Do you know why approvals and specifications are so important in the lubricant industry?
Read this blog to upgrade your knowledge on approvals and specifications!
- AN APPROVAL IS A PROOF OF QUALITY
A lubricant blender can claim that its product meets a specification when it has proven to meet certain requirements. These requirements cover all the protective properties deemed vital by the manufacturer of the lubricated parts. If a blender wants to get one of their oils officially OEM approved, they have to do more than just pass a number of benchmarks. Often, manufacturers set additional rules concerning the formula or the production process of lubricants, after which the oils have to go through an expensive and rigorous testing procedure. Oil that carries an approval has made it through these tests, allowing you the certainty that you are offering the highest service level by using top-quality lubricants. A great product example would be our OFFICIALTECH 5W30 C3. This outstanding engine oil has obtained 7 different OEM approvals of 4 different manufacturers.
- JUST VISCOSITY IS NOT ENOUGH
Poorly informed workshop owners often pick the engine oil for the car on their bridge by solely looking at the viscosity. Unfortunately, the viscosity grade only cannot guarantee the much-desired benefits! Specifications set by manufacturers include viscosity grades, but they also cover additional necessary protective properties. This range of requirements enables the manufacturers to give accurate advice on which oil you should use to protect each part optimally.
- ACEA AND API DO NOT MEET THE LATEST TECHNOLOGIES
A workshop owner who only looks at the ACEA and API oil categories will encounter problems during his daily oil change routines. As a matter of fact, these categories are excellent indicators of an oil’s lubricating capacities, but they are not capable of covering all of the required protective properties set by the original equipment manufacturers. Our WOLF OFFICIALTECH 0W20 MS-MFE is a great example of this. Some of the most advanced Mercedes-Benz engines rely on a product that meets the 229.71 specification, and this product has an approval for it on top! This oil is also categorised as an ACEA C5-16 engine oil, meaning that it always meets the highest requirements of both this ACEA category and the MB 229.71 specification. You cannot use any ACEA C5-16 oil to service an engine with the MB 229.71 specification. Only the WOLF OFFICIALTECH 0W20 MS-MFE is the appropriate engine oil.
ACEA C5-16 versus MB 229.71 approved WOLF OFFICIALTECH 0W20 MS-MFE
ACEA: C5-16 — MB 229.71 approved WOLF OFFICIALTECH 0W20 MS-MFE
Soot thickening
- PROTECTING THE LATEST TECHNOLOGIES
New engine designs come with new needs, often pushing the requirements of engine oil specifications further than ever. A great example of this is the introduction of high-performance GDI (Gasoline Direct Injection) engines. These engines offer excellent fuel economy benefits, but they also come with a dark side. When serviced with the wrong engine oil, they may misfire (LSPI) and break down completely. The only way to protect this very recent engine technology is by using an oil that offers specific LSPI resistance. Recently we have added several new API SN Plus engine oils to the Wolf range. This category covers the needs of LSPI sensitive GDI engines, allowing our API SN Plus engine oils to become an indispensable addition to each garage that wants to offer the best service.
Wolf’s ambition to enable each workshop to offer the best service has sparked the development of our range that covers a significant amount of specifications. This range is so vast that it includes most fluids for passenger cars, trucks, busses, small boats… You can find the approvals and specifications of each product on its dedicated product webpage or on the TDS.
It is our goal to make it easier for each of our customers to find the best oil for the next car on their bridge, which is why we have developed our product finder tool. Just select a car and you will get a clear report on which lubricants you can use. This intelligent system achieves this by comparing the specifications of your car with the specifications of our products, enabling you to always find the exact right lubricant.
