Stockdorf/Munich. – Reduced consumption and air conditioning comfort are the main focus of development in new vehicles. Savings in fuel consumption are largely achieved through weight optimisation in all car components and increased energy efficiency in engines. Parking heaters, as the preferred piece of equipment when it comes to motoring well-being and improved road safety, are presented with a challenge in this area of tension: on the one hand they need to provide the required heat, which modern, efficient engines are unable to fully provide. And on the other hand they have to meet the increasing demands of the automobile industry to save on weight and space. Webasto’s response to the demands of the future is the new Thermo Top V parking heater generation.

Start faster, heat faster – get warm in express time

The core element of the Thermo Top V is the “Venturi Burner”, which has helped to halve combustion start-up and stop in comparison to previous burner technology. This means that the inside of a winter-chilled car can be warmed up to acceptable levels much faster, and will become the required comfort standard in new vehicle models. It has been achieved using a new kind of ceramic nozzle, which has a specific geometry that speeds up the throughput of air to over 50 metres per second. The fuel mixture this produces is then optimally sprayed and can be ignited immediately with the glow element. Another advantage of the ceramic nozzle is that it is particularly resistant to temperature and allows almost no wall loss, which can cause the mixture to evaporate immediately. It provides a not inconsiderable 5 kW of heat output right from the start – regardless of the engine’s operating status. Restrictions that could arise from the revolutions or loading of the on-board system are almost non-existent. The resulting steep output curve and a total efficiency of > 83% demonstrate the positive effect on passengers. Full heating power is available from the start of combustion, heating the inside of the car more quickly. Webasto has achieved a quantum leap in burner technology, the importance of which can be compared with direct fuel injection in engines.

Traditional parking heaters evaporate the fuel using a heated metal fleece, mix it with air and then burn it. This means that around 90 seconds are wasted before full output is available. Thanks to Venturi burner technology, the Thermo Top V achieves this significantly faster – in around 30% less time.

Smaller, lighter and handier

Not only does the Webasto Thermo Top V have improved heating capability, it is also twenty per cent lighter and takes up around a third less space in the car. This small space miracle is achieved through new application interfaces, which unlike all other heating devices on the market are flexibly designed. It includes especially space-saving variable connections for the flue gas system (which manage without an additional sealing element) and coolant system. The connections for the air intake elements are also completely new. They are connected quite simply with a leak-proof click mechanism, making clamps unnecessary. This not only saves space, but also makes fitting much easier.
The Thermo Top V’s increased flexibility and reduced space requirement make it easier to adapt the devices to any car and shorten handling times. This doesn’t only have a positive effect on cost. In particular, the technical effort required to upgrade supplementary heaters equipped with this new technology to full parking heaters is further reduced. And that’s music to the ears of car manufacturers. Speaking of  “hearing”: Webasto’s developers have succeeded in changing the burner’s frequency spectrum so that the running noise is even less noticeable than before.

Starting with the diesel version of the VW Touran, the new technology in both auxiliary heater as well as parking heater form will be incorporated into an increasing number of vehicles:  Audi (A3, A6, Q7), BMW 3 Series, Citroën C5, DaimlerChrysler (S Class, M Class, R Class, CL), Ford Galaxy (LMV, SAV), Jaguar (XJ, S Type), Land Rover (Freelander, Discovery, Range Rover), Peugeot 407, Skoda Octavia, VW (Jetta, Eos, Golf, Touran, Caddy, Passat), Volvo S 80.

Webasto’s parking heater systems in their conventional design, like the Thermo Top C, for example, will at any rate remain available throughout that initial phase, offering motorists technically perfected units with undisputed positions at the head of the market as attested by German consumer organization Stiftung Warentest, motoring magazine ADAC Motorwelt and the Austrian Automobile Club ÖAMTC.

Contact:
Hans-Joachim Lesser
Product News
Tel. +49 (0)89 8 57 94-1433
Fax +49 (0)89 8 57 94-1399
E-mail: hlesser@webasto.de
Internet: www.webasto.com