Big Profits in Little Cans

In the great gas-station battle, gas oline companies have long tried to win a larger share of the consumer's dollar by promoting a mystifying variety of cryptically named additives and other special ingredients that promise to per form a miracle in the tank. The Fed eral Trade Commission, investigating one aspect of the great gasoline war, plans to press for legislation to force the companies to post actual octane ratings on the pumps so that motorists will not have to buy higher octane than their cars need. Now the battle ground has expanded to another area of mystification: the rich and growing market for oil additives.

Ever since the first auto engine coughed to life, chemists have been trying to improve its lubricating oil. By now, a can of top-quality motor oil is only 80% to 85% petroleum; the rest is a complex blend of chemicals that are added to keep it from thinning out, prevent engine deposits and neutralize the acids that are byproducts of combustion. The big oil companies -- such as Gulf, Mobil and Texaco -- work close ly with auto producers to devise formulas that will meet the specific needs of each engine, depending upon its horsepower and the climate in which the car is usually driven. Still, many motorists attempt to outguess the experts by using additives, which are usually made by companies other than the big oil firms. Motorists have the stuff poured into the crankcases of their cars, separate from the oil itself. Promoters of the additives promise that they reduce oil consumption, free sticking valves, make the engine run more smoothly and prevent many repairs. Petroleum engineers derisively call most of the additives "mouse milk" and agree that they are rarely beneficial in normal engines.

Speed Sells. There are hundreds of additives on the market, and sales last year probably topped $100 million. The largest manufacturer is STP Corp. (for Scientifically Treated Petroleum). It had sales of only $9 million as late as 1963 --but then Andy Granatelli took over as president. Granatelli, a former racing driver, figured that if speed could sell cars and tires, it could sell additives as well. He began to offer extra cash to racers who pasted STP decals conspicuously on their cars. Motorists now buy 2,000,000 cans a week, usually paying more than a dollar a can. Buyers hope to get what STP publicists call the "Racer's Edge," something that is supposed to have helped Mario Andretti roar to the winner's circle on May 30 at Indianapolis. Sales last year rose almost 50%, to $44 million, and profits reached $6 million. For every dollar of sales, the company spends 450 on promotion; that is 180 more than it spends on the can and its contents.

Another successful manufacturer is Wynn Oil Co., which promotes three oil additives, including "Charge!" The company was founded in 1939 by Ches-tien Wynn, a lawyer who mixed a homebrew "friction proofing" in a 55-gal. drum and sold bottles of it to local garages. Sales last year were $14 million. The Bardahl Mfg. Corp. markets 18 products in 82 countries. Its private owners do not disclose sales figures, but the company is probably third in size, behind STP and Wynn.

Secret Formulas. The formula for each additive is closely guarded, and manufacturers discuss the ingredients only in vague terms. One major ingredient is usually polyisobutylene, which is made by combining molecules of certain chemicals with a butane derivative of crude oil. It produces approximately the same results as far costlier additives in improving the viscosity, or thickness, of oil--and can be bought at the rate of 920 a gallon.

Detroit automakers have found that regular use of the polyisobutylene compounds can occasionally clog small oil passages and cause engine damage. Ray Potter, retired supervisor of fuels and lubricant research at Ford, says: "No one has ever presented any scientific data to prove that additives do anything good." The auto manufacturers do not recommend the use of additives except to deal with some "special problems." The trouble is that the ordinary driver cannot really diagnose those problems.

Even so, additives are likely to continue to flourish. The manufacturers imply that by pouring in a $1.50 can of additive with every oil change, the motorist can forestall a $150 valve-and-ring job. Such a job is usually not needed until a car has been driven 60,000 miles. Since most motorists scrap or sell their cars before reaching that milestone, they seldom discover that additives do not do all that their makers claim.

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