Yes! The time has come. PM404 and its counterparts are having a name change. While not such a shock for relatively recent additions to the race engine oil range, such as PM410 and PM411 MotorLife Extreme products, the change of PM404 Racing 50 is next level. Many have been asking, and justifiably so, why is a 25W60 engine oil called Racing 50? The transition from the former entity of PM Lubricants is well and truly passed, and with customers fully accustomed to the lubricant, we believe the time has come to change the product's name to reflect its true identity.

 

Drum Roll, please. The four dedicated Race Engine Oils: PM410, PM411, PM422 and PM404 will now be called Masterstroke 40, 50, 60 and 40 Synthetic.

 

The history behind PM404 is what sets it apart and demands a special note. 

 

PM404 Racing 50 is legendary to say the least. PM404 has been part of PM since its inception in 1982, and its status is justifiably earned. It has produced many champions across many different racing classes. PM404 had the respect of many at Willowbank Raceway near Brisbane and most other raceways across Australia during those early years and had many chemists from other lubricant manufacturers scratching their collective heads as to just how PM was able to achieve what they did with the product.

 

The rise in prominence reached its peak when Gary Brabham of the Dick Simons Racing team ran his Indy car, No 90, in the March 1993 Gold Coast Race. Gary’s Car was one of four cars in Dick Simon’s team, but the only one running PM Lubricants PM404 in the engine and PM108 Multi-GearLife in the transaxle. There were prearrangements in place with the Jimmy Vasser No 18 car, which was set up identically with a Chevy engine and a Ford/Lola transaxle but would be lubricated with what was advertised to be the “ Best Oil in the World “, Mobil 1. Post-race tests were conducted on both cars. Heat stickers and laboratory testing showed that PM404 Racing 50 ran cooler and registered lower wear metal counts than the Mobil 1. Oh Dear!

 

When shown the identigraphs post-race, Dick Simons said he was happy to endorse PM Lubricants as used in the Indy event.

 

A Queensland-based PM Lubricants distributor at the time, Trevor Spary, used some simple logic when he asked the question “So, if Mobil 1 is the best engine oil in the world, where does that leave PM404 Racing 50?” The question resulted in Keith Kelley responding by providing the results in the May 1993 Network Newsletter and titling the report

 

“What is better than Best?”

 

As one of the very first lubricants formulated by PM Lubricants in 1982, PM404 and the other trial products were subjected to a Falex test. (The Faville-Le Vally Lubricant Tester). Being a member of the Australian Lubricant and Tribologists Association, Qld Chapter, Keith Kelley had access to one of these test machines at the Queensland Institute of Technology, today, the QUT.

 

The tester is equipped with an automatic loading device, 0-4500 pound load gauge and a torque indicating gauge, brass shear pins, steel journals and steel V bearing blocks. The test result on the PM404 saw the machine fail at 3,500 pounds. The result of the test came as a shock and yet brought a smile to Keith’s face. To genuinely appreciate this result, one must remember that in the 80’s, lubricant formulation was very much a trial-and-error procedure. First came the theory, and after the theory, the formulation, and only then the testing, which in many cases resulted in further adjustments of the formulation. With today’s technology, involving computerisation, much formulation can be fairly accurately predicted at that point, and the desired formulation arrived at much sooner and more easily than 40 years ago.

 

Given the initial test results, other recognised supposedly high film strength oil brands were subjected to the same test. They involved lubricants produced by LE (Lubricant Engineers), Omega, Pennzoil and Amsoil. The best of that group could reach only 2,750 pounds on the Falex machine. These results saw PM Lubricants go one step further and supply the top Australian-produced 50-grade and 20W50 grade oils in the same class at that time. Shell, Castrol GTX, Valvoline, BP Corse 50, and Corse + were trialled. The best result from that group saw 2,000 pounds reached on the Falex machine, which, incidentally, had no human hands touch the machine when each test was undertaken.

 

The test results helped confirm the study from tribology, which showed that a lubricant's film strength or load-carrying ability is one of THE keys in the development of a very high-quality lubricant. The load-carrying ability or film strength of a lubricant underpins all PM Lubrication products and thus provides customers with cost-effective lubrication through enhanced protection and extended component life.

 

PM404 started its life as a 20W50, but as time passed, and race engines developed, with larger, more powerful units, the demand for increased protection was called for, and the 50 grade oil was lifted to a 25W60 viscosity grade lubricant and continues to this day. Bray Racing, Bill and Dianne Smith of Team Budget and their Super Sedan, Graham Noll to mention a few, along with multitudes of other race goers over the decades, across the country and beyond, these shores, have used the product.

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