The number of cars on the road—and coming through service shops worldwide—utilizing turbocharged gasoline direct injection (TGDI) engines continues to increase.

We’ve written on this subject recently, highlighting the importance of choosing API SN Plus lubricants to ensure protection in TGDI engines against low speed pre-ignition (LSPI). But this most recent, important modification to engine oil certification is just one step in a process of continuous evolution and improvement.

It’s been a long time since Americans have gotten around in Model Ts. Just the same, the cars we drive in the future, and the engines that power them, will be different. TGDI has emerged as one of the most reliable ways to enhance fuel efficiency in today’s common passenger cars, but automakers won’t simply stop here—they’ll continue developing engines to meet continuously evolving global emissions standards.

As engines evolve, so must the technology that allows them to meet their full potential. And the case of API SN Plus and LSPI prevention teaches us a valuable lesson about the necessity of engine oil performance that meets the needs of evolving engines. Without a lubricant-based solution to LSPI, automakers might have been forced back to the drawing board to eliminate the issue based in hardware engineering.

But eliminating the issue at the source, based on our current understanding of LSPI, would have sacrificed some of the efficiency that TGDI engines are intended to provide. Thus, a lubricant-based solution offered the best possible outcome for a real and challenging field issue.

For the automotive industry at large, it’s important that we recognize this relationship and see API SN Plus as an important step forward. Tomorrow, it may be a new technology. Stop/start systems have shown promise in reducing emissions and improving efficiency and have gained traction in locations throughout the globe. Hybrid vehicles have gained increasing acceptance. For fleets, vehicle automation may have unforeseen implications for how we operate and service vehicles.

All stakeholders must understand the role that modern engine oils play in enabling modern engine technology. The reliability of our vehicles depends on it, from the everyday passenger car to major fleets working in locations throughout the world.  Education at every level ensures that new engines are serviced with the right lubricants.

Our view:

Getting the most from modern engine equipment depends on choosing the right engine oils, now and in the future.

It’s the responsibility of the industry as a whole—from OEMs to oil marketers to the shops and service centers where everyday drivers purchase lubricants—to stay educated on how engines and lubricants can continue to evolve in tandem, and to advance that message in the market place. Now, and in the future.

For more information on the lubricant market, please contact your Lubrizol representative