Optimized Lubricants for Turbocharged Passenger Car Engines

The adoption of exhaust turbocharging to boost automobile engine performance is increasing. Many leading automobile manufacturers now offer or are developing turbocharged versions of their standard models. However, turbocharging an engine imposes specific thermal stresses on the lubricant that can influence both turbocharger life and lubricant service life.

After quantifying these thermal effects, screening tests have been devised to reproduce service conditions in the laboratory by which lubricant base fluids, additive components, and viscosity index improvers have been appraised and fully formulated oils evaluated.

It has been demonstated that, by exploiting the properties of the lubricant components and their synergisms, lubricating oils can be formulated to meet the needs of high-performance passenger cars with added benefits for turbo-charger life.