Here’s why you don’t need to worry filling up your car’s engine with any of the Super Tech Motor oils.
Strolling down Walmart’s car section for a giant jug of oil for your car’s oil change and you’ll come across Super Tech’s lineup of oils.
Priced several dollars cheaper than its competitors, car owners often wonder if putting the “cheap stuff” in your car will cause any kind of engine damage.
Here’s why you don’t need to worry putting Walmart’s house brand of oil even in the newest cars.
Who makes Walmart’s Super Tech Oil?
Walmart carries of full suite of oils including conventional, synthetic, synthetic blend, high mileage synthetic, and high mileage conventional.
For many years, it was believed, Omaha, NE-based Warren Distribution made oil for Walmart’s Super Tech lineup of lubricants.
Contrary to that, another popular theory was that Warren Distribution didn’t make all Super Tech Oils, motor oil was region specific, and Super Tech oil was made by which private label oil maker was the nearest to your store.
However, checking Walmart’s MSDS database, it looks like who makes Super Tech oil might be oil blend specific.
Here we can see Full Synthetic 5W30, Full Synthetic 10W30, High mileage 10W40 and etc. is supplied by the CITGO Petroleum Corporation.
If we click on another Super Tech oil, this 20W50 is supplied by Highline Warren Distribution.
And here, it looks like conventional 5W30 is made by the Delfin Group USA out of Charleston, SC, which, according to this article, is now a subsidiary of the Amelie Oil Company.
While Warren Distribution remains a primary supplier of Super Tech oil, Walmart has branched out to other companies to meet the growing suite of oil’s that today’s consumer demands (Synthetic blends, High-Mileage synthetics etc.)
If you want to check for yourself, the best way to find out is plugging in the UPC barcode of your specific grade of SuperTech oil into Walmart’s MSDS directory.
Is Walmart Super Tech oil any good?
When choosing a motor oil, there are two standards to look for: the International Lubricant Standardization Advisory Committee (ILSAC) standard and the American Petroleum Institute (API) Standard.
A standard is a voluntary licensing and certification program that allows an engine oil maker, that meets certain requirements, to display and market a standard’s quality mark.
Both ILSAC’s and API’s oil standard programs started in the mid ’90s and was a collaboration between American and Japanese automakers and the oil and additive industry to define an oil standard that met the needs of combustion engines of the time.
Every few years, these standards are updated to meet the growing performance and environmental needs of today’s modern engines.
As of this writing, the current standards to look for are API SP and ILSAC GF-6.
Christensen USA and API’s bulletin on their latest API Standard do a great job of explaining what these new standards entail, but both oil standards address sludge and varnish build-up as well as turbo deposits and timing chain wear, issues in a lot of these new direct injected turbocharged engines.
Both standards are backwards compatible with previous standards, providing the same, if not better, engine protection.
API’s directory lists (linked here) which oil companies met their requirement and, as you can see from this screenshot, most of Super Tech’s oils meet API’s SP and ILSAC’s GF-6A rating.
Here’s a screenshot of the back of a bottle of Supertech’s Synthetic Blend 5W-30 sporting both ILSAC and API standards.
API says that their Engine oil program is, “backed by a monitoring and enforcement program that ensures licensees adhere to program requirements” but that hasn’t stopped third-party auditors to perform their own test to find out if Super Tech (and other oils) are delivering on what they advertise.
One such auditor is the Petroleum Quality Institute of America, their database of passenger car motor oil tests are linked here.
PQIA’s test measures viscosity at various temperatures, evaluates oil for contaminants, and publishes what detergents and anti-wear additives are found in oils tested.
Their latest tests are for Super Tech’s High Mileage 5W-30 and 5W-20 Full Synthetic and, according to their tests, both oils performed as advertised, providing adequate viscosity (protection) and various temperatures and displaying additive packages within the range found in similar motor oils.
The story is the same for the rest of the tests of Super Tech’s oils.
This is further proof that, above the strict API and ILSAC standards Super Tech oil’s have met, they also stand up to scrutiny from third-party analysis.
What are other independent reviewers saying about Super Tech oil?
There’s a plethora of independent tests, reviews, and opinions online about Super Tech oil.
I’m highlighting the best below.
One of the best independent testers of anything garage-related is Project Farm.
PF put Super Tech’s Synthetic Oil against the same grade Red Line oil ,a brand that’s twice the price of Walmart’s stuff. After testing for lubricity and viscosity in both cold and after extreme heat, PF determined Super Tech’s oil performed just as well as Red Line’s, although Red Line’s oils did edge out Super Tech every time.
Like most YouTube videos, the comments contain some pearls of wisdom, like these below.
“Been using Super Tech for years,” Joshua Marshall comments.
From my experience, it works just as well as oils that cost twice as much. I use conventional oil and change it about every 4k. Got almost 300k on a V10 Ford truck without any issues”
“I love all the money I’ve saved over 20 years of using Super Tech Full Synthetic in all of my vehicles, “J.T. Cooper comments. “No oil related problems in over 20 years now. I am still waiting to see the comparison of Amazon and Super Tech. I’ll bet it’s the same.”
This next video is pretty amazing. It shows a Honda K24 engine with over 300,000 miles on the odometer, opened up per the factory manual, for a timing chain inspection.
NPerez1986, the video reviewer, explains how, for the past 200,000 miles, he’s used nothing but Full Synthetic Super Tech Walmart oil for oil changes.
NPerez1986 gives us a full tour of the torn open head of this Honda four cylinder, showing all the camshafts, rocker arms, valves, timing chain, and everything else internally in the head.
From what I can see, there’s absolutely zero engine sludge and, at a quick glance, the engine looks factory new.
Upon closer inspection you’ll see wear marks on the camshaft lboes, but, overall, there’s minimal wear of note.
“It’s my daily driver,” NPerez1986 explains. “It’s never let me down, it shifts buttery smooth. As long as you follow the service manual and recommended maintenance intervals, you’ll be fine.”
“This is a terrific example of two important concepts: (1) modern synthetics, whether a higher priced brand or a cheaper store brand, so long as they meet API specs, are quality oils, and (most importantly) (2) regular routine fluid changes are the best thing you can do to make a car last a long time, “Bill Ghee comments in his video.
Where else can I read reviews about Walmart Super Tech oil?
Listed below are all pretty good sources for reviews of WalMart Super Tech oil.
- www.walmart.com– This is the review page for Super Tech 5W-30 Full Synthetic.
- www.bobistheoilguy.com- Using Super Tech full synthetic vs name brands.
- www.bobistheoilguy.com- Bought the new 20,000 mile Super Tech 0W20.
- www.reddit.com- Thoughts on Super Tech Oil?
- www.reddit.com- -Mechanic’s Advice, Walmart Engine oil quality
Conclusion
The consensus is quite clear, although Walmart Super Tech oil is cheaper than its competitors, it’s, by no means, measurably inferior when it comes to standards, quality, and customer satisfaction.
With the API and ILSAC’s latest certifications, that alone is peace of mind that Walmart Super Tech engine oil is up to the task of lubricating and protecting today’s modern engines.
Given the choice between Super Tech oil or any of the name brands, you really have no reason to go for the more expensive stuff.
