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It is well understood that using lower viscosity engine oils can greatly improve fuel economy [1, 2, 3, 4]. However, it has been impossible to evaluate ultra-low viscosity engine oils (SAE 0W-12 and below) utilizing existing fuel economy test methods. As such, there is no specification for ultra-low viscosity gasoline engine oils [5]. We therefore developed firing and motored fuel economy test methods for ultra-low viscosity oils using engines from Japanese automakers [6, 7, 8]. This was done under the auspices of the JASO Next Generation Engine Oil Task Force (“TF” below), which consists mainly of Japanese automakers and entities working in the petroleum industry. Moreover, the TF used these test methods to develop the JASO GLV-1 specification for next-generation ultra-low viscosity automotive gasoline engine oils such as SAE 0W-8 and 0W-12. In developing the JASO GLV-1 specification, Japanese fuel economy tests and the ILSAC engine tests for evaluating engine reliability were used.

The goal of this interview analysis was to explore and document the perceptions of two unique lane centering systems (S90’s Pilot Assist and CT6’s Super Cruise). Both systems offer a similar type of functionality (adaptive cruise control and lane centering), but have significantly different design philosophies and HMI (Human-Machine Interface) implementations. Twenty-four drivers drove one of the two vehicle models for a month as part of a field operational test (FOT) study. Upon vehicle return, drivers took part in a 60-minute semi-structured interview covering their perceptions of the vehicle’s various advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS). Transcripts of the interviews were coded by two researchers, who tagged each statement with relevant system and perception code labels. For analysis, the perception codes were grouped into larger thematic bins of safety, comfort, driver attention, and system performance.

Wheels play an important role in determining the aerodynamic drag of passenger vehicles. This is because the contribution of wheels to aerodynamic drag comes from not only the wheels themselves, but also from the interference effect between wheel wakes and the base wake. As far as the authors are aware, there have been no reports about aerodynamic drag sensitivity to wheel shape factors for different vehicle types and different exterior body shapes. The purpose of this study was to clarify CD sensitivity to wheel shape factors for a sedan and an SUV, including different rear fender shapes. Many different wheel configurations were investigated in terms of the CD, base pressure and flow fields in wind tunnel tests. Multiple regression analyses were conducted to clarify CD sensitivity to each wheel shape factor based on the test data. This study revealed high CD sensitivity factors for both the sedan and SUV.

An electric vehicle (EV) has less powertrain energy loss than an internal combustion engine vehicle (ICE), so its aerodynamic accounts have a larger portion of drag contribution of the total energy loss. This means that EV aerodynamic performance has a larger impact on the all-electric range (AER). Therefore, the target set for the aerodynamics development for a new EV hatchback was to improving AER for the customer’s benefit. To achieve lower aerodynamic drag than the previous model’s good aerodynamic performance, an ideal airflow wake structure was initially defined for the new EV hatchback that has a flat underbody with no exhaust system. Several important parameters were specified and proper numerical values for the ideal airflow were defined for them. As a result, the new EV hatchback achieves a 4% reduction in drag coefficient (CD) from the previous model.

This paper describes a study of drag reduction devices for production pick-up trucks with a body-on-frame structure using full-scale wind tunnel testing and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations. First, the flow structure around a pick-up truck was investigated and studied, focusing in particular on the flow structure between the cabin and tailgate. It was found that the flow structure around the tailgate was closely related to aerodynamic drag. A low drag flow structure was found by flow analysis, and the separation angle at the roof end was identified as being important to achieve the flow structure. While proceeding with the development of a new production model, a technical issue of the flow structure involving sensitivity to the vehicle velocity was identified in connection with optimization of the roof end shape. (1)A tailgate spoiler was examined for solving this issue.

Reducing vehicle fuel consumption has become one of the most important issues in recent years in connection with environmental concerns such as global warming. Therefore, in the vehicle development process, attention has been focused on reducing aerodynamic drag as a way of improving fuel economy. When considering environmental issues, the development of vehicle aerodynamics must take into account real-world driving conditions. A crosswind is one of the representative conditions. It is well known that drag changes in a crosswind compared with a condition without a crosswind, and that the change depends on the vehicle shape. It is generally considered that the influence of a crosswind is relatively small since drag accounts for a small proportion of the total running resistance. However, for electric vehicles, the energy loss of the drive train is smaller than that of an internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle.

To improve the fuel economy via high EGR, combustion stability is enhanced through the addition of hydrogen, with its high flame-speed in air-fuel mixture. So, in order to realize on-board hydrogen production we developed a fuel reformer which produces hydrogen rich gas. One of the main issues of the reformer engine is the effects of reformate gas components on combustion performance. To clarify the effect of reformate gas contents on combustion stability, chemical kinetic simulations and single-cylinder engine test, in which hydrogen, CO, methane and simulated gas were added to intake air, were executed. And it is confirmed that hydrogen additive rate is dominant on high EGR combustion. The other issue to realize the fuel reformer was the catalyst deterioration. Catalyst reforming and exposure test were carried out to understand the influence of actual exhaust gas on the catalyst performance.

It is considered that door mirror drag is composed of not only profile drag but also interference drag that is generated by the mixing of airflow streamlines between door mirrors and vehicle body. However, the generation mechanism of interference drag remained unexplained, so elucidating mechanism for countermeasures reducing drag have been needed. In this study, the prediction formulas for door mirror drag expressed by functions in relation to velocities around the vehicle body were derived and verified by wind tunnel test. The predicted values calculated by formulas were compared with the measured values and an excellent agreement was found. In summary, new prediction formulas made it possible to examine low drag mirror including profile and interference drag.

The adoption of the electronic controlled steering systems with new technologies has been extended in recent years. They have interactions with other complex vehicle subsystems and it is a hard task for the vehicle developer to find the best solution from huge number of the combination of parameter settings with track tests. In order to improve the efficiency of the steering system development, the authors had developed a steering bench test method for steering system using a Hardware-In-the-Loop Simulation (HILS). In the steering HILS system, vehicle dynamics simulation and the tie rod axial force calculation are required at the same time in the real-time simulation environment. The accuracy of the tie rod axial force calculation is one of the key factors to reproduce the vehicle driving condition. But the calculation cannot be realized by a commercial software for the vehicle dynamics simulation.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) have both developed crash test methodologies to address frontal collisions in which the vehicle's primary front structure is either partially engaged or not engaged at all. IIHS addresses Small Overlap crashes, cases in which the vehicle's primary front energy absorbing structure is not engaged, using a rigid static barrier with an overlap of 25% of the vehicle's width at an impact angle of 0°. The Institute's Moderate Overlap partially engages the vehicle's primary front energy absorbing structure using a deformable static barrier with 40% overlap at a 0° impact angle. The NHTSA has developed two research test methods which use a common moving deformable barrier impacting the vehicle with 20% overlap at a 7° impact angle and 35% overlap at a 15° impact angle respectively.

An active vision system equipped with a high-speed pulsed light-emitting projector and a high-speed image sensor is proposed and applied to lane marker detection in this paper. The proposed system has the capability to suppress image information obtained from the background light and provides only the image information from the signal light emitted by the projector. This is accomplished by synchronizing image capture with the time of signal light emission. To reduce the power consumption and cost of the system, a relatively low intensity projector is used as the light source. The background illuminance on a bright day can be much higher than that of the signal. To improve the signal-to-background ratio, the signal light is modulated using a pulse width modulation technique. Then, the image is captured using a high-speed camera operating in synchronization with the time the signal light is emitted.

In today's highly competitive automotive markets manufacturers must provide high quality products to survive. Manufacturers can achieve higher levels of quality by changing or improving their manufacturing process and/or by product inspection where many strategies with different cost implications are often available. Cost of Quality (CoQ) reconciles the competing objectives of quality maximization and cost minimization and serves as a useful framework for comparing available manufacturing process and inspection alternatives. In this paper, an analytic CoQ framework is discussed and some key findings are demonstrated using a set of basic inspection strategy scenarios. A case of a welded automotive assembly is chosen to explore the CoQ tradeoffs in inspection strategy selection and the value of welding process improvement. In the assembly process, many individual components are welded in series and each weld is inspected for quality.

Current CJ-4 lubricant specifications place chemical limits on diesel engine oil formulations to minimize the accumulation of lubricant-derived ash in diesel particulate filters (DPF). While lubricant additive chemistry plays a strong role in determining the amount and type of ash accumulated in the DPF, a number of additional factors play important roles as well. Relative to soot particles, whose residence time in the DPF is short-lived, ash particles remain in the filter for a significant fraction of the filter's useful life. While it is well-known that the properties (packing density, porosity, permeability) of soot deposits are primarily controlled by the local exhaust conditions at the time of particle deposition in the DPF, the cumulative operating history of the filter plays a much stronger role in controlling the properties and distribution of the accumulated ash.

The energy crisis and rising gas price in the 2000s led to a growing popularity of hybrid vehicles. Hyundai-Kia Motors has been challenging to develop the new efficient eco-technology since introducing the mild type compact hybrid electric vehicle for domestic fleet in 2004 to meet the needs of the increasing automotive-related environmental issues. Now Hyundai has recently debuted a full HEV for global market, Sonata Hybrid. This system is cost effective solution and developed with the main purpose of improving fuel consumption and providing fun to drive. Presenter Seok Joon Kim, Hyundai Motor Company

An electrically-driven, intelligent brake unit has been developed, to be combined with a regenerative braking system in electric vehicles (EVs) and hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) which went into production in 2010 - 11. The brake pedal force is assisted by an electrically driven motor, without using vacuum pressure, unlike conventional braking systems. The actuator can be implemented to coordinate with a regenerative braking system, and to have adjustable pedal feel through use of a unique pressure-generating mechanism and a pedal-force compensator. In this paper, we describe features of the actuator mechanism and performance test results

To promote widespread use of fuel cell vehicles (FCVs), further improvement of cold start capability is required for operation in various extreme temperature regions all over the world. Sub-freezing, cold start issues of fuel cells must be resolved through gaining a better understanding of the physical phenomena taking place in a cell during cold start and by elucidating the mechanisms hindering cold startup. Nissan has improved its understanding of the physical phenomena occurring in a fuel cell (FC) during cold startup by a laboratory-scale FC experiment at subfreezing temperatures and a numerical calculation that expresses various transport processes in a fuel cell, including those of the reactant gases, water, electrons and heat. The results have identified several necessary conditions for mass transport in a cell during cold startup and the factors that limit and govern the phenomena involved.

In order to reduce traffic accidents and ease traffic congestion utilizing ITS (Intelligent Transportation System), a large-scale FOT (Field Operational Test) involving 2,000 ordinary drivers was launched in October 2006 in the city of Yokohama in Kanagawa, Japan. The test is slated to continue through March 2009. Target applications include Intersection Collision Avoidance using V-I (Vehicle-to-Infrastructure) communication, ISA (Intelligent Speed Advisory) using digital maps in the vehicle navigation system, and the probe system, which provides detailed traffic information. In this paper, the progress of this FOT will be introduced.

This study examined methods of machining a microsurface texture on the surface of the rolling elements of a toroidal continuously variable transmission (CVT) for improving the traction coefficient. The microsurface texture of the toroidal surfaces consists of tiny circumferential grooves (referred to here as micro grooves) and a mirror-like surface finish similar to the rolling surface of bearings. Hard turning with a cubic boron nitride (cBN) cutting tool, grinding with a cBN wheel and micro forming were applied to machine the micro grooves. The results made clear the practical potential of each method. A micro forming device was also developed for use in actual production. A mirror-like surface finish and micro crowning of the convex portions of the microsurface texture were simultaneously executed by superfinishing them with a fine-grained elastic superfinishing stone.

A new control system for the coasting range was designed with the μ-synthesis technique to achieve robust stability, based on the slip speed control system that was reported in our previous paper.(1) The results of driving tests conducted with the fuel supply cut off while coasting confirm that the new control system is able to avoid engine stall even under sudden hard braking on a low friction road (μ<0.1) at a vehicle speed of 20 km/h and a turbine speed of 1000 rpm. The system also allows the lock-up clutch to slip stably at a certain target slip speed at anytime while coasting and achieves robust performance against characteristic variations of the lock-up mechanism. This slip speed control system thus makes it possible to extend the fuel cut-off range to a lower engine speed of 800 rpm, down from 950 rpm, thereby improving fuel economy by about 1%.

Increasing expectations for stability at high speed call for the improvement of cars' aerodynamic performance, in particular lift reduction. However, due to styling constraints, traditional spoilers must be avoided and replaced by other solutions like underfloor components. Flow simulation is expected to be a useful tool for lift prediction, but the conventional models used so far did not represent complex geometry details such as the engine compartment and underfloor, and accuracy was insufficient. In the present study, a full vehicle simulation model, including the engine compartment and underfloor details, was used. Other improvements were also made such as optimization of the computational grid and the setting of boundary conditions for reproducing wind tunnel experiments or actual driving, making it possible to predict lift variations due to vehicle geometry changes.