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In our state of the art engine testing facility you'll find everything from the very smallest motorcycle engines to some of the most powerful machines on the market - we use all of them to put our motorcycle engine oils to the test. Before an engine can be tested, it is removed from the bike and often stripped for measurement in our metrology laboratory. Some components such as piston rings or bearings are matched to our Castrol test standard. This process ensures that the engine is built to the same specification every time -- a task which is critical for test repeatability. The re-built engine is then installed on a special test pallet which houses all the necessary instrumentation to monitor and control the engine. The engine is coupled to a dynamometer which is used to absorb the energy generated by the engine or alternatively physically motor the engine. A complex control system enables us to program a wide range of conditions for the test which may have hundreds of different stages each with different temperatures, speeds and loads. All our tests vary in length and style ranging from short trips to the shops or high speed motorway work through to full race track simulation and beyond. Oil samples are taken throughout the test for analysis, and at the end of the test, the engine is removed from the test pallet where it is stripped and sent for the evaluation of cleanliness and wear.
