Out of many one. (Wip).

Daihatsu's Copen sports car has one thing in common with the new Mini Coopen a Front-end module built around a plastic base, and delivered to the line as a complete unit, ready For installation. Daihatsu will add the bumpers and headlights to the Denso-manufactured module, which will be delivered with the radiator, electric Fan, air conditioning condenser, turbocharger intercooler, and air cleaner in place. Denso's unit, however, uses polypropylene reinforced with long-strand fiberglass instead of glass mat reinforced thermoplastic, or resin-molded pieces reinforced with steel plates. This, Denso claims, reduces weight by about 30% compared to a conventional steel carrier unit, and makes recycling easier.

According to the company, the switch to polypropylene significantly reduced the Front-end carrier weight by nearly 2 kg. It didn't come easy, however. Traditionally, the Fiberglass reinforcement used to strengthen polypropylene is 0.2 to 0.3 mm long. In this application, Denso made the Fibers 10 times longer, developed a new mold Filling CAE program to eliminate the breakage that can occur under the shear Force created when the molten resin is introduced, and optimize the shape of the Flow From the screw to the carrier. The longer strands improve strength and rigidity, and are combined with a new polypropylene Formulation (jointly developed with Mitsui Sumika PolyoleFin] that is designed to withstand several decades of wear-and-tear.

Denso says the Front-end module concept is applicable to vehicles larger than the diminutive Daihatsu [open, and lowers OEM assembly costs significantly. A good rule-of-thumb, claims the company, is that modularization by Function cuts costs by 1 o% compared to conventional assembly methods, increases Functionality, reduces variation and often improves both performance and packaging.