Engine Oil

The liquid engine component

Every component of your Porsche is engineered to work with every other, to deliver optimum performance. The engine oil is no exception. A true high-performance oil does far more than simply lubricate your Porsche’s engine. It plays a vital role in optimising performance and reliability, and ensuring a long engine life. That’s why it’s so important to choose an engine oil tailored to your Porsche, and to change it regularly according to the service schedule. Only then can you be sure it always retains the properties which make it – and your Porsche – perform.

Tasks performed by engine oil

Task 1: Lubricate

Engine oil forms a permanent lubricant film between the moving surfaces in the engines. Cylinders and pistons, in particular, must be adequately lubricated in order to prevent piston seizure. Lubrication provides protection against wear, thereby extending the engine's life, and reducing friction also saves fuel.

Task 2: Clean

Engine oil keeps the engine clean. Special additives protect hot, moving engine parts from any contamination that may arise during the combustion process. The additives absorb impurities in the oil, preventing harmful deposits in the engine.

Task 3: Neutralise

Engine oil neutralises acids formed by combustion gases and unburnt fuel in the oil, thereby preventing corrosion – especially in the bearings.

Task 4: Cool

Engine oil dissipates heat and cools many parts of the engine not reached by the coolant.

Types of engine oil

The differences explained

There are basically three different classes of engine oil, each with different properties.

Mineral oils are the most widely-used base oils. They can be manufactured relatively easily and cheaply by distilling and refining crude oil.

Semi-synthetic engine oils are considerably better quality, especially regarding their aging resistance and thermal properties. Their production is a complex process.

Synthetic oils are manufactured by chemical synthesis and can be given very specific quality-enhancing properties. Their optimum performance makes these oils particularly suitable for high-performance engines such as the engine in your Porsche.

Single or multi-grade?

Single-grade oils dominated the market until the 1970s. Every oil on offer had its firmly allocated viscosity which was also used to describe it.

Multi-grade oils are the engine oils commonly used today. They are based on low-viscosity base oils and mixed with special additives (e.g. polymers such as polyester and polyisobutylene), so that their viscosity is only slightly reduced at higher temperatures.

With temperature having little effect on their viscosity, multi-grade oils are better suited than single-grade oils to covering a wider temperature range. They can maintain an optimal supply of oil to the engine in both hot and cold conditions. This results in greater lubrication when starting the engine from cold, reduced strain on the starter motor at low temperatures, and adequate lubrication at higher ambient and engine temperatures.

SAE classes and their meaning

The numbers above the oil application range define its SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) class. For multi-grade oils, this covers two grades e.g. 0W-40. These specify the operating temperature range for which the oil is best suited. The number before the "W" (Winter) indicates how viscous the oil is at low temperatures: the lower the number, the better the oil's fluidity. “0W” therefore denotes extremely low-viscosity oil, for use at low temperatures.

The second part of the viscosity grade (the number after the "W") indicates how viscous the oil is at high temperatures: the higher the number, the thicker the oil film. 10 would therefore represent very low-viscosity oil which is specifically designed for cold regions. In extremely hot areas, even an oil classed as “60” can be used, as it is highly viscous in its normal state. In the 0W-40 example, “40” represents average viscosity, which guarantees optimum performance even at high temperatures.

Mobil 1 - The engine oil for your Porsche

Throughout our motorsport history, we’ve tested many engine oils on the race track. That’s how we know Mobil 1 offers the optimum engine oil for Porsche engines, on the race track and on the road. As Porsche’s global co-operation partner, Mobil 1 provides the oil for our racing engines and our standards models. All Porsche vehicles leave the factory with Mobil 1 high-performance engine oil. Our partnership guarantees maximum performance and a high-octane driving experience.

Visit page