If you have a 3-5-year-old "Korean" mass model in the garage or parking lot, then, as a rule, there is no need to think about the brand of oil poured into it. The requirements of a standard engine and its owner's wallet are fully satisfied by mass products on the market. However, in any segment (and motor oils are no exception) there is always a place for niche products intended for special gourmets, that is, produced by some fans for others. Such products include Xenum brand oils, which are little known among ordinary car owners, but literally blew up the forums of fans of racing and maintained cars.
As usual, any new product first of all arouses mistrust in the consumer. Especially if there is no big name behind it, the color of the oil resembles "condensed milk", then resin, and the price... 70 euros for 5 liters is clearly surprising: to justify its price, this product must have truly unique properties! So, where is the trick here? Why didn't this brand die in the first year of its existence, as predicted by the marketing and sales manuals, when many much better-known brands are competing for an extra 20 UAH per canister at retail? It is unlikely that a universal recipe for success can be derived here, because it, like the recipe for the oil itself, consists of many components. Let's start, perhaps, from the very beginning, namely - from the one who created it.
When talking about the history of a brand or manufacturer of motor oil, we usually talk about a concern or, less often, about a single enterprise. In this case, everything happened differently than we are used to, and the story about the brand boils down to the life experience of one person - the Belgian Peter Tossin. It is he who owns the Xenum company and the brand of the same name, under which it produces a wide range of oils, lubricants and auto chemicals. Being an electromechanical engineer by education, he worked in the petrochemical industry for more than 20 years. Including as a director and co-owner of the Marly company, founded almost 100 years ago and one of the first to develop oils based on esters, with the addition of colloidal graphite and microceramics. Having sold his 50% shares to a partner, in 2004 Peter Tossin founded his own company Xenum and continued his work in the well-known direction. As it often happens in life and in business, the parting did not go without mutual objections, so the court case about the "divorce" has not yet been put to an end, which, however, does not prevent Xenum from successfully winning its market share. And the demand for an expensive high-tech olive product, it must be said, is there, because it was not for nothing that the bankrupt Marly company, when Peter Tosin came there in 1998, showed confident growth. And yet, Xenum is not Marly…
If you think of modern high-tech oils and imagine a closed enterprise and a number of laboratories equipped with the latest technology, then you will probably have to change the stereotypes. Peter Tossin's company consists of seven people, including himself, located in a small two-story building in the suburbs of Brussels. According to him, it does not take many people to create good oil. It is enough to take the best ingredients in the right proportion. In a word, our time is the time of Ideas, not Production. After all, in order to make a quality product, it is enough to place an order at one of the existing oil blending enterprises, for example, at the Dutch De Oliebron, where, together with Xenum, small batches of top products of other brands are bottled.
At the heart of the idea is Xenum oil, a super-expensive base based on complex esters, called esters. Unlike hydrocracking or even PAO, which require the presence of thickeners that activate over time, esters can be synthesized in a wide range of viscosities. In addition, the negative charge of their long molecules causes the oil to stick to the metal walls of the engine, creating a strong film, which leads to improved anti-seize properties. Knowing about this property of esters, you can even believe the story of one of the forum members who tested Xenum: after punching a 13 cm hole in the crankcase in the remote Yakut countryside (that is, the oil leaked out all at once and without any residue!), he drove 25 km "in the dry" to the nearest service station without any special consequences for the engine. Thus, what is excessive in regular mode, is simply necessary in motorsport and helps in conditions of peak loads. No matter how cool it is, a cold start, long idling and "slippers on the floor" happen to almost everyone.
As far as formulas are concerned, Xenum is following the path of purchasing a solution from one of the leaders in the field, Croda, in the matter of esters. Other components of the base are formed from RAW produced by Mobil and excellent hydrocracking oil XHVI from Shell. Graphite additive and microceramics (features of Xenum products) are purchased from the Henkel concern, and ready-made additive package recipes that have passed all tests and received approvals from car manufacturers are from Oronite and Lubrizol. One can predict the question that legitimately arises: if esters are so good, why are they not used by other oil manufacturers? Eminent world manufacturers use esters from 1 to 20% in their top products. An advertising campaign is simply not built on this, so this fact remains "behind the scenes".
Engine menu
Today, Xenum oils are divided into 3 lines: for extreme operating conditions based on esters and microceramics; improved oils with the addition of graphite, but cheaper compared to ceramics; classic oils that are among the best in their class.
The main dish
The main line of Xenum oils for cars includes a line of synthetic and semi-synthetic motor and transmission oils for cars and trucks, only one of which contains esters in its composition - X1 5W-40 Ester Hybrid synthetic motoroil. It is developed on the basis of the latest technologies specifically for ultra-modern EURO IV gasoline and diesel engines with a fine purification filter (DPF) and a NOx accumulation catalyst (TWC). X1 oil is based on a specially selected synthetic base oil with the addition of 10% esters and a well-balanced complex of additives. Thanks to its special composition, the oil fully meets the special requirements of MV 229.51 and BMW LongLife-04.
Other oils of this group are created on the basis of specially selected base synthetic oils and a well-balanced modern package of additives. Their difference is the purpose. So, in the assortment of classic Xenum oils, a line of oils called OEM-Line stands out. The range of these products is designed for cars with specialized tolerances as a response to manufacturers' recommendations to fill in original oils. Thus, recently there has been a tendency to use low-viscosity oils and the transition of many manufacturers to oils with a viscosity of 5W-30. But in order for the oil to develop its characteristics, the manufacturer must also take into account the climate in which the car is operated. Therefore, in addition to the viscosity of 5W-30, an oil with a viscosity of 0W-20 is also offered, designed for operation in harsh climates and extremely low temperatures. Fits most Japanese and American cars.
The Runner 10W-40 Semi-synthetic motoroil, designed specifically for cars with a mileage of over 120,000, is specially noted in the Xenum range. km
"Condensed milk"
Peter Tossin is a karting driver himself in the past, and his top-of-the-line products have proven themselves well in motorsport. Yes, the WRX 7.5W-40 oil is standard for the Belgian racing team NGT Racing, which competes in the Porsche 911 GT3.
WRX 7.5W-40 and VX 5W-30 oils contain 1% microceramics (boron nitride), which gives the oil the same white color and works on the principle of the smallest ball bearings with a particle size of 0.25 microns. Microparticles of ceramics, sticking to the walls of the engine, effectively dissipate heat and smooth the friction surfaces, significantly reducing the coefficient of friction and wear. Microceramics are safe for FAP and Low SAPS filters, and virtually no deposits remain in the engine, so it doesn't overheat. As a result, the elasticity of engine operation increases and fuel consumption decreases. In addition, powerful and high-speed motors often consume a large amount of oil during operation. In some cars, 1-2 liters per 1000 km can be considered the normal amount of oil for topping up, which as a result is another amount of replacement. Therefore, another useful and unique property of Xenum WRX 7.5W40 is a significant reduction in oil soot.
"Black coffee"
Xenum is also known for its jet black graphite oils GP 10W-40 Semi-Synthetic, GPR 10W-50 Synthetic, GPX 5W-40 Synthetic. Graphite microparticles (1μm) in the oil create a stable film that practically eliminates direct contact of friction surfaces. This reduces wear and improves hydrodynamic lubrication, reduces fuel consumption and harmful emissions into the atmosphere, increases power and increases the service life of mechanisms. Cold start is facilitated and heat dissipation is improved in all modes. At the same time, the cost of products is much lower than with the content of microceramics.
According to the API classification, any oil starting with class SL must have energy-saving properties. The use of graphite oils gives fuel savings ranging from 6 to 23% (SAE observation) compared to mineral oils and 2-3% compared to traditional energy-saving oils. In addition, both graphite and ceramic oil provide excellent cold start performance. And this is their one more indisputable advantage - because according to statistics, up to 80% wear occurs precisely when the engine is started.
Don't want seasoning?
In addition to a wide range of oils, Xenum offers various lubricants, fuel and oil additives. And if for some reason you do not pour the top product of the brand - microceramic oils, then there is an opportunity to pour the appropriate additive into any other oil. Peter Tossin guarantees that the effect of the VX500 additive will be equivalent to the use of Xenum branded oil. The additive is recommended for use not only in motor oils, but also in transmission oils, as well as in boat, motorcycle, and industrial machinery engines.
In addition to VX500, Xenum has a wide range of other oil additives: with the addition of microceramics, but on a more budget synthetic basis, with graphite and molybdenum disulfide, both for engines and separately for gearboxes, additives for worn engines, various sealants, flushing , which does not contain acids.
At the same time, there is a large selection of fuel additives. Conventionally, they can be divided into two groups. The first is multifunctional additives that have a preventive effect with a small cleansing effect. These additives help overcome deposits in the injector and fuel system, lubricate working mechanisms, valves, protect mechanisms from corrosion, and normalize fuel consumption.
Such additives also help to increase the octane and cetane number and neutralize water in case of low-quality fuel. The second group is additives with targeted action: for cleaning the diesel exhaust system from deposits, normalizing CO in exhaust gases, antigel, anti-smoke additive for diesel engines. Some additives are unique in their kind. Xenum also offers injector cleaners, cooling systems, various sealants and other auto chemical compositions.
In special consistent lubricants, various cleaners, multifunctional sprays used in car service, Xenum uses a unique technology of adding microceramics to fluoropolymers called Cerflon. A fluoropolymer is a carbon-fluorine compound that is one of the strongest chemical bonds known today. Therefore, fluoropolymers are used in many industries, in particular, fluoropolymer dental fillings are very common. And the use of fluoropolymer together with boron nitride allows the compound to remain on the surface for a long time, providing the ultimate lubrication of parts.
Unique systems for cleaning the air system of diesel engines and valve lubrication of gas engines deserve special attention. The first allows you to clean the diesel intake manifold of carbon and oil deposits without removing and disassembling, clean the valves and valve seats, the combustion chamber and piston rings. As a result, we get a reduction in fuel consumption, more elastic operation of the engine, restoration of its power. The second cleaning system helps in the prevention and cleaning of deposits and the normal operation of the valves of engines running on propane-butane or methane. The cleaning system is safe for cars with catalytic converters and lambda probes. Both systems, like many other illustrated samples, have no analogues in their kind.
For reference: Currently, development and production of engine oil additive packages are concentrated in 4 companies: Lubrizol, Infineum, Shell-additive, Shevron-Oronite. It is these companies that develop all the formulas of motor oils for the whole world, organize their testing and obtaining the necessary tolerances and the subsequent sale of production licenses for oil-mixing companies. These four companies are suppliers of additives for any oil manufacturers, including International Oil Corporations.
In the conditions of the fiercest competition, outsourcing is a basic principle used by most manufacturers and brands. And not only in olives, but in the production of auto parts, household appliances, computers, mobile phones, etc. As an example, the well-known Apple products are assembled from components of many manufacturers, including its direct competitors, Korean manufacturers LG and Samsung. It's no secret that all Apple products are just successfully arranged and successfully implemented technological solutions of others. At the same time, any product of the company with a bitten apple does not cause complaints in terms of quality and technical parameters, but on the contrary, it causes the envy of competitors and the admiration of consumers. And Steve Jobs became a real idol and guru of the generation, successfully using other people's, but necessarily the newest and most advanced developments.
Elite restaurant
There are numerous disputes on the Internet about what and how Xenum does. Many experienced motorists, athletes and servicemen are used to trusting products that have proven themselves, and are wary of new products. Especially if this novelty consists not only in technology, formulas, but also in the business model. However, if you set out to find the engine failure stories from angry car owners who have put their faith in Xenum, you'll find that there simply aren't any. And this means that no matter how surprising the color of the oil, the way the company entered the market and the lack of its own production, Xenum technologies really work and win their admirers among the owners of unusual cars. The Xenum fan club is gaining momentum.