Motor oils are evolving all the time to meet the increasing demands of the latest high-tech engines. Here’s a clear explanation of the latest changes you need to know.
Motor oil didn’t used to be so darned complicated. The automakers published straightforward recommendations for engine lubricant viscosity in the owners’ manuals, and that was the end of it. From there, car guys and car gals were left only to endlessly argue over the merits of various oil brands, and that was a good time for everybody.
Then multi-viscosity oils were introduced in the early ’50s, and as engine and lubricant technology have continued to advance over the coming years, the matter grows exponentially more complex. (Turbos and gasoline direct injection introduce special challenges.) In 2025 the American Petroleum Institute (API) introduced a revised lubricant standard, ILSAC-GF-7, and few of us car owners could even know what the letters and numbers on the back of the oil container could possibly mean.
Fortunately, Jason Fenske of the Engineering Explained YouTube channel has broken down the revised standard, which was designed to address four areas that are critical in today’s high-efficiency engines: Low Speed Pre-Ignition (LPSI), piston deposits, chain wear, and fuel economy. And he’s done so in an educational and entertaining way for the average car enthusiast, while still managing to do the job in in under 10 minutes. That’s more than worth your time. Video below.
Great video, well done.
The American Petroleum Institute (API) uses a self-certification system for its ILSAC-GF-7 motor oil standard and operates without any federal oversight, relying on the honor system with no legal enforcement mechanism in place (sound familiar?). While the API runs a private audit program to protect the brand (secret shopper), their own internal data indicates up to a 20% failure rate for retail oils meeting it’s own specifications, leaving motor oil standards enforcement to civil litigation and corporate warranties.
Any old timers remember the Quaker State formulation disaster of the early 1990s? Quaker State altered (cheapened) its multi-viscosity formulation without independent engineering scrutiny, unleashing an unstable product that degraded into a thick, engine-destroying sludge. Because no federal regulatory agency or independent lab policed the lubricant’s actual chemistry, the crisis was handled entirely after the fact through private corporate recalls, warranty battles, and civil litigation- a reactive model that remains unchanged under today’s ILSAC-GF-7 standards, meaning consumers still only discover a catastrophic chemical defect after their engine fails…