NTN Corporation has announced it has developed what it describes as a light and high efficiency driveshaft designed exclusively for rear wheel drive cars. The Japanese supplier notes this is in response to the need to decrease the mass of drivetrain components so as to improve fuel efficiency across all vehicle segments, including luxury cars. According to the company: "While optimising designs to meet this requirement, NTN is also able to reduce backlash in the rotational direction of [the] driveshaft to enhance driving feel and operation."

The new driveshaft is composed of two newly-developed slide type, cross-grooved, constant velocity joints (CVJs) and a hollow shaft connecting the two joints.

Compared to conventional cross-grooved CVJs, NTN has reduced the outer ring outer diameter of the new CVJs by using smaller balls and lowered the part mass using a hollow inter-connecting shaft. NTN claims the new CVJ has the same durability as the conventional one through increasing the number of inserted balls from six to ten.

Compared to conventional CVJ, the new unit is designed to achieve less rolling element sliding by creating a smaller inclination angle between the ball groove against the axial line. The company claims that design optimisation has also led to higher efficiency (40% reduction of torque loss) and to the reduction of backlash in the rotational direction.

NTN will be targeting the new driveshaft at luxury car applications in Japan, Europe and elsewhere.

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