Steve Haffner

SteveHaffner@lng.com

Recent Articles

Low-viscosity Engine Oils Gain Footing in North America

Low-viscosity Engine Oils Gain Footing in North America

Starburst or none, Toyota is recommending SAE 0W-16 for the 2018 Camry. Will others in the North American market follow …

Sequence IVB Test Suffers Setback

Sequence IVB Test Suffers Setback

The last engine test for ILSAC GF-6 failed this month to gain acceptance into the passenger car engine oil classificatio …

Toyota Recommends 0W-16s

Toyota Recommends 0W-16s

The next big, official push toward lower-viscosity passenger car motor oils in North America may still be several years …

Wear Test Gets Vote Despite Debate

Wear Test Gets Vote Despite Debate

The Sequence IVB engine test, the final test for the much-delayed ILSAC GF-6 engine oil category, cleared a major hurdle …

API Proposes SN Plus Delay

API Proposes SN Plus Delay

API staff members recommended last week that first licensing for the API SN Plus supplemental engine oil specification b …

ILSAC GF-6 Could Face More Delays

ILSAC GF-6 Could Face More Delays

A proposed engine test that is key to the ILSAC GF-6 engine oil specification is failing to discriminate between referen …

Asia Expected to Use SN Plus

Asia Expected to Use SN Plus

North America may be the home of API, but the organizations next engine oil category, API SN Plus, should also spread to …

Testing in Texas

Testing in Texas

The engine test labs at Intertek and Southwest Research Institute are inextricably intertwined with lubricant developmen …

SN Plus Date Still Up in the Air

SN Plus Date Still Up in the Air

The American Petroleum Institutes Lubricants Standards Group formally adopted API SN Plus last week but still has not se …

ASTM Passenger Car Panel Gets New Leader

ASTM Passenger Car Panel Gets New Leader

General Motors Angela Willis has succeeded Valvolines Thom Smith as chairman of the Passenger Car Engine Oil Classificat …

Ford Progresses on 6.7L Diesel Test

Ford Progresses on 6.7L Diesel Test

HOUSTON – Ford continues to progress in its development of a shorter test for valve train wear in heavy-duty diesel engi …

ILSAC GF-6: Light at the End of the Tunnel?

ILSAC GF-6: Light at the End of the Tunnel?

HOUSTON – The semi-annual ASTM meetings here last week included discussions by several groups at the center of engine oi …

API SN Plus Advances

API SN Plus Advances

The American Petroleum Institutes Lubricants Group met in Detroit last week to discuss the new supplemental API SN PLUS …

Most GF-6 Tests Shaping Up

Most GF-6 Tests Shaping Up

The Sequence IVB may be attracting the lions share of attention, but the ILSAC GF-6 engine oil upgrade also has six othe …

GF-6 Timing May Come Down to Key Test

GF-6 Timing May Come Down to Key Test

Much of the recent passenger car lubricant news has been focused on the proposed API SN-Plus supplemental category. Nort …

Dexos1 Gen 2 Taking Off

Dexos1 Gen 2 Taking Off

On Sept. 1, all licenses for General Motors first-generation Dexos1 passenger car engine oils expired – those products m …

Smoothing the Path to a Hybrid Future

Smoothing the Path to a Hybrid Future

Hybrids are garnering an increasing share of the automotive market. Lubricant suppliers, in partnership with original eq …