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The types of oil

There is oil and oil, get to know the difference

There are three main types of oil :

• mineral
• semi-synthetic
• synthetic
   The latter being destined for high performance engines.

Synthetic oils contain a mixture of fluid and additives suited to the harshest conditions and work at very high temperatures and pressures, at which conventional mineral oils would lose their efficiency.
So, synthetic oils are capable of high efficiency over a much wider range of uses. Generally speaking, the higher the performance of the oil, the more additives it contains (anti-wear, anti-oxidants, detergents…).

How to choose your oil ?

 Don't put in your engine the oil you use for the chip pan…

At first it is difficult to find your way through the combinations of letters and figures. In fact, the first number represents the cold viscosity (preferably the oil should be fluid when cold, in order to perform its function as soon as possible); the second number is the viscosity when hot. The ambient temperature and your engine speeds are the criteria when choosing the best viscosity indices.

We do not recommend, for the sake of saving a few pennies, using cheap car engine oil when changing your motorcycle engine oil.
These two types of engine use very different technologies (the motorcycle oil is also used to lubricate the gearbox) and engine speeds are quite different.
Where a basic motorcycle which engine design is some 20 years old can happily use Elf Moto Super 4 ST* oil, a latest generation superbike will prefer Elf Moto 4 XT Tech*.

Standards

A puzzle ? Not that much…

The way oils are classified depends on the standard being used; there is no universal standard.
The most well-known is certainly the SAE (American, Society of Automotive Engineers); this uses the viscosity indices (example: 10W40), whereas the API standard (American Petroleum Institute) classifies the oils in relation to their quality (for a petrol engine, they are given the letter S, followed by another letter; the further it is down the alphabet… the better the oil).

Europe is also trying to impose its standards.
There was the CCMC standard (commission des constructeurs du marché commun – common market manufacturers' commission) for a time, which proposed an index from 1 to 5, the latter being the best.

There is now the ACEA standard (Association des Constructeurs Européens d'Automobiles – Association of European Automobile Manufacturers), which uses the same principle, but which uses the letter A (for fuel saving qualities) and B (for oil deterioration).

So we find ACEA A2-B4 oils, for example. Finally, in Japan, the strict JASO standard (Japanese Automobile Standards Organisation) takes into consideration emission levels and the quality of lubrication.

• http://www.sae.org/servlets/index
• http://www.performanceoiltechnology.com/saeviscosityclassificationsandmanf.requirements.htm
• http://www.performanceoiltechnology.com/ilsacandgfoils.htm

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