ILMA Compoundings - February 2020 - 29

The development of new tests for industry
specifications - both ILSAC GF-6 and ACEA in
Europe - has consumed a huge amount of
industry resources and has contributed to the
delay in their introduction.

By Jeff Thompson
measure real-world issues and mimic
real-world conditions.
QUESTION 2: WHAT TOOK IT
SO LONG?
ILSAC GF-6 was requested in 2012,
and at the time, the launch was
scheduled for 2016. However, this has
been a very complex process, which
has involved the replacement of four
engine tests and the introduction of
three new ones - a record amount of
change for any category development.
Delays have occurred in test readiness
due to multiple part changes, shifts in
severity during development and the
complexity of test procedure creation
and standardization. In addition, in
the modern engines used for the development of engine tests, the hardware

and engine control management interaction is much more complex, which
means decoupling them to create the
engine test was a key step.
Industry has worked hard to finalize
everything, and the specification has
been approved with first allowable use
date set for May 1. The development
of new tests for industry specifications
- both ILSAC GF-6 and ACEA
in Europe - has consumed a huge
amount of industry resources and has
contributed to the delay in their introduction. All stakeholders are keen for
an improved oil category development
process to reduce complexity, time
and funding. The American Petroleum
Institute (API) is currently sponsoring
the Lubricants Specification Development Review Group to investigate
changes in these processes.
QUESTION 3: WHAT DOES ILSAC
GF-6 DELIVER OVER GF-5 AND API
SN PLUS?
ILSAC GF-5, introduced in 2010,
was designed to provide a number of
performance enhancements over GF-4
in areas including high-temperature
deposit protection, fuel economy,
aftertreatment and seals compatibility,
sludge control, and to protect engines
using ethanol up to E85.
API SN PLUS was introduced on
May 1, 2019, as a stopgap, due to the
delays in the development of ILSAC
GF-6. It came as a result of requests
from OEMs for a supplement to the
SN category to ensure the adequate
protection of current vehicles for a
potential problem that was not being
addressed fast enough. It introduced the
Sequence IX test to enhance low-speed

pre-ignition (LSPI) protection and often
shifted engine oil formulations to a more
magnesium-rich detergent system with
less calcium detergent.
ILSAC GF-6 looks to include those
improvements for LSPI protection,
but also adds other performance
improvements. By including new
limits and new tests, it delivers
improved deposits, wear and efficiency
as OEMs push the engine design
envelope for performance, longevity
and fuel economy. The new category
also addresses two specific operational
issues by providing LSPI protection
(consistent with API SN PLUS) and a
newly added element of timing chain
wear protection. On top of better
fuel economy across today's ILSAC
viscosity grades, ILSAC GF-6 establishes a specification that now enables
lower-viscosity SAE 0W-16 oils to be
introduced to support fuel-economy
improvement with an ILSAC certification mark.
QUESTION 4: WHY ARE THERE
TWO CATEGORIES FOR ILSAC
GF-6, AND WHAT ARE THE MAIN
DIFFERENCES?
The use of lower-viscosity engine
oils is one way to help reduce fuel
usage in passenger cars. However, it
is essential that these thinner oils also
deliver engine durability and that we
avoid the misapplication of these oils
in vehicles not designed for such low
viscosities.
To enable OEMs to introduce oils
with viscosity grades of less than SAE
0W-20, ILSAC has proposed GF-6
as two separate subcategories: ILSAC
GF-6A and ILSAC GF-6B. The latter

29
ILMA Compoundings - February 2020

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