Well, it’s a start, I guess. When you think of the Porsche Cayenne, efficient or eco-friendly aren’t the first things to spring to mind. For me, words like “useless” and “insulting” are what pop up first, but that’s not the subject at hand at the moment. No, what we have here is a Porsche Cayenne that has been worked over by an outfit called the Schaeffler Group, and they say it’s spewing out 10% less CO2.
The Schaeffler Group is a German bearing supplier, and their new concept based on the Porsche Cayenne, was made to demonstrate the possibilities for CO2 reduction through friction reduction. No, seriously. You don’t think of that as a way to make things greener, but hey, Schaeffler obviously got to where it is by worrying about little things.
Schaeffler worked with Porsche on this modded out Cayenne, officially dubbed the CO2ncept-10% Cayenne (and guys, you got to work on better names, OK? Shoot, hire me, my rates are low). The Schaeffler Group supplied new bearings for the differentials as well as various improved engine components. Just how picky-picky-picky were Schaeffler? Let’s just put it this way, the differentials bearings, which used to be tapered roller bearings, were replaced with angular contact ball bearings. That picky.
The Schaeffler Group Cayenne was shown at the ATZ/MTZ Congress in Esslingen, Germany and featured a whole slew of minute tweaks. For example, the stock from Porsche hydraulic cam-phasing hardware was changed out for a new and more efficient electromechanical system. The Schaeffler Group was able to get further friction reductions by optimizing the tappets an belt and chain drive systems.
Also, the former hydraulic roll stabilizer has been supplanted by an electrical version. So how does this save gas and make things more efficient? Think of it as the same way that changing out a conventional hydraulic power steering system with electrical/electromechanical equivalents can help make things more efficient by reducing drag and parasitic losses.
Source: AutoBlogGreen. Photos from AutoBlogGreen, Michi1308, Ed Callow [ torquespeak ], and We-Present: Travel-UggBoy-The-Photo grapher!
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