The American Petroleum Institute will discontinue licensing the use of the "Energy Conserving" designation with its API SL and API SM gasoline engine oil categories. This action will be effective Dec. 30, 2016, and does not cover API SN oils that have earned the "Resource Conserving" designation. The Sequence VIB engine test used to measure Energy Conserving performance (i.e., fuel economy) is no longer available. The test, officially ASTM D6837, was based on a mid-'90s era Ford V-8 gasoline engine that is no longer manufactured and for which spare parts cannot be obtained. After ASTM International notified API of the test's expiration, the institute declared Energy Conserving obsolete. Since licensees cannot run the tests necessary to prove Energy Conserving performance, the category dies.
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