifications:

Chrysler MS-11106

ACEA C3

GM dexos2™

The new formulation will be available in quarts and drums once the current formulation sells out. Forecasts predict the current formulation to last through January. The new formulation is available in gallons Dec. 1.

New Manufacturer Approvals

European Car Formula 5W-40 Synthetic Motor Oil (EFM) now carries the following additional manufacturer approvals:

MB-Approval 229.

Porsche A40

In addition, the European Car Formula Synthetic Motor Oil labels are being revised slightly, removing the focus from SAPS levels and placing it on emissions system protection. The European Car Formula products will be referred to as the following:

European Car Formula 0W-40 Classic Emissions System Protection Synthetic Motor Oil (EFO)

European Car Formula 5W-40 Classic Emissions System Protection Synthetic Motor Oil (EFM)

European Car Formula 5W-30 Improved Emissions System Protection Synthetic Motor Oil (AEL)

European Car Formula 5W-40 Improved Emissions System Protection Synthetic Motor Oil (AFL)

Labels reflecting the changes will begin appearing as inventory of European Car Formula products with current labels is depleted.

New Focus

SAPS levels are a clear way of differentiating between oils within the European Car Formula family; however, the SAPS indicators on labels and advertisements added confusion for consumers who didn’t know why SAPS levels are important. Ultimately, SAPS levels are important for ensuring sensitive emissions systems on European vehicles function as designed, and the labels have been updated accordingly. Although we will continue to provide information about SAPS, its focus has been deemphasized.

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Go Inside the Dyno Room with Engine Masters, presented by AMSOIL

Go Inside the Dyno Room with Engine Masters, presented by AMSOIL

An all-new show is coming to Motor Trend’s YouTube channel beginning Nov. 23 – Engine Masters, presented by AMSOIL. Each episode features parts testing and engine-to-engine shootouts on the dyno. In the debut episode, find out what single bolt-on part adds 50 hp to a small-block Chevy already capable of producing 500 hp.

Hosts David Freiburger of Roadkill, Steve Dulcich of Engine Masters Magazine and dyno guru Steve Brule of Westech Performance Group provide a blend of fun and information in this video dyno diary. New episodes will be added about every other Monday over the next several months starting Nov. 23.

The show was inspired by the annual AMSOIL Engine Masters Challenge, presented by HOT ROD. Each October, the top engine builders in the country gather at the University of Northern Ohio to see who can build the most powerful engine. Tests designed to measure torque, power and performance are administered to each engine, but only one team can come out on top to earn the title of Engine Master.

Waiting a full year to get back in the dyno room was too long for us. Engine Masters, presented by AMSOIL, lets you fuel your passion for power and performance every other Monday.

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