There are plenty of factors and data points to consider when shopping around for the best oil for your engine. And while things like viscosity and mineral vs. synthetic are pretty well known, there’s another lesser-known engine oil characteristic that you should be familiar with.

It’s called a “total base number” and the folks over at Hot Shot’s Secret made this quick video that explains exactly what it means. More importantly, this video will tell you why an engine oil’s total base number is so important to your engine oil’s service life.

It’s under two minutes long, so if you’ve never heard of a total base number as it refers to your engine oil, let the Hot Shot’s Secret team tell you all about it below: