The Automotive News PACE Award stands for excellent innovations, technological advances, and outstanding company performances. Schaeffler has made the list of nominees with its integrated torque converter (iTC).

The product’s performance in relation to its design envelope is unrivaled.
The list of nominees for the Automotive News PACE Award reads like a who’s who of automotive suppliers: 33 innovations from 27 companies worldwide have made the coveted list. One of them is Schaeffler with its integrated torque converter. “We are proud to be participating in the PACE Award again this year with our integrated torque converter”, said Matthias Zink, CEO Automotive of Schaeffler AG, when confirming the nomination.
“Being able to place an innovative product for automatic transmissions with such a renowned automotive award shows us that optimizing drive trains based on internal combustion engines remains an important factor for successfully shaping mobility for tomorrow in spite of the continuous trend towards hybridization and electrification. Of course, we also see great potential for electrified drives on the North American market”, adds Mr. Zink. Hybridizing the drive train will make it possible to meet future legal requirements.

For hybrid drives in P2 arrangement that are installed between the internal combustion engine and the automatic transmission, Schaeffler is developing a solution which connects the electric motor on the transmission side with the particularly compact torque converter.

Reduced design space and higher efficiency
With the integrated torque converter, Schaeffler offers its customers an innovative solution for high-performance torque transmission. The essential characteristic of the iTC is a lock-up clutch which is integrated into the converter turbine. Due to the change in design, the converter provides a significant reduction in weight in a smaller axial design envelope. Moreover, the innovative iTC allows for further enhancements within the transmission, such as additional gears and complex damping systems which help to improve the overall system's NVH behavior (noise, vibration, and harshness), fuel efficiency, and drive train performance.
Automotive News places high requirements on its participants, which is why the renowned award is considered to be a benchmark for innovation in the industry worldwide. The winners will be announced in the Detroit Max M. and Marjorie S. Fisher Music Center on April 9, 2018.