Most UK motorists unsure about choice of coolant

Two new antifreeze and coolant products have joined the Mobil Car Care range: Mobil Antifreeze Ultra and Mobil Antifreeze Heavy Duty. Cosan Lubricants, the authorised licensee of Mobil Car Care products in Europe, says these two products will be available soon and extend the Mobil Car Care antifreeze and coolant range to cover more than 99 per cent of all vehicles in the UK. The correct Mobil Car Care antifreeze and coolant for any car in the UK can be found by visiting the www.Mobil-CarCare.com website and selecting the vehicle using the VRN (Vehicle Registration Number) tool or the make and model search.

This search function is indeed a handy tool, as research conducted by Cosan Lubricants indicates. The company says it found that almost two-thirds of motorists have no idea how to choose the right antifreeze and coolant for their car.

Changes in engine technology and increasingly demanding environmental legislation means that antifreeze and coolant have become increasingly model-specific, and using the wrong product can result in overheating, corrosion, failure of engine components and possible invalidation of the vehicle’s warranty. Despite these risks, the survey revealed that more than 83 per cent of UK motorists are unaware of the function that antifreeze and coolant plays in their car and 65 per cent admitted they would not know how to choose the right product for their vehicle.

“Many people take the view that replacing antifreeze and coolant with a product that is the same colour will suffice,” comments Cosan Lubricants spokesman, Mike Bewsey. “But that is not true and could result in expensive damage and an unwanted garage bill.”

In recent years, engine design has changed to improve fuel efficiency and lower emissions. This has seen car manufacturers developing increasingly tailored fluids for specific, individual engine needs. The increasing demands of these modern engines have made operating conditions more severe, meaning more is required from the cooling system, while the use of an increasingly diverse set of materials for engine construction further highlights the fact that so called ‘universal’ products cannot address the requirements of multiple manufacturers.