Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Porsche GT3 first gets new magnetic engine mounts from Delphi

A ground-breaking new powertrain mount - MR engine Mount, has been developed by Delphi Corporation. And the first car to get the new engine mounts is the 2010 Porsche 911 GT3.

The MR engine mount uses magneto rheological (MR) fluid that can change its dynamic rate in real time, the new MR Mount prevents the build-up of resonance in a system by maintaining control of the mounted mass across all appropriate frequencies.

The use of the Magneto engine mount in vehicles help to controll the noise and vibration of the powertrain, and more importantly, improve stability and traction, especially during 'transient torque events'. For instance, these Magneto engine mounts can automatically adjust their stiffness when the engine is initially started or when the transmission is shifted into Drive or Park.

In the case of the 911 GT3, Porsche expects these engine mounts to improve traction and stability during hard acceleration and cornering.

The new tech supersedes Delphi's previous solution of glycol-filled mounts. Those mounts could only be tuned to control a single main frequency, however, and didn't offer the dynamic capabilities of the MR mounts.

"This is the first technology that allows precise real-time management of the relevant frequencies created by an automotive powertrain, including the challenging low frequencies and higher amplitudes caused by transient torque events," says Delphi's MR Mount manager Timothy Schlangen.

"Vehicle manufacturers working closely with Delphi have been excited by the wide range of benefits that MR Mounts can bring and by the increasing list of ways they can improve performance, safety and refinement through vehicle-specific tuning."

The new mounts are good news for the industry, we expect to see future applications used in the industry as production and availability makes them more affordable, though high-torque applications like sportscars and luxury sedans are likely to be among the first adopters.

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