An automotive lubricant base oil formulation contains a base oil, preferably a hydrocarbon base oil, having a kinematic viscosity of 100 centiStokes or less at 40 degrees Celsius and an ailcyl capped oil soluble polymer where the alkyl capped oil soluble polymer has the structure of Formula 0): where R1 is an alkyl having from one to thirty carbons, R2 and R3 are independently selected from alkyl groups having three or four carbons and can be in block form or randomly combined, R4 is an alkyl having from one to 18 carbon atoms, n and m are independently numbers ranging from zero to 20 provided that n+m is greater than zero and p is a number within a range of one to three and a kinematic viscosity of 100 centiStokes or less at 40 degrees Celsius is useful in a lubricant for mechanical devices. R1[O(R2O)n(R3O)mR4]p  (I)