Consumables
Insignia Using Torque Support Made of Polyamide
Wednesday 19. November 2008 - For the first time ever, a heavy-duty torque support made of plastic is now in passenger vehicle series production Weight reduced up to 50% as opposed to aluminum Optimized driving safety and driving dynamics Sustainable manufacturing
ContiTech Vibration Control has brought a torque support made of a fiberglass-reinforced polyamide to production maturity, which is 50% lighter than a comparable component made of aluminum. The torque converter is making its series-production debut in the new Opel Insignia. “ContiTech will be the responsible sole supplier worldwide for all new start-up GM models based on a midsize platform until 2012,” states Kai-Uwe Frühauf, General Manager for ContiTech Vibration Control. “Never before has a supplier delivered a component on this scale worldwide that he has developed independently.” In addition to the Opel Insignia and other vehicles of the GM group, the technology can basically be transferred to other vehicle manufacturers.
ContiTech is raising the bar in lightweight vehicle construction with its recently introduced torque support. For the first time in a passenger vehicles engine-mount system, a mechanical, heavy-duty component is being used that is made of thermoplastic synthetic materials. Using lightweight components can reduce the total weight of vehicle as well as fuel consumption. With less weight on the front axle, the axle-load distribution improves and consequently, so does driving safety and dynamics.
The polyamide torque support is already in its second product generation at ContiTech. Due to new manufacturing processes, it is even lighter than its predecessor. “We are manufacturing plastic supports and elastomer components in an intelligent manufacturing process in which fewer components are needed and weight can be reduced,” explained Diethard Schneider, engineer at ContiTech Vibration Control and developer of the torque support. Instead of 1,390 g, the torque support currently used in Opel models weighs only 720 g.
In addition to supplying General Motors for production, a variety of additional components of similar design are now an increasing percentage of the local content at ContiTech Vibration Control. At the Hanover location, highly automated series production has been constructed to accommodate this. For a number of automotive manufacturers, more than 20 new plastic components are currently being transferred into series production – including an engine-mount system for sports cars.
With the development of engine-mount elements made of plastic, ContiTech is making a significant contribution toward sustainability in the automotive industry. Using plastic assembly parts not only makes vehicles lighter, more fuel efficient and environmentally friendly, but these can also be produced using a lot less energy and at a much lower cost, and using plastic parts offers a variety of options when recycling.