Top 1 Oil

LPG – a fuel of the future?

admin — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 00:57:44 +0000

Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) is becoming an increasingly more popular form of fuel for automobiles because it burns so much cleaner than petrol or diesel. It is by far the most widely available, environmentally friendly alternative to conventional petrol gasoline. Even though LPG does have a lower energy density than either petrol or diesel, making equivalent fuel consumption higher, LPG is still a cheaper alternative because fuel prices have become so outrageous. However, most vehicles are not inherently equipped properly for LPG use because LPG provides less upper cylinder lubrication than petrol or diesel. Thus, LPG fueled engines are more prone to wear if not suitably modified.

Once automobiles are fit to handle LPG, engine wear is significantly reduced! This is because, due to the chemical makeup of LPG, corrosive acids and carbon deposits are virtually absent in LPG. Both of these harmful combustion products are present in diesel and petrol, and this makes engine oil work harder in diesel and petrol fueled engines. Engine oil is needed to lubricate the engine, cool the cylinder head, and carry away carbon deposits. If there are no carbon deposits for the engine oil to carry away, as is the case in LPG engines, the engine oil can work harder at lubricating the engine, and thus, reduce engine wear.

TOP 1 Oil Evolution fully synthetic PCMO products will provide ultimate protection for engines that run on LPG. Always be sure to use motor oil with the viscosity that your OEM recommends.

Low Viscosity Motor Oils Are Here To Stay!

admin — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 23:35:24 +0000

As petroleum resources continue to be used at astounding rates, the use of lighter viscosity motor oils has become a necessity in the automobile industry. The American Petroleum Institute (API) now calls low viscosity oils that meet their latest API SN designation as “Resource Conserving.” European OEMs like BMW and Mercedes-Benz only recommend using 5W-30 or 5W-40 viscosity motor oils, and other OEMs like Ford and Honda now tell consumers that 5W-20 or fully synthetic 0W-20 motor oils make their vehicles’ engines operate best.

Compared to high viscosity motor oils like 20W-50s, low viscosity motor oils maximize energy efficiency for improved fuel economy. Although thicker oils do have the inherent capability to provide better anti-wear protection for the engine, the robust additive package technology that is now available offsets any of the anti-wear advantages thick oils provide. These additive packages are now fortified with additives called anti-wear agents that repress the oxidation of metal inside an engine. Also, the light viscosity properties of these motor oils reduce drag, which has important friction reducing consequences that help to reduce engine wear anyways.

Many Factors Involved in your Oil Change Interval

admin — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 21:48:28 +0000

It is important to always first refer to your automobile’s owner’s manual and follow the oil change interval guidelines outlined in it.

Lubricant suppliers should not offer engine oil service interval recommendations only on the strength and reputation of their engine oils, but should always provide customers with the right information so that they can make safe decisions regarding engine oil change intervals. When determining the correct oil change interval for your automobile, it is absolutely necessary to take other factors into account besides the quality of your motor oil.

In addition to knowing what your automobile manufacturer recommends, it is crucial to know the make and model of your engine, the oil capacity of your engine, the maintenance level of your automobile, your engine’s operating conditions, the quality of your oil filter, and the analysis of your oil. Without considering these other factors, you may be setting yourself up for engine problems down the road.

In addition to all of these factors, it is of course important to know the quality of your motor oil.

TOP 1 Evolution OEM Series products will always be able to go the full mileage or time frame recommended by the vehicle manufacturer. TOP 1 Evolution OEM Series products are especially suitable for the latest vehicles with extended drain intervals, up to 15,000 miles.

Oil change intervals vary for different types of cars. Some new cars can last as long as 15,000 miles before an oil change is necessary, while other cars require an oil change after only 3,000 miles. Once again, we recommend that you follow the oil change interval guidelines in your automobile’s owner’s manual.

Ack Attack in Guinness Book of World Records!

admin — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 20:20:08 +0000

WE DID IT!!! The TOP 1 Oil Ack Attack is featured on pages 172-173 inside the 2012 edition of the Guinness Book of World Records. In the book the excerpt reads: “On September 25, 2010, Rocky Robinson (USA) achieved an average speed of 376.693 mi/h (605.697 km/h) in his Top Oil-Ack Attack streamliner over a measured kilometer (0.6 miles) at Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah, USA.”

The TOP 1 Oil Ack Attack, designed by Mr. Mike Akatiff, is the fastest motorcycle in the world!

New JASO 4T Motorcycle Engine Oil Standard

admin — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 19:09:06 +0000

Because Japan has been and continues to be the premier motorcycle manufacturing country, the Japanese Standards Organization (JASO) has led development of four-stroke (4T) motorcycle oil standards.

The three major requirements of JASO’s 4T motorcycle oil specification, introduced in 1999, are physical properties, engine performance, and clutch friction performance. JASO MA is the category for high clutch friction oils and JASO MB is for low friction oils. In 2006, JASO revised the 4T specification by raising acceptable oil quality levels, segregating JASO MA into JASO MA1 and JASO MA2, and introducing phosphorus limits.

Recently, the JASO standard has been updated again. Yoshinnobu Yashiro from Yamaha Motor Co. Ltd. who is Chairman of the JASO Motorcycle Oil Working Group describes the key changes that needed to be made: “We needed to update the JASO 4T specification to introduce new friction plates and reference oils for the clutch friction test because the existing materials were no longer available. However, we wanted to keep a level of consistency with the existing 2006 specification in terms of testing severity, test oil performance discrimination and classification ability.”

Gear pitting is an important parameter for motorcycle oils, particularly as oil viscosities decrease in order to offer fuel economy performance. As Yashiro-san explains, “Gear pitting is one of the biggest differences between motorcycles and passenger cars. Motorcycle engine oils demand anti-gear pitting performance as they lubricate the engine and the gears. As the viscosity of passenger car motor oils falls we naturally want to set up a criterion for gear pitting performance for motorcycle applications to ensure the oil is fit for purpose.” Though Yashiro-san had hoped a gear pitting test would be included in the most recent update, he said a gear pitting test was not included because “we noted that oils are not the sole cause of gear pitting – engines and gears can also influence this phenomenon. That makes it quite difficult to develop a test which can evaluate the gear pitting performance of the oil alone while establishing any correlation with field or engine test performance.”

“Recently, Yamaha has been putting more focus on High Temperature High Shear viscosity (HTHS) and we are using this when evaluating oil performance for engine durability, including gear pitting. MCO HTS viscosity is not being lowered as much as that of passenger car engine oils, where HTHS needs to be 2.6 or higher” Yashiro-san said. “We knew that returning to a 2.9 HTHS oil would improve the engine durability, but we decided to continue our races without encountering any critical problems.”

How to Distinguish Between Mineral and Synthetic Oil

admin — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 23:02:18 +0000

The only definite way to distinguish between mineral and synthetic oils is in the laboratory. Laboratory tests can distinguish synthetics from mineral oil by looking at a combination of physical properties including VI, flash point, pour point, and aniline point. There also may be different elemental chemistry.

Unfortunately, color is not a way to distinguish between the two types of lubricants. Because mineral base oils are less refined than synthetic base oils, mineral base oils contain more aromatics, sulfur, and other impurities. These impurities tend to give mineral oils a darker natural color than synthetic base oils, which are nearly transparent. Though this may be a distinguishing factor for base oils, additives can considerably darken the motor oil once they are incorporated into the finished product. Therefore, unfortunately, there is no reliable way of differentiating between mineral and synthetic motor oils in the field.

One prime example is the VX-12 additive technology included in TOP 1 Oil HP Plus. VX-12 utilizes tri-moly molecules, which are metallic and very dark. Therefore, even though HP Plus uses a synthetic-blend base oil that is nearly transparent, the VX-12 additive package gives the finished HP-Plus product a dark color.

The final way to distinguish between mineral and synthetic oils is to put them to the test of time. Over any time interval, synthetic lubricants will last longer, keep the engine cleaner, and prevent the engine from corrosion better than mineral lubricants. Of course, the differences will be more pronounced the longer the test interval.

In conclusion, though you may not be able to visibly distinguish mineral oils from synthetic oils, your engine always will be able to.

INTRODUCING: TOP 1 Evolution OEM Series

admin — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 19:15:19 +0000

TOP 1 Evolution OEM Series I and Evolution OEM Series IV are the newest members to the TOP 1 Oil product line. We have spent the last 8 months in contact with European OEMs in order to make sure our products meet their exacting specifications. We are now proud to say that TOP 1 Evolution OEM Series I and OEM Series IV are approved by Audi/VW, Porsche, Mercedes-Benz, and BMW. Above you can see approval letters from each OEM certifying the use of TOP 1 Oil in their vehicles.

Evolution OEM Series I and Series IV both come in viscosities 5W-30 and 5W-40. These products replace the current Evolution 5W-30 and 5W-40. TOP 1 Oil recommends use of Evolution OEM Series I in countries with high sulfur fuel content. TOP 1 Oil recommends use of Evolution OEM Series IV for vehicles requiring API SN.

New USA HD Fuel Economy Standards

admin — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 18:12:52 +0000

Work trucks, buses and other heavy-duty vehicles will, for the first time, have to trim fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions under new efficiency standards. The White House says the standards – which apply to vehicle model years 2014 to 2018 – will save businesses billions of dollars in fuel costs, help reduce oil consumption and cut air pollution.

The new targets announced Tuesday, Aug. 9, by President Obama affect three categories of vehicles. Big rigs or semis will have to cut fuel consumption and emissions by up to 20 percent. Diesel-powered heavy-duty pickups and vans will have to cut consumption by 15 percent, or by 10 percent if the vehicles run on gasoline. The standards also will mandate a 10 percent reduction in fuel consumption and emissions for work trucks such as concrete mixers, garbage trucks, fire trucks and buses.
China will likely implement similar heavy-duty fuel economy standards. The hope is that China will aim for the same 2014 goal. Last April, the International Council on Clean Transportation convened in Beijing and successfully conveyed key messages about the need for improved light- and heavy-duty fuel efficiency and reduced greenhouse gas emissions to high-level Chinese officials from the State Council.
These new fuel economy standards will require new innovation not only in vehicle design but also in lubricant formulation. Over the last 10 years, new emission and fuel economy standards have driven change in the automotive industry. With these new standards, the HD market looks to continue evolving into the future. We expect to see lighter motor oil viscosities with these new technologies.

INTRODUCING: TOP 1 Oil Evolution 0W-20

admin — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 22:49:06 +0000

As motor lubricants continue to trend towards lighter viscosities, TOP 1 Oil would like to introduce another new member to our product line, Evolution 0W-20. This fully synthetic passenger car motor oil joins Evolution 10W-30 as part of our Fuel Efficiency Series.

TOP 1 Evolution 0W-20 Fully Synthetic Motor Oil is a low-friction oil formulated to meet the needs of hybrids and other modern fuel-efficient vehicles. The advanced additive package provides excellent overall lubrication and wear protection to help extend engine life. TOP 1 Evolution 0W-20 offers the best fuel economy in the TOP 1 Oil line.

Top 1 Oil iPad 2 Contest

admin — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 18:55:43 +0000

TOP 1 iPad2 giveaway!

us on Facebook and you could win!

Click on the below link and answer the 4 questions about TOP 1 Oil Products correctly, and you will be entered in a drawing to win a iPad2. No Purchase Necessary.

iPad2 contest

The questions will only be available from August 10 – October 17 2011 on the Official TOP 1 Synthetic Oil Facebook page, so hurry up for your chance to win!