Product Power

In any industry, technological advancements have allowed engineers and scientists to enhance the way everyone performs their day-to-day activities. With developments in product technology, the discovery of new materials and improvements in production methods, consumers have gone from stocky AM/FM radios to iPods the size of credit cards. The automotive world, including the aftermarket, is no exception to this transformation. Vehicles are becoming ever more sophisticated and the aftermarket has delivered a number of new product advancements to make them even better. From dealing with the ongoing fuel debate to increasing vehicle safety, here are just a few of the most interesting innovations.

Igniting in more ways than one

One of the engine's most important parts is the spark plug, and engineers are constantly working to improve these complex components. One ignition device scheduled for introduction in the aftermarket in 2007 is the Pulstar™ pulse plug, designed to increase fuel efficiency and provide more torque than traditional spark plugs.

"The same thing is true in the difference between a spark plug and a pulse plug," Parker continues. "A spark plug is more like a light bulb that generates a maximum of 50 watts of peak discharge current. Pulstar incorporates a capacitor into a spark plug, making it a pulse plug. Pulstar's capacitor stores energy for 4 microseconds and then discharges it in 2 nanoseconds, generating 1 million watts of power."

To the naked eye, the pulse plug and a spark plug look the same because of ISO standards that regulate size and shape, says Parker.

As it relates to the aftermarket, improving fuel economy and torque are the company's main goals.

"The market, specifically the California market for sport compact cars, muscle cars and light duty trucks in the towing market, are very specific markets for torque for very different reasons," Parker explains. "And meanwhile, the price of fuel is what's driving the need for people to buy products in the aftermarket that do what the OEMs are unable or unwilling to do."

ENERPULSE started development on Pulstar three years ago and tested it according to the EPA FTP (Federal Test Protocol) 75 test, which determines city mileage. He says they saw a 2.7-percent improvement in fuel efficiency. In recent tests conducted by ENERPULSE, Pulstar has increased fuel economy by 4 percent to 8 percent and torque from 4 percent to 12 percent as compared to spark plugs, according to Parker. The company plans to distribute the product through traditional aftermarket channels.

Performance spark plugs from Autolite — the Revolution HT™ Spark Plug and the XP Xtreme Performance™ Spark Plug — each were released to the aftermarket in 2005.

Autolite Chief Engineer Jeff Boehler says the technology in their "High-Thread" design involves placing the threads above the motor seat; normal spark plugs have threads below the motor seat, he says.

Boehler explains how this helped engine designers: "In Ford's case, they wanted to put three valves instead of two valves in the engine to improve performance. There is limited space, so we wanted to take space from somewhere else. Moving the threads up made the spark plug smaller, and it was innovative such that we didn't give up any functional aspects (of the spark plug). We're taking away space used by threads, but we don't have to make the ceramic components smaller."

Ford uses the HT Spark Plug on the 4.6L Mustang, 5.4L engines on F-series trucks and SUVS and 6.8L F-series trucks.

Fuel to market

The national average for unleaded gasoline at the end of September was $2.37 per gallon — a definite decrease from the $3 per gallon that consumers saw earlier this year. But Americans are still concerned about fuel costs.

The Fitch Fuel Catalyst from Advanced Power Systems is a poly-metallic alloy housed in a canister that connects into an engine's fuel system between the fuel tank and the engine after the fuel filter and prior to the high pressure fuel pump, explains Chris Wright, chief operating officer with Advanced Power Systems.

According to Wright, the catalyst's purpose is to reformulate fuel on board the vehicle prior to combustion. "Most fuel when it leaves the refinery tends to oxygenate — it gets water it in, grows bacteria, etc. All these things destroy fuel quality." He adds that the catalyst not only kills this bacteria, it can reverse the damage caused by it.

"The Fitch Fuel Catalyst is not a fuel additive," he continues. "It is a special alloy that does not dissolve in fuel. The fuel is reformulated by the alloy catalyst to a state where it is capable of a more complete combustion. As a result, an engine converts the chemical energy in the fuel to mechanical energy in a more efficient manner. The engine power is increased as a result and the toxic exhaust emissions are decreased."

Wright says the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) new fuel requirements are reducing how many additives can be put in fuel, therefore impacting fuel shelf life.

Although the Fitch Fuel Catalyst has been in other markets for several years, the product is just starting to reach the traditional aftermarket. "(For the aftermarket) we can help older equipment and older vehicles stay in compliance and stay in the marketplace longer."

As for fuel economy, Wright states Advanced Power Systems has done tests that show anywhere from 5 percent to 12 percent better fuel economy. "Better fuel and better combustion gets more power out of the fuel. It's going to run cleaner, longer and have lower emissions."

Alternative fuel vehicles are another way the industry is responding to the fuel problem. As we've noted in the past, automakers are fighting the environmental battle, and the aftermarket is going to need products that are compatible with different fuel types.

Delphi's Modular Reservoir Assembly (MRA) is a drop-in unit that goes in the gas tank and is designed to pump fuel from the tank to the engine.

Gary Abusamra, director of Engineering and Quality, Delphi Product & Service Solutions, says Delphi's position as a Tier 1 supplier has helped them bring innovative technologies to the aftermarket.

"This is a technology where the fuel pump, the sensor, the fuel pressure regulator, are incorporated together into one assembly and easily installed into a vehicle," he notes. "We've made changes in our plastics formulation and material changes for ethanol compatibility. Some of the features of the part have been developed to help reduce evaporative emissions, and configurations of this part have changed over the last 10 years to keep up to date in terms of government emissions regulations and diagnostic information."

Delphi's MRA, which covers applications back to 1993, is validated up to 25 percent ethanol, and about one-third of the applications are E85 or flex fuel capable. E85 is a blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gas. "That covers over 7.5 million vehicles on the road today," Abusamra says. "Translated back to the customer and technician, that basically means the car isn't going to come back. They can have the confidence of that validation and experience behind the product, and they're not going to have failures due to the product being exposed to a high percentage of ethanol or damage to the sensor due to sulfur."

Abusamra explains that one of the technological issues with a product like the MRA is that it sits in the fuel tank and is exposed to fuel all the time, so they needed to create a product with long-term durability.

"Another feature of the product is that it has a reservoir that is constantly replenished, so even if there is not a lot of fuel in the tank, there's still enough around the pump to make sure it's providing enough fuel to the engine," Abusamra notes.

Illuminating ideas

Safety is another major driver in product development, and lighting is just one area where manufacturers are focusing R&D efforts. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (NHTSA) National Center for Statistics & Analysis, 43,443 people were killed in motor vehicle crashes in 2005. NHTSA also reported that 21,846 of these crashes occurred at night, an increase of more than 500 over the previous year.

At a press conference earlier this year, Valeo Sylvania (a 50/50 joint venture between Valeo and Osram Sylvania) reported that lighting performance is essential to "see and be seen" in vehicles, especially at night. Valeo Sylvania, Valeo and their business partner Ichikoh are using the latest technologies to develop exterior lighting systems that offer improvement over traditional halogen headlamp systems.

Emerging technologies include Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs), Xenon/High Intensity Discharge (HID) headlamp systems and Adaptive Front Lighting Systems (AFS).

Thomas Kelly, vice president of sales and marketing for Valeo Sylvania, says he thinks the company's XLED™ technology is the best solution to develop. This lighting system combines Xenon and LED technology to provide AFS functionality, which has the ability to automatically modify the beam pattern of the headlamp system in response to vehicle speed and steering angle. AFS includes a motorized Xenon headlamp that rotates up to 15 degrees from their frontal position. For XLEDs, Xenon Dynamic Bending Light headlamps are integrated with LED modules.

"From an aftermarket perspective, we've got lots of opportunity to introduce this technology (HID) to a large population in North America," says Marvin Maupin, managing independent aftermarket for XSIGHTING LIGHTING™, Valeo Sylvania's aftermarket brand. "Our function is to expand the use of these technologies well beyond the OEMs."

Valeo offers a variety of aftermarket technologies, including HID headlamps, LED fog and driving lamps, LED signal lamps, and Dome™ and Lenslite™, which allow for personalization.