Objective & Test Design

The purpose of the test was to evaluate wear protection and lubricant robustness under far more severe and realistic stress conditions than standard industry tests (such as ACEA sequences). Some of the special features:

APL Results

Objectives & Design

  • The oil was pre‑aged before wear testing (i.e. it was subjected to conditions simulating time, temperature, oxidation, etc.) prior to measuring wear. 
  • The engine used was a Porsche MA203 3.0 L turbocharged engine, run on POSK E25 gasoline (i.e. ethanol blend) as the reference fuel.
  • The protocol included simulated high performance and racetrack conditions with elevated piston ring groove temperatures (approaching ~280 °C) to stress the ring/groove interfaces. 
  • The test also incorporated worst-case fuel dilution scenarios, to mimic hybrid or transient use cases in which the oil becomes diluted with unburned fuel and is not “topped up” or rejuvenated during the test. 
  • The entire test duration exceeded 100 hours (i.e. a long continuous stress test) under conditions intended to push the lubricant beyond typical service envelopes. 
  • Because the full sequence is proprietary to Porsche, the detailed load/temperature timeline is not published. 

By doing so, Porsche and APL sought to capture wear behavior under aging, heat, dilution, and high stress, beyond what standard specifications might reveal. Learn More About Porsche Lubricants

APL Results Continued

Strengths, Caveats & Considerations

While the results are promising, several caveats should be borne in mind:

  1. Because the full loadings, cycles, and durations are proprietary, the published summaries do not allow independent reproduction or critical peer review of the test protocol. 
  2. The comparison reference (i.e. which “standard” petroleum-based oils or benchmarks were used) is not fully disclosed in the public summary, making it harder to benchmark the magnitude of improvement. 
  3. The test is a single-engine/dyno result; field validation across more engines, conditions, and use cycles would strengthen the case.
  4. While the oil showed resilience under fuel dilution, aging, high temperatures, etc., whether those conditions reflect the worst real-world scenarios across all engines is uncertain.
  5. The 12 hp gain is interesting, but such a delta might depend on engine-specific friction regime and test conditions; it should not be taken as guarantee in every application.

Conclusion

The Porsche / APL test of Evolve’s renewable non‑petroleum 0W-40 demonstrated that, under a rigorous, long-duration, high-stress protocol involving aging, heat, and fuel dilution, the oil-maintained wear protection, deposit control, and viscosity stability, and even enabled a modest power gain. The test offers a valuable supplement to standard oil performance tests (e.g. ACEA) by revealing behavior under extreme, real-world stresses not normally captured. While not a conclusive “proof” of superiority across all engines, it provides strong evidence that well-designed renewable base oils can approach or match performance of conventional synthetic oils in demanding environments

APL Porsche Test Results

summary of the key points and findings from the Porsche / APL test of Evolve Lubricants’ renewable non‑petroleum crankcase oil (EvoSyn 0W‑40) using the MA203 engine under extreme conditions 

Testing & Data Mobil-1 vs Evolve

Testing and data acquisition was performed by world- renowned engine builder Paul Hasselgren.

 The data from these tests, Mobil 1 vs Evolve were then forwarded to Porsche AG for consideration .

Paul Hasselgren. Hasselgren became known for creating high performance, reliable, and competitive engines running in a variety of racing formats. This included high level professional motorsports: Grand-Am Rolex Cup and Continental Cup, Formula Atlantic, Trans-Am and Club, Vintage Racing and Formula Drift.

For a 10-year period spanning 1995-2005, Hasselgren was best known as the leading Toyota engine builder for the Formula Atlantic series, a feeder series for Champ Car. Hasselgren received “Engine Builder of the Year” award for eight consecutive years 1996-2003. 

In 2006 Hasselgren made its debut in the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series by supplying Pontiac engines to one of its former Atlantic teams running in Daytona Prototype class. In 2007 Hasselgren’s engine finished 2nd in the prestigious 24-hours of Daytona race. In 2008, the Hasselgren Pontiac engine finished second at Montreal in one of the closest finishes in Rolex history and won the Formula Drift Championship.  Hasselgren also supplied Porsche 997 engines which resulted in first and second place finishes for a team that was struggling with reliability issues before coming to Hasselgren. In 2009, Hasselgren Toyota Engines won the National SCCA Runoffs at Road America, the SCCA Triple Crown and the SCCA Super Sweep.