"energy conserving" designation ?????

[Chris_H]

been paying more attention to oils and i have noticed that only about 60% of oils carry the "energy conserving" designation and that most that dont are high mileage oils.

whats the difference in "energy conserving" oils?

Or to put it another way how is the "energy conserving" specification changing the formula's?

 

[OilGuy]

Energy conserving is a test hurdle that certifies slightly better fuel economy than non-energy conserving oils. Indeed most HM oils fail to have this, but not all HM oils (Mobil Clean HM is energy conserving).

 

[SAM1]

So is Supertech HM... Energy Conserving as well.
Does anyone know how Supertech and Mobil have overcome this hurdle while still maintaining a HM oil?

 

[TallPaul]

Often, if not always energy conserving cert is acheived by use of VII that suffers temporary viscosity collapse in the bearings. This was a problem of early VIIs that was solved then brought back for advantage in helping reduce manufacturer CAFE fines. I would avoid energy conserving and go with a high mileage oil as HM is generally more robust.

 

[Vilan]

An oil can be labelled energy conserving if it gets... 1%? 2%? I forget which... better gas mileage than the API reference oil, which I believe is a thickish 10W30.

Regular oils in the 5W20/5W30/10W30 range are generally made fairly thin so they can get the conservation star. High mileage oils are usually made thicker so they don't get it, but a few companies make them on the thin side. Anything 10W40 or higher is basically never going to make it.

 

[TallPaul]

Hmmm, I thought I read that the EC reference oil was a synthetic 5w30.

 

[Bryanccfshr]

http://www.swri.org/4org/d08/Abstracts/GasEng.pdf.


Go to Page 11 of this pdf to see what the fuel economy test consist of.

Specifications
API category SL/SM and ILSAC GF-3/GF-4.
Objective
The objective of this procedure is to measure the
effects of automotive engine oils on the fuel
economy of passenger cars and light-duty (3856 kg,
8500 lb or less gross vehicle weight) trucks
equipped with a “low-friction” engine.
Procedure fixture
A 1993 4.6-liter Ford “modular” V-8 gasoline engine
equipped with an external oil heating/cooling system
and a “flying flush” system for changing oils without
an engine shutdown is used for this procedure.
Procedure parameters
Fuel consumption is measured at each of five
speed/load/temperature procedure conditions for an
SAE 5W-30 baseline oil (BC). The candidate oil is
then introduced and aged for 16 hours at Aging
Phase I conditions and fuel consumption is then
measured for each of the five procedure conditions.
The candidate oil remains in the engine and is aged
for 80 hours at Aging Phase II conditions. Then fuel
consumption is measured for each of the five
procedure conditions, followed by a repeat of the
baseline (BC) oil at the five procedure conditions.

The BC oil is a a PAO synthetic oil from what I have read here in the distant past.

 

[Bryanccfshr]

Forgot..
Pass/fail criteria for ILSAC GF-4 and API SM
(Minimum %FEI vs ASTM BC)
SAE 0W-20 and 5W-20 viscosity grades:
2.3% minimum after 16 hours aging (Phase I FEI)
2.0% minimum after 96 hours aging (Phase II FEI)
SAE OW-30 and 5W-30 viscosity grades:
1.8% minimum after 16 hours aging (Phase I FEI)
1.5% minimum after 96 hours aging (Phase II FEI)
All other SAE viscosity grades:
1.1% minimum after 16 hours aging (Phase I FEI)
0.8% minimum after 96 hours aging (Phase II FEI)