API and ILSAC Standards 2020 – Why to Switch to New Oils?

On 1 May 2020, the International Lubricants Standardization and Approval Committee introduced new gasoline engine oil standards ILSAC GF-6A, GF-6B and API SP. How important is this for a private car owner whose car is already on the road and was designed and produced when there was no API SP?

Take, for example, the recent ILSAC GF-5 standard, which is still valid. For the end user, the difference between ILSAC GF-5 and the obsolete ILSAC GF-4 is in some fuel economy. One might think that something similar is happening this time: a bit of saving, a bit of ecology - in other words, new oils are for cars that will be produced “sometime later” in 2021 and beyond. However, the current situation calling for a classification change is significantly different from a decade ago. On the one hand, some important changes have taken place in the world of engine production over the past period, including a massive return from the timing belt to a chain drive, increased compression ratio in internal combustion engines, the widespread use of turbochargers and direct fuel injection in mass-market vehicles, and a general tendency to decrease the engine capacity while improving power output. And on the other hand, the new viscosity class oils (xW-16 and below) that have recently appeared are not included in the current ILSAC GF-5 standard. Those significant changes in the automotive world necessitated the introduction in 2018 of the so-called “interim” API SN Plus specification in order to bring the oil quality standards on a par with the global motor industry. The key feature in SN Plus, in our opinion, is the “preventive action to reduce / eliminate Low-Speed Pre-Ignition LSPI concerns” - a phenomenon faced by manufacturers of Turbocharged Gasoline Direct Injection (TGDI) engines.

Introduced in May of this year, the API and ILSAC standards represent the latest performance requirements for gasoline engine oils, including the new ultra-low viscosity oils. The new class products can be used instead of API SN Plus and SN class oils.

The main differences between the new ILSAC GF-6A/B standards and ILSAC GF-5 are as follows:

1) engine protection from uncontrolled pre-ignition of the air-fuel mixture (Low Speed Pre-Ignition or LSPI),

2) protection of timing chain from wear and stretching,

3) prevention of high-temperature deposits on pistons and in the turbocharger,

4) reduced sludge and varnish formation.

The API SP standard was supplemented with the requirements to reduce the amount of high-temperature deposits in turbocharged engines, to increase fuel efficiency and to improve compatibility with exhaust gas aftertreatment systems, and the possibility to use bioethanol E85 fuel.

With this said, if your car was released before 2013 and has the engine:

- that uses gasoline or bioethanol fuel,

- equipped with a direct fuel injection system and / or turbocharger,

- has a timing chain,

- designed to work on ILSAC GF-5 oils or ultra-low viscosity oils (xW-16 and below),

then it makes sense for you to look closely at lubricants of the latest standards, such as MJ-P01. MITASU GOLD Plus SP 5W-30 ILSAC GF-6A 100% Synthetic and MJ-P02. MITASU GOLD Plus SP 0W-20 ILSAC GF-6A 100% Synthetic. The new series of MITASU GOLD Plus SP 100% Synthetic oils retained all the advantages of the previous MITASU GOLD SN 100% Synthetic series plus provide a qualitatively new level of protection for the most modern engines manufactured in East Asia, US and Europe.

MITASU - quality. Always.