Best Price Guarantee
If you find a better price somewhere else, let us know. We'll cover the difference, worry free. See full details.

• Some oil filters require an additional charge. 0W-16, 5W-40 Euro spec, and certain manufacturer-specific oils require an additional charge.
• Limit one lifetime per customer, household, car, or email address.

Synthetic Oil: Sending Petroleum the Way of the Dinosaurs

Before the invention of synthetic motor oil in the 1930s, machinery was protected with not only petroleum, but also rendered fat, vegetable oil, and even whale oil. Read on to learn how synthetic oil got cars moving more efficiently.

The widespread use of synthetic oils began in World War II, when massive tanks and jet fighters required a source of oil not tied to strategic regions in enemy hands. Under the high heat of a jet turbine or the bitter cold of a winter battlefield, naturally derived lubricating compounds could fail or freeze, but impurity-free, man-made oils churned along, and are currently capable of keeping a car's moving parts humming for up to 7,000 miles between changes.

Car owners using synthetic motor oil may rest assured that their pistons are churning away safely and securely, even without the help of dead dinosaurs or rendered whales.