International standards that are claimed to be met in the specifications of this brand of oil. In modern oil brands, the following options may be found:
— API — standard developed in the USA by the American Petroleum Institute. It provides for two separate classifications — for gasoline (
API SG,
SH,
SJ,
SL,
SM,
SN,
SN RC,
SN Plus,
SN Plus RC,
SP,
SP RC,
SP Plus),
SQ and for diesel engines (
API CI-4,
CH-4,
CG-4,
CF,
CE,
CD); in the first case, the standard designation starts with the letter S (for example, API SL), in the second with C (for example, API CI-4). If the oil is suitable for both types of engines, a dual designation is used — for example, API SL/CI-4; in this case, the index of the type for which the oil is best suited is placed first (in our example it's gasoline)
.... The standard also includes a classification for two-stroke engines — TA, TB, TC, TC+, TD.
— ACEA — standard used by the European Automobile Manufacturers Association, alternative to the American API. It includes three classes:
A/B — all oils developed before 2004 for different engine types. In fact, before 2004, there were two classes here — A for gasoline engines and B for diesel; then they were combined (A1/B1, A3/B3, A3/B4 and A5/B5). However, separate designations may still be used.
C — oils for all types of engines that comply with the Euro-4 environmental standard and are compatible with additional equipment such as catalysts and particulate filters. They include APEA C1, C2, C3, C4 and C5.
E — a separate class for diesel engines of heavy machinery, including special equipment. They are marked with APEA E4, E6, E7 and E9.
— JASO — developed by the Japanese Automobile Standards Association. It is one of the main modern standards for oils for gasoline motorcycle engines and within this purpose has two classes — F for two-stroke engines, namely FA, FB, FC, FD and M for four-stroke (subclass MA for wet clutch MA-1 and MA-2, MB for dry clutch). Also the new approval GLV-1 for ultra-efficient gasoline engines and hybrid power units.
— ILSAC — standard created jointly by the American and Japanese Automobile Manufacturers Associations. It is used for oils designed for passenger cars with gasoline engines. There are five categories of ILSAC (GF-2, GF-3, GF-4, GF-5, GF-6A, GF-6B, GF-7A, GF-7B), they are generally similar to certain API categories (see above), but differ in increased energy-saving requirements and emission limitations.
A list of specific oil standards recommended by the manufacturer for a particular engine is usually indicated in the official specifications of the vehicle. Note that many standards are interchangeable; information on compatibility (as well as a description of each individual category) can be found in specialized sources.Tolerance can be described as an individual automaker's own standard, developed for a specific engine or engine line. It includes all the requirements that an oil must meet in order to be optimally suited for a particular engine. The list of these requirements is much wider than in generally accepted standards (see above). This is due to the fact that many of the manufacturer's developments applied in the motor and affecting the requirements for oil are still too specific and cannot be included in the general rules (and some cannot be taken into account also because they are classified information) . Many famous car brands have their approvals (
BMW,
Fiat,
Ford,
MAN,
Mercedes-Benz,
Opel,
Renault,
Peugeot and Citroen,
Volvo and
VW concern); to obtain approval, each brand of oil undergoes very rigorous tests, and only after them does it receive the right to indicate information on compliance on the packaging.
This information, of course, is not necessarily indicated for all car models. However, if the tolerance data is in the official specifications of your car, the search for the right brand of oil is gr
...eatly simplified — the compliance of the oil with this tolerance automatically guarantees optimal compatibility with the car. In other words, instead of specifying a whole set of parameters (appointment, viscosity, etc.), it will be enough to make sure that there is a tolerance.
