One of them is strong and robust, and the other is sporty and dynamic: the Ford F-150 pick-up truck and the Ford Mustang. In both vehicles, the required power is supplied by a high performance 5 liter V8 naturally aspirated gasoline engine which is fitted with an active intake manifold with robust tumble flap system from MANN+HUMMEL to ensure high efficiency and lower CO2 emissions.
Agricultural equipment on large farms has to get to the fields, the noble yacht has to reach the next harbour, and four pallets of cement bags have to reach the building site. For heavy tasks like these you need a strong partner like the Ford F‑150. This model has been the most popular pick‑up truck in the world for the last 40 years. On the other hand, the dynamic performance of the Ford Mustang is well known. The stylish sports car reaches a top speed of 250 km/h and accelerates in just 4.8 seconds from 0 to 100 km/h – to the delight of its fans worldwide.
These two contrasting vehicles have something in common: under the hood there is an impressively powerful 5.0 liter V8 naturally aspirated gasoline engine. MANN+HUMMEL developed active intake manifolds especially for this high performance Ford engine. The most important elements are the tumble flaps. They are activated in the part-load range to reduce the cross-section of the variable pipe outlets. This leads to more turbulence in the combustion chamber. The result is a faster rate of combustion, higher efficiency and therefore lower CO2 emissions.
For the engineers it was especially important that the intake manifold meets the requirements of the on-board diagnostics standard II. This prescribes monitoring of all the components in the engine which are relevant for the exhaust gas. The active intake manifold meets this requirement because the robust tumble flap system with uninterrupted stainless steel shaft and overmolded flaps enables a contact-free position feedback. In this process, a hall sensor monitors the position of the shaft and therefore of all of the flaps.
MANN+HUMMEL integrated the position sensors directly in the two underpressure actuators. The advantage of this is that the sensors are better protected. Apart from that, this solution reduces the number of required components. Especially for Ford, the engineers found a way to control the two underpressure actuators with a single solenoid valve. This intelligent component design saves the US American vehicle manufacturer parts and therefore costs.
MANN+HUMMEL produces the intake manifold for Ford in the US American plant in Portage, Michigan. The separate shells of the intake manifold are joined with the aid of hot-gas welding. The tight installation space makes the use of this process necessary because it allows for very narrow seams. With conventional vibration welding the seams surrounding the shells would be more than double the width. The use of hot-gas welding enables a smaller and therefore lighter component. It was possible to reduce the weight by approximately 1.2 kilos.
There are two variants available for the F‑150 and the Mustang. For design reasons, the variant for the Mustang has an upper shell made from a silver-grey granulate mix. In both vehicles, the intake manifold ensures that you can travel with power and efficiency – on the farm or on the highway.