Continental supplies innovative products for new Porsche Panamera

• Source: Gasgoo.com
• [08:31 August 28 2009]
• Comments

Energy efficiency in the transmission and fuel supply system

The Powertrain Division supplies the transmission controls for the seven-speed double-clutch transmission fitted as standard in the Porsche Panamera 4S and Panamera Turbo.

The electronics select the gear and control the gear shifts in accordance with the shift programs, taking both engine and vehicle speed and the driver's requirements into account.

This allows rapid gearshift times with maximum precision and performance. With the double-clutch transmission, optimum clutch control is the decisive factor in achieving maximum transmission efficiency.

Compared with standard transmissions, double-clutch transmissions offer significant improvements in responsiveness, gearshift times, sportiness, fuel consumption and driving characteristics.

Continental quite consciously optimized the control electronics with these features in mind. Continental is the world's leading supplier of double-clutch transmission control units.

In order to meet the very high technical and ecological requirements for the Panamera, the Powertrain Division has developed an innovative, highly integrated and high-performance fuel supply system.

In order to reduce the vehicle's electrical energy consumption, Continental's engineers have opted for the demand-controlled pump principle. The pump control electronics are installed outside the fuel tank, with a communication interface to the engine management system.

The supply unit itself, including the fuel pump, fuel level sensor and main fuel filter, is designed as a "whole life" component and is located in one of the two fuel tank chambers.

The pump is driven by a brushless motor which, compared with motors fitted with mechanical commutators, has the advantage of a considerably longer service life.

A fuel level gauge, equipped with a Magnetic Passive Position Sensor (MAPPS) is installed in each of the two tank chambers and on the flange above them.

The design of this fuel level gauge, developed and patented by Continental, protects it from fouling, wear and corrosion because the actual sensor elements and the ceramic substrate are placed in a hermetically sealed housing.

The Porsche Panamera's gasoline direct injection uses electromagnetically operated swirl injectors which have to cover a broad working spectrum from demands for maximum power and torque at one extreme to consumption-optimized partial load at the other.

A three-piston high-pressure pump is used for supplying fuel to the induction engine; the turbo version is equipped with a six-piston pump.