Infineum says it’s first in offering a diverse additive portfolio that meets ACEA C5-16 requirements

Infineum announced that it is the first additive company to develop a diverse portfolio that meets the requirements of the new ACEA C5-16 category.

“Infineum has a track record of being the first additive company to develop a diverse portfolio of mid SAPS products in low viscosity grades and is now leading the way in addressing the requirements of the new ACEA C5-16 category,” the company said in a statement.

In recent years, with OEMs actively seeking after-treatment compatible lubricants capable of delivering fuel economy (FE) improvements, some OEMs developed in-house specifications well before the long awaited ACEA C5-16 category was introduced in December 2016. The majority of these OEM in-house specifications are compatible with ACEA C5-16, which now defines a common industry basis for after-treatment compatible engine oils with HTHS viscosity ranging from 2.6 to < 2.9 mPa·s.

Compared to the corresponding mid SAPS categories ACEA C3-16 (3.5 HTHS) and ACEA C2-16 (2.9 HTHS), ACEA C5-16 has the same durability requirements as ACEA C3-16, but has marginally higher requirements on some test parameters than ACEA C2-16.

Infineum already offers a wide range of products carrying many OEM claims focusing on fuel economy. These products are formulated using Infineum’s unique salicylate detergent technology, SV viscosity modifiers and other proprietary components. ACEA C5-16 is a natural additional claim for these Infineum mid SAPS FE products, ranging from SAE 5W-20 to 0W-20 viscosity grades with HTHS viscosity as low as 2.6 mPa·s, the company said.

In terms of the M111 FE test, ACEA C5-16 has a requirement set at 3.0% which is 0.5% higher than C2-16 at 2.5% and significantly higher than C3-16 at 1.0%. When setting the FE limit, ACEA took into account that the M111 is an engine from the early 1990s and not necessarily representative of the modern hardware, which is meant to be lubricated by ACEA C5-16 engine oils.

“Ultimately the objective of ACEA C5-16 is to provide a framework for product developers to design lubricants that deliver the required fuel economy improvements without impacting durability, taking into consideration the additional durability challenge in a low HTHS environment,” said Bruce Royan, Infineum lubricants business manager.

“Delivering a 0.5% fuel economy credit to the whole applicable fleet of ACEA automotive manufacturers would represent a substantial achievement, but Infineum ACEA C5-16 compliant products go that step further and are designed to provide significantly higher fuel economy gains when tested in the applicable OEM in-house tests on state of the art hardware.”