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 New
Product Update
With Alan Amatuzio
Action
News:
As Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, the great
majority of Dealers are familiar with you, but for those new Dealers
and Preferred Customers who aren't, please summarize your areas of
responsibility.
Amatuzio:
I'm involved in all aspects of the company, but my primary areas of
responsibility include product development, laboratory research,
manufacturing and all areas of technical services.
Action
News:
This issue of
the Action News features the introduction of the new two-cycle oils.
What was the rationale behind further specialization of the
two-cycle oils?
Amatuzio:
Two-cycle
engine designs are changing and it's absolutely imperative that
AMSOIL provides the best possible products for those new designs.
Action
News:
What types of
design changes?
Amatuzio:
Direct fuel
injection and exhaust power valves have been incorporated in
two-cycle engines in efforts to improve performance, reduce
emissions and improve fuel efficiency. As a result, we're seeing
leaner fuel-to-oil ratios and hotter-running engines, up to
one-hundred and twenty degrees Fahrenheit hotter. This places
additional demands on two-cycle oils.
Action
News:
And AMSOIL has
met those demands with the new two-cycle oils?
Amatuzio:
Absolutely.
Our
2-Cycle Oils,
are the best two-cycle oils in the industry. We've
been working on these oils for a long, long time and that effort is
reflected in the quality of these products.
Action
News:
What makes
them so good?
Amatuzio:
We have over
thirty years of experience in blending synthetic oil. No one does it
better. Like all of our oils, our new two-cycle oils are precise
blends of the best base stocks and additives available in the world.
We tested hundreds of formulations in laboratory settings and real
world applications to ensure that the oils we introduced provide the
best possible performance in the applications they were designed
for. Our Interceptor Oil, for example, was designed to address
deposit formation on exhaust power valves, a problem which
ultimately leads to valve sticking and poor performance. That oil
was tested in two separate field trials in over one-hundred
snowmobiles prior to its introduction, not to mention hundreds of
hours in laboratory testing. There was no valve sticking.
Action
News:
So what
specific applications are the oils designed for?
Amatuzio:
Each of the
oils can be used in a variety of applications, but each is designed
for optimum performance in limited, specific applications. We've
created a
chart that ranks each oil's
performance in different applications. Dealers and Preferred
Customers will see that each market category has one oil recommended
as excellent for that market. That's the oil that should be used and
recommended to customers.
Action
News:
And what are
the markets each oil is recommended as excellent for?
Amatuzio:
The HP
Injector Oil is recommended as excellent for direct fuel injected,
electronic fuel injected and carbureted outboard motors. The
Interceptor Oil is recommended for snowmobiles, motorcycles, ATVs,
personal watercraft and jet boats. The Dominator Oil is recommended
for racing applications. And the two types of Saber Oil,
Professional and Outboard, are recommended for small two-cycle power
equipment and pre-mix outboards, respectively.
Action
News:
And these oils
will replace the existing two-cycle oils?
Amatuzio:
Yes. The HP
Injector will replace the current 2-Cycle Injector. The Dominator
Oil will replace the Series 2000 2-Cycle Oil. The Saber Professional
and Saber Outboard will replace the 100:1 Pre-Mix 2-Cycle Oil. The
Interceptor Oil is new to the line-up.
Action
News:
Will the
current oils be discontinued completely?
Amatuzio:
They will be available while supplies last.
Action
News:
It's a pretty
aggressive marketing strategy to introduce a whole new line-up of
two-cycle oils.
Amatuzio:
Yes, it is. But we're an aggressive company. We have always stayed
ahead of the curve when it comes to meeting the demands of modern
engine design, and our two-cycle oils are no exception.
Action
News:
You've given the new oils an aggressive look, as well.
Amatuzio:
Yes. Each has an aggressive identity. Think about it. Two-cycle
engines are aggressive engines. They work hard, and the people who
use them play hard and work hard. Names like Dominator, Interceptor
and Saber speak directly to those people.
Action
News:
But it's not all in the name. Can it be assumed that these oils
perform as advertised?
Amatuzio:
Better than
advertised. You can count on that.
Action
News:
Do you see a big market for these oils?
Amatuzio:
A huge market. And it's a market where we've established a
significant presence. Along with our Dealers, we've really
capitalized on our snocross and supercross sponsorships. This year
AMSOIL is the official oil of nearly every major snowmobile racing
association in North America. We're also the official oil of the AMA
Chevy Trucks U.S. Motocross Championships and have entered an
agreement to become the presenting sponsor of the Loretta Lynn
Amateur Motocross Nationals.
Action
News:
The new
Torque-Drive™ Automatic Transmission
Fluid is another interesting product. AMSOIL took a
different approach with that product in terms of the formulation
process. Talk a little about that.
Amatuzio:
Castrol manufactured a synthetic transmission fluid called
TranSynd in conjunction with Allison to be used in heavy-duty
Allison transmissions. With the introduction of this oil, Allison
established the Technical Engineering Specification-295 (TES-295),
and only operators using TES-295 oils can extend drain intervals
according to Allison recommendations in bulletin 1099C, and only
those operators are eligible to purchase the Allison extended
transmission coverage (ETC) warranty. Although Castrol has since
made that product available to other marketers, manufacturers
outside that limited sphere are handcuffed. To achieve TES-295 is
virtually impossible because Allison has not made the TES-295 test
stand available and has not established the necessary formalized
field trial protocol. Therefore, AMSOIL performed a reverse
engineering process on TranSynd to uncover its chemical make-up,
and then formulated a product based on the same type of chemical
technology. Our product is a TES-295 quality fluid.
Action
News:
And AMSOIL can
claim TES-295 quality without having run the tests?
Amatuzio:
Yes, because
Allison did run the tests on TranSynd and AMSOIL successfully
reverse engineered TranSynd, creating a fluid based on the same
type of technology. Both contain PAO, both contain ester, both
contain enhanced additive systems and neither contains VI improvers.
Not even sophisticated laboratory analysis can accurately measure
the differences between Torque-Drive™ and TranSynd.
Action
News:
What
differences will Allison customers notice when switching from
TranSynd to Torque-Drive?
Amatuzio:
The only difference they will notice is price. Torque-Drive™, at
commercial prices, is considerably less than TranSynd.
Action
News:
How about the
warranty issue?
Amatuzio:
The use of
Torque-Drive™ will not affect the standard Allison warranty for
defects in material or workmanship, and may only be challenged if
there is clear evidence of a lubricant-related failure, in which
case AMSOIL provides full warranty coverage. Torque-Drive™ does not
fulfill the Allison warranty requirements for those customers who
have already purchased the Allison extended transmission coverage.
This is a separate contract that binds the parties according to its
terms. Customers who are considering purchasing the Allison
extended transmission coverage should be aware that it can be very
costly, ranging from $235 per unit for one year in school busses
equipped with 1000 model transmissions to as much as $4,000 per unit
for three years in busses equipped with a B500R transmissions.
Allison customers need to ask themselves where the savings are if
they have to pay big dollars for additional warranty coverage which
forces them to use the most expensive transmission fluid available.
If Allison customers consider Torque-Drive™ as an alternative, they
will find that the standard Allison warranty for defects in
material and workmanship is not compromised and AMSOIL provides
additional warranty coverage for lubricant related failures
indefinitely.
Action
News:
Thank you,
Alan. Any other new products we should know about?
Amatuzio:
There's always something brewing in our lab, but that can wait. |
