Lube-Tech PUBLISHED BY LUBE: THE EUROPEAN LUBRICANTS INDUSTRY MAGAZINE


No.158 page 1


Evaluation of engine oils: ‘suitable for use’ versus OEM-approved standards – Analysing quality, validation processes, and reliability


Damien Browne, Product Manager, and David Growney, Senior Scientist, Lubrizol


Introduction Engine oils are the lifeblood of modern engines and ensuring their quality is critical for reliability and longevity. In the lubricant industry, a distinction has emerged between engine oils that are “Suitable for Use” (SFU), typically meaning the product claims to meet certain specifications without formal approvals and those that carry explicit European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) or Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) approvals.


As indicated in Table 1, the terms ‘Recommended For,’ ‘Meets Requirements Of,’ and ‘Suitable For Use’ do not fully guarantee that the engine oil has undergone testing to a specific approval level, potentially posing performance risks. These terms vary, necessitating the oil marketer to assess the performance of their formulations. In contrast, OEM-approved oils have their performance validated by the OEM.


Table 1: Understanding the terminology used within the industry for engine oils.


Figure 1: Is engine oil testing and OEM approval necessary? The image illustrates a comparison between pistons from an engine test conducted at Lubrizol’s test facility. The piston on the left was tested with an SFU engine oil, which failed at 23 hours, while the piston on the right used an OEM-approved engine oil, successfully completing the full test at 96 hours. This image is owned and protected by Lubrizol.


Lubrizol has examined some of the European landscape for SFU lubricants versus OEM-approved lubricants, reviewing the potential performance gap between the two product standards. Whilst work remains ongoing,


LUBE MAGAZINE NO.187 JUNE 2025 33


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