Aral SuperTurboral LA-FE 5W-30

Worth knowing

The letters FE in the name set this oil apart from SuperTurboral LA 5W-30, although the SAE viscosity grade of both is the same. Aral says it was developed for the fuel-economy requirements of the MB 228.61 approval, which Daimler Truck now calls DTFR 15C130; that number stands for a low-ash oil at API FA-4 level with a reduced HTHS viscosity, 2.9-3.2 mPa·s. Viscosity at 100 °C is 9.65 mm²/s, just above the lower limit of SAE grade 30 (9.3 mm²/s), whereas LA 5W-30 has 12.1 mm²/s. The other approvals, Volvo VDS-5, Renault Trucks RLD-5, Mack EOS-5, Cummins CES 20087 and DDC DFS 93K223, belong to the same lower-viscosity branch.

API introduced FA-4 at the same time as the backward-compatible CK-4, but FA-4 itself is not backward compatible, so such oils go only into engines whose maker explicitly allows them; this split and the successors of both classes are explained in the article on the new API and ILSAC classes. For older Volvo, Renault Trucks and Mack engines, SuperTurboral LA 5W-30 carries VDS-4.5, RLD-3 and EOS-4.5, and Volvo allows VDS-4.5 even in engines where VDS-2, VDS-3 or VDS-4 was required.