Changes in the macro economic scenario of Brazil during the latest 10 years resulted on several changes in the auto industry market. One, which affected important requirements of the light duty trucks, regards the migration of customers from passenger car segments to light duty pickups. A considerable portion of these new pick-up customers expects an overall level of comfort, handling, noise and vibration similar to the levels found in passenger cars.
One possible conclusion of this trend is that an optimized vehicle system integration is vital to prevent potential issues and to assure the achievement of customer satisfaction. Among several vehicle systems, the Drivetrain integration deserves the major attention.
This paper shares lessons learned on the integration of the manual Transmission, external shifter, mountings, propeller shaft, rear axle and suspension with the rest of the vehicle. An optimized integration of these systems can promote vehicle overall performance and eliminate potential issues of noise, vibration and harshness.
Among the challenges of achieving and enhancing Drivetrain Integration, there is also the need to properly understand the particularities of the markets where the vehicle will be sold. Customers from different markets tend to maneuver the same vehicle in different ways and that can result in distinct Drivetrain behavior for each market. A careful identification of the customer driving trends for each market before starting the Vehicle Design is vital to avoid potential customer complaints.
The observation of these key lessons can also reduce the development costs and surpass the customer expectation.