Technical Paper
Development of a New Fuel-Efficient Manual Transmission Oil
2007-10-29
2007-01-3973
Reducing the viscosity of a manual transmission oil is the most effective way to obtain a fuel economy effect with the lubricant. However, there are concerns that a lower viscosity may result in a thinner oil film, causing a decline in extreme pressure performance (anti-seizure and anti-wear performance) and anti-pitting performance at the high temperature condition. Therefore, a method for maintaining sufficient oil film thickness is needed for oils with reduced viscosity. In this study, attention was focused on the effects of the base oil and the viscosity index improver. As a result, a new manual transmission oil has been developed that provides an oil film thickness equal to that of current oil even though its viscosity has been reduced by half compared with the level of current oil. Specifically, the base oil is formulated with a high-viscosity mineral oil (Group I) and the molecular weight of the viscosity index improver has been reduced.