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Automobile OEMs are looking for improving fuel economy[1,2] of their vehicles by reducing weight, rolling resistance and improving engine and transmission efficiency apart from the aerodynamic design. Fuel economy may be improved by using appropriate low viscosity [3] and use of friction reducers (FRs)[4,5] in the engine oils. The concept of high viscosity index [6] is being used for achieving right viscosity at required operating temperatures. In this paper performance properties of High Viscosity Index engine oils have been compared with conventional VI engine oils. Efforts have been made to check the key differentiation in oil properties w.r.t. low temperature fluidity, high temperature high shear viscosity/deposits, friction behavior, oxidation performance in bench tribological /engine/chassis dyno tests which finally lead to oil performance assessment. Three candidates of SAE 0W-30 grade oil with ACEA C2/API SN credentials have been chosen using various viscosity modifiers.

The ever increasing demand of fuels for vehicles can only be met by use of alternate fuels like Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) and Hydrogen (H2). The 18 percent hydrogen enriched CNG fuel referred to as HCNG has the potential to lower emissions and is considered to be the first step towards promotion of a Hydrogen economy. While, automotive industry matures up with the usage of new engines, lubricant manufacturers are also moving on to the next stage by formulating oils to be used in gas engines such as CNG, HCNG etc. This paper presents the evaluation of gas engine oil on 6-cylinder heavy duty CNG engine using HCNG. The six cylinder engine was chosen due to its importance for urban bus transportation. The engine was optimized for using HCNG fuel. Initial performance of the engine using HCNG was compared vis-à-vis CNG and, thereafter, the engine was subjected to endurance test of 500 hours as per 8 mode engine simulated driving cycle.