Lubricating oil compositions are provided which contain bimodal copolymer compositions, and in particular bimodal ethylene--olefin copolymer compositions. The copolymer compositions comprise first and second ethylene--olefin copolymer components. The bimodal compositions are particularly useful as viscosity or rheology modifiers, e.g., in lubricating oil compositions. Lubricating oil compositions comprising the copolymer compositions advantageously exhibit enhanced shear stability index (SSI) and thickening efficiency (TE) values, while maintaining excellent low-temperature properties such as pour point, mini-rotary viscometer viscosity, and cold crank simulation performance.

Lubricating oil compositions are provided which contain bimodal copolymer compositions, and in particular bimodal ethylene--olefin copolymer compositions. The copolymer compositions comprise first and second ethylene--olefin copolymer components. The bimodal compositions are particularly useful as viscosity or rheology modifiers, e.g., in lubricating oil compositions. Lubricating oil compositions comprising the copolymer compositions advantageously exhibit enhanced shear stability index (SSI) and thickening efficiency (TE) values, while maintaining excellent low-temperature properties such as pour point, mini-rotary viscometer viscosity, and cold crank simulation performance.

The present invention is directed to a lubricating oil additive containing a vicinal diol and a particular detergent blend typically is low viscosity base oils whereby exhibiting improved fuel economy. In this respect, disclosed is a lubricating oil composition comprising: a major amount of base oil of lubricating viscosity; a friction modifier which is selected from the group consisting of C.sub.10-C.sub.30 alkane 1,2-diols and C.sub.10-C.sub.30 alkene 1,2-diols; an overbased alkyl alkaline earth metal hydroxybenzoate detergent having a metal ratio less than 3.0; and an overbased alkyl calcium sulfonate or an overbased alkyl calcium hydroxybenzoate having a metal ratio of 3.5 or greater.

An additive package for a two- or four-stroke marine engine lubricant comprises an oil of lubricating viscosity, a salicylate detergent and a sulfonate detergent in a ratio of 90/10 to 10/90 (expressed as mmol of soap), and 1 to 10 mass % of a hydrocarbylphenol-aldehyde condensate.