The True Measure of Lubricant Quality

Making and recording measurements has been one of the hallmarks of the Age of Enlightenment. It seems like modern people measure everything. We have measures of time, such as weeks, hours, minutes, and years. We have measures of mass, such as grams, pounds and tons. We have measures of sound volume, of energy, of radioactivity, of pressure, of type font sizes, of land mass, and of speed.

Automotive Related Measurements

Horsepower, as you might guess, is the amount of power exerted by one horse pulling. After many careful measurements James Watt, inventor of the steam engine, determined that a horse can lift 550 pounds at a rate of one foot per second, which translates into 745.7 watts. Some clever American engineers decided that manpower should have a measurement as well, equivalent to 0.1 horsepower or 74.57 watts.

MPG is the familiar acronym for miles per gallon, which measures the rate of fuel consumption in a motor vehicle. One mile per gallon equals approximately 0.4252 kilometers per liter. MPH is our common measure of speed. One mile per hour equals 22/15ths feet per second or 1.609 kilometers per hour or 0.447 meters per second.

RPM means revolutions per minute, a unit of frequency as a measure of rotation rates in mechanics. In cars RPM is measured by a tachomoter. Some motorists pay attention to RPM so they don't overrev and cause component failure. Race car drivers try to keep RPM rates in a range that will provide maximum power.

Additional Info via the Links Below:

page 1 - current : Introduction
page 2 : Oil Measures
page 3 : The Role of Motor Oil
page 4 : Synthetic Vs. Conventional Petroleum
page 5 : Measures That Matter
page 6 : Price