2006 Ford Mustang GT AR500 Concept - Images, Specifications and Information

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Antonov, a European automotive technology company, is presenting its innovative 2-speed Supercharger drive system at the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) show running Tuesday 31 October to Friday 3 November 2006 at the Las Vegas Convention Centre. A Hummer H3 incorporating the patented technology will be presented at the show on stand 11976 by Antonov's US distributor Wheel to Wheel Powertrain and the system's performance enhancing characteristics will be demonstrated at the show proving grounds in a Ford Mustang GT.

The performance enhancing characteristics of Antonov's 2-speed drive system will be dramatically verified at the show's proving grounds through its AR500 Ford Mustang GT demonstrator on the afternoon of Thursday 2 November. Road test editors and automotive journalists are being invited to take a ride with SCCA national road racing licence holder Gautam Pathak, who will put the high performance rear wheel drive car through its paces. Pathak has extensive driving experience gained at numerous test tracks all over the world and developed his skills as a vehicle dynamics engineer with Ford and Visteon. He is currently director of product development with the exhaust specialist company Corsa, whose equipment is also featured on the car.

In the Mustang, Wheel to Wheel Powertrain has neatly installed the 2-speed drive and the Rotrex Supercharger beneath the intake manifold, so that the system nestles neatly into the valley of the V8 engine. Wheel to Wheel also custom fabricated the cold air induction system, which features an aluminium intake manifold with five internally mounted liquid-to-air intercoolers. In the Hummer, the 2-speed Supercharger drive system has been installed to share the power steering bracket of the I5 engine.

In the Mustang, Antonov's planetary gearset automatically engages a 1.36-to-1 step-up ratio in the first half of the engine rev band during hard acceleration. The higher speed of the Supercharger impellor increases power and torque to the rear wheels by an impressive 58 per cent at engine speeds up to 4,200rpm. We have the same step-up ratio in the Hummer and anticipate a similar percentage increase in performance.

The series production of a 2-speed Antonov drive aimed at the US tuner market is already proving the capability of the system as a compact and effective solution for a number of powertrain applications. Antonov is already investigating the potential for its compact 2-speed Supercharger drive system to replace a much larger positive displacement compressor in a high volume production engine, where very tight packaging and close matching of the Supercharger to the engine is the primary motive. Further applications to improve powertrain efficiency are also being investigated through research into front end accessory drives. This enables the vehicle alternator and air conditioning to be run more efficiently, whilst providing the output needed by modern cars when the engine is idling.

The mainstream automotive trend towards fuel cell and hybrid electric vehicles, as well as smaller displacement internal combustion engines, similarly implies a need for more forced induction systems and hence centrifugal Superchargers ... again another opportunity to better match the characteristics of the blower to the engine with 2-speed drive systems. There is also growing interest in the use of 2-speed drives in conjunction with alternating current electric motors as a lower cost alternative to permanent magnet motors in electric vehicles.

The Antonov Mechanical Module (AMM) is patented technology and provides a small stand-alone, self-controlling multi-speed drive system which can be designed and manufactured for 2, 3 or even 4-speed applications. The mechanism is entirely self-changing with no electronic, hydraulic or pneumatic control systems and during the design stage the shift points can be set to any desired engine speed. The benefits of a fully automatic mechanical system applied to a Supercharger include high transmission efficiency, compact size and moderate cost. The Antonov drive can be fully integrated with the latest Rotrex C30 and C38 Superchargers with no power consumption other than minimal gear losses.