Afton Chemical last week announced the launch of the HiTEC® 12200 Series of heavy duty engine oils (HDEOs). Before Afton developed this next generation additive package, its marketers and technicians headed into the field and gained valuable insights on what truck drivers, fleet operators and mechanics really valued in a HDEO.
We invest heavily in market research, which enables us to translate market insight into winning solutions for our customers who want to tap into the growth opportunities that heavy duty engine oil represents. HiTEC® 12200 is an excellent example of this approach, said Vanessa Montgomerie, Senior Marketing Manager at Afton.
Afton discovered that truck drivers want more power and think that heavy duty diesel engine oils can help to deliver it. We listened to their needs and developed a formulation that delivered exactly what they wanted, said William Anderson, R&D Engineering Specialist at Aftons Application Solutions Centre. Filter plugging and deposits can cause an engine to run sub optimally. Additives can help to address these issues, thereby contributing to the engine producing the power output intended. In testing, HiTEC® 12200 demonstrated excellent results in reducing the instance of filter plugging as well as high temperature protection from deposits.
Unsurprisingly, truck drivers and fleet operators also said that they wanted to be able to extend oil drain intervals, but were concerned about breakdowns, drop in engine oil pressure and increased fuel consumption. Our research indicated that the average oil drain interval in China today is 16,000km, said Pan Yin Liang, Field Test Engineer at Afton. We decided to run a rigorous field trial with HiTEC® 12200 extending the truck mileage out to 50,000km. The results indicated that oil drain intervals may be extended past the national average despite running the trucks in challenging terrains, loads and weather conditions.
Engine wear and the costs associated with parts replacement and vehicle downtime were also of concern to fleet operators and owner drivers and in the field trial HiTEC® 12200 demonstrated that it delivered best in class wear protection.
Products within the HiTEC® 12200 Series will be launched progressively with the initial core packaging being an API CH-4/CI-4 15W-40. The Series will be expanded to comprise full range of differentiated product profiles with key applications in on-road trucks and buses as well as off-road construction and mining equipment.
The HiTEC 12200 Series of HDEO additives will be available in Asia Pacific, EMEAI and Latin America.
Afton Chemical Corporation, headquartered in Richmond, Virginia and part of the NewMarket Corporation family of companies, supports global operations through regional headquarters located in Asia Pacific, EMEAI, Latin America and North America.
HiTEC® is a registered trademark of Afton Chemical Corporation.
