There are 820 million vehicles in the world today, and with the progressive growth of the automotive sector in developing countries such as Brazil, China, India, etc., the number of vehicles worldwide is predicted to reach 1 billion by 2020². Passenger cars and commercial light vehicles have been estimated¹ to account for 20 % of the total CO² delivered into the atmosphere from hydrocarbon sources in the United States and other developed countries, indicating the level of impact of the automotive sector on the environment. As such, the technological improvement on fuel economy will have a great impact in reducing the CO² emissions. Reduction of mechanical losses in internal combustion (IC) engines as prime drivers in the automotive industry is an action with immediate effect toward increasing the fuel economy through improving engine efficiency.