Last Thursday, Castrol launched Nexcel, a new revolutionary technology that marks one of the most significant oil change innovations in automotive history.
According to Castrol, the system offers manufacturers and motorists three primary benefits in performance, servicing and sustainability:
- Castrol has demonstrated that Nexcel delivers a reduction in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions on modern engines. Moreover the technology paves the way for a new generation of precision-engineered engine oils delivering further engine performance & CO2benefits.
- Nexcel makes the oil change super quick and clean for workshops, allowing them to offer more flexible and convenient service options to customers.
- Oil cells are collected after use, avoiding wastage of used oil. This oil can then be re-refined back into high quality lubricants. If Nexcel were fitted onto every car in the world today, it would save more than 200,000 road tankers of virgin oil from being produced, every year.
The Nexcel system has been tested on a range of engines from very small city cars to cutting-edge high-powered racing engines in the most extreme of conditions. It functioned smoothly even under severe braking of up to 1.8G, the equivalent of a vehicle travelling at 100km/h stopping dead in 1.6 seconds.
Additionally, the system oil flow has been tested up to 600 litres a minute 10 to 20 times greater than seen in a conventional passenger car engine.
Richard Parry-Jones, automotive industry leader and chairman of the Nexcel advisory board said: "If you look back through the whole of Castrol's history they've been innovators, using science to improve the performance of their lubricants and lead their industry. Nexcel represents one of its most significant innovations. It offers a solution to a problem that is increasing on the radar scope of manufacturers and when the Nexcel technology becomes standardised, people will wonder why we did it any other way."
The system will be fitted as standard in the new Aston Martin Vulcan track-only supercar. Road cars fitted with Nexcel are expected to go into production within five years.
Aston Martin CEO Dr Andy Palmer said: "We believe that the Aston Martin Vulcan sets a whole new standard in the ultra-high luxury supercar class, just as the Nexcel technology sets a whole new standard in engine lubrication. It therefore made perfect sense for us to bring these two innovations in engineering together, and showcase their capabilities."
Testing and installing Nexcel on a low volume car like the Vulcan allowed the oil cell's development to be accelerated, meaning it will be ready for mass market production much sooner. Castrol is currently in discussions with several other vehicle manufacturers.
