US: Dana supplies Mercedes S400 hybrid

Dana has announced it is supplying its Victor Reinz sealing products and thermal-acoustical protective shielding (TAPS) for the 2010 Mercedes-Benz S400 hybrid, which is now available in the US.

The S400's 3.5-litre V6 engine is sealed with Dana's multi-layer steel cylinder-head gasket, which incorporates the supplier's patented Wave-Stopper sealing technology. The gasket, composed of annealed steel, is designed to maintain high-pressure seals at extreme temperatures - up to 200 degrees Celsius.

To help protect the power electronics system, the new Mercedes-Benz model is also equipped with Dana's thermal-acoustical protective shielding, designed to guard from extreme heat generated during engine operation. The lightweight, triple-layered design of the TAPS is composed of thin metal sections, resulting in nearly 40% mass reduction and significantly higher durability over conventional double-layer shields. Additionally, the compact design of the TAPS provides greater space savings within the S400's engine architecture. Dana is also supplying intake manifold gaskets and exhaust manifold gaskets on the hybrid engine.

Dana developed and is manufacturing these technologies at its facility in Neu-Ulm, Germany.

Says Dana chief technical officer George Constand: "Dana's contributions to the S400 Hybrid demonstrate our ability to successfully adapt our core technologies to emerging industry segments such as the hybrid/electric vehicle market."

Dana also supplies a cylinder-head gasket featuring Wave-Stopper technology on the four-cylinder E250 CDI BlueEfficiency diesel engine for the new Mercedes-Benz E-Class. Combined with the E250's advanced technology, Dana asserts that the three-layer gasket reduces fuel consumption and exhaust gas emissions - and costs less than conventional head gaskets.

Rendered: BMW Sports Car Based On Vision EfficientDynamics Concept

Despite BMW not having built a true supercar for 30 years since its original, limited-edition M1 model, insider sources at the firm have insisted on a number of occasions that management is trying to reinvent its performance image with a new 'green' sports car combining the best elements of last year’s wild M1 Homage and the latest Vision EfficientDynamics concept cars.

BMW is reportedly studying the viability of the project, with the ultimate goal to create a two-seater sports car that showcases all of the firm’s most sophisticated environmental technology. A limited production run would be timed for release at the end of 2012, and this latest computer-generated rendering gives us some clues as to what the final version could look like.

Insiders have stated that the idea is to take the sports car to a whole new level of environmental compatibility using technology and materials already in wide use today, presumably referring to lightweight materials and BMW's already in-use technologies such as stop-start systems, regenerative braking systems and direct injection, as well as other possible technologies such as cylinder deactivation.

Rumors of a possible return of the M1 supercar have been coming since November last year, and bringing a flagship sports model to market will help BMW compete against the likes of the Audi R8 and upcoming Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG.

While the R8 and SLS AMG rely on big cube displacement, the same insiders have revealed that BMW may be more inclined to use a tweaked version of the twin-turbo 3.0-liter straight-six currently found in the 335i, or possibly an even smaller unit like the 1.5-liter hybrid powertrain revealed in the Vision EfficientDynamics.

Peak output will be somewhere around the 350 horsepower and 500 pound-feet of torque vicinity. To save fuel, top speed will remain electronically limited to around 155 mph but performance will still be scintillating, with the 0-60 mph dash expected to take less than five seconds.

Developing an environmentally friendly supercar is not BMW's number one priority right now, but reportedly the project is moving at a reasonable pace--hopefully confirmation production will be forthcoming in the next few months.