Ford has developed a new 'bespoke' lubricants specification designed to work with its European EcoBoost engine.
Ford's 1.0 litre EcoBoost engine Image: Ford Europe |
Although not at secret, the lubes spec - named WSS M2C948 B - has been developed with the car giant's preferred lubes provider, Castrol, and went live in January this year. The standard gained a wider audience when it was presented by Ford at the ICIS World Base Oils and Lubricants Conference in London at the end of February.
Reported by Lube Report's Lisa Tocci, details of the new specification are for a SAE 5W-20 viscosity multigrade, designed specifically to work with Ford's ultra-economical one litre, three-cylinder, turbocharged EcoBoost engine.
The company designed the new specification, based around ACEA's C2 oil sequence, because it felt that existing test sequences - including those that form part of the US GF-5 engine oil standard - didn't adequately match the characteristics of the high-tech, but extremely compact, EcoBoost unit. The new lubricant also needed to deliver a 0.9% reduction in fuel consumption over existing OEM 5W-20 oils as well as being backward compatible with other Ford engines.
The resulting research produced Castrol Magnatec Professional E 5W-20 with change intervals currently at 20,000km or one year, although this may be extended by a further 10,000km. While Castrol may be Ford's supplier of choice, the car maker recognises that European law means any brand of oil meeting the new specification may be used in Ford of Europe vehicles without affecting warranty.