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Enthusiast Essentials: have you heard about Shell’s Helix Ultra motor oil?

30 September, 2015

Shopping can be a monotonous chore, even when it comes to purchasing oil. Do you lean towards the trusted labels, or do you grab the cheapest available option and ignore the sob-ridden guilt as you add it to your engine? There are many different brands of oil out there, but Shell would like to have you believe that they’ve tapped into something special with their latest Shell Helix Ultra motor oil.

Containing Shell’s own PurePlus technology, the latest and most ultra form of Helix is a base oil produced from natural gas instead of crude oil. What this means for Joe Consumer at the other end is that when they turn the key, they’ll be enjoying an oil that provides better protection for their engine, enhances cleansing capabilities, and, somewhat subsequently, greater efficiency. Let us explain.

Dick Johnson, Penske Racing, and Ferrari are three of international motorsport’s most renowned entities — and all three share a common long-term connection with Shell. It’s these kinds of associations that let you know that Shell’s a company that means business when it comes to rolling out new technologies, often perfecting them in the realm of competitive motorsport before taking them to the streets. And the case for the new Shell Helix Ultra and its PurePlus technology is no different.

PurePlus technology utilizes a gas-to-liquid (GTL) process that Shell have developed and honed over the last 40 years. Through the process, natural gas is converted into a crystal-clear base oil, with none of the impurities that you’d find in any kind of crude oil. The base oil is one of the key ingredients of the final product, making this technological advance a bit of a coup for the Shell organization.

Among those who use Shell Helix Ultra is a man named Dave Salters. Like most, Dave has two arms, two legs, and two eyes — among many other features. But unlike most, Dave is the head of the Ferrari Formula 1 team’s engine department. Here’s what he has to say about the Shell’s PurePlus technology: “There has been a dedicated and successful development programme to develop a Formula 1 oil based on Shell PurePlus technology that has provided a good step in engine efficiency, whilst maintaining the protection necessary in this type of very highly loaded Formula 1 engine.

“With Shell’s development team we are working together very aggressively to develop and introduce new technologies in both the oil and fuel to improve the efficiency and fuel consumption of the power unit. The current regulation and engine architecture reward these types of efficiency gains that have been developed with this advanced oil technology.”

The forces that a Formula 1 engine is made to endure cannot be underestimated. Even with the race field downscaling to V6 power plants in recent years, those forces are still through the roof. Ferrari’s SF15-T unit for example produces more than 600hp, with its turbocharger rotating at 2000 revs per second, and subsequent temperatures operating at a balmy 1000C. New regulations pushing Formula 1 teams to restrict the amount of engines they churn through in a season to a mere four per driver only maximizes the need for products like Shell Helix Ultra.

So it raises the point: if it’s good enough for one of the most decorated teams in Formula 1, then it’s probably good enough for your piece parked in the garage. You can grab your bottle of Shell Helix Ultra from Z, Repco, Supercheap Auto, and Blackwoods Protector outlets nationwide.

For the full list of stockists, and more information on Shell, visit them online at shelllubricants.co.nz.

NZ Classic Car magazine, July/August 2026 issue 406, on sale now

21 June, 2026

Rebirth of a brilliant Grand Tourer –1973 Datsun 240Z
How often do we long for that ultimate dream sports car, and that dream comes true? This is about one of the most influential Japanese cars of all time, a car that changed the sports car market.
This is about much more than the restoration of an iconic classic sports car, the 240Z. It’s about the culmination of a dream over many years and the friendships made. It’s about the people who helped and the professionals whose approach ensured that the dream became a reality, an attitude typical of the industry we call ‘classic restoration experts’.
It is no surprise that the outcome after a lengthy search by Conrad Van der Geest for the right Datsun 240Z culminated in a trophy for the best Japanese car at this year’s Caroline Bay Beach, Rock N’ Hop at Timaru.
Originally a roadworthy car in running order, it was left-hand-drive and had been driven for several years by its Timaru owner, as Conrad explains.
“A neighbour, Dave Barron, knew I was looking for one and introduced me to the owner. I had seen the car being driven around Timaru. It was unusual for one of these coming originally from California, so it was a really clean car instead of rusty, as they are prone to rust. The story goes that the grandfather passed it onto his grandson, who decided to sell it, and that’s when it came over here.”
Every issue comes with our FREE huge wall poster; this issue, it’s our cover car for this edition, a 1973 Datsun 240Z

The butterfly effect

18 June, 2026

The man on the mountain bike pedalled over, taking it all in. Gazing in wonderment at this small Japanese coupe with butterfly doors, he said, “Wow, I have never seen one of these before. What is it?” When I told him it was a Toyota, he nearly fell off his bike.
The Toyota Sera is unique amongst ’90s Japanese coupes. The Sera, which is Italian for ‘evening’, can trace its roots back to Toyota’s AXV-II concept car. Launched as part of a trio of Toyota concept cars at the 1987 Tokyo Motor Show, it shared its underpinnings with the P70 Toyota Starlet. The similarities ended there, thanks to the AXV-II’s low-slung and rounded coupe styling with butterfly doors. These doors were held upright by gas struts when fully open. Glass covered the upper section of the doors and the rear hatchback.
These features, much to everyone’s surprise, were carried over to the production Sera in 1990. Toyota marketed the Sera, which means ‘will be’ in Spanish and ‘princess’ in Hebrew, as a funky alternative to the much-loved MR2.