New ceramic glow plugs for VW

NGK achieves breakthrough with new ceramic glow plugs for VW

With a new generation of ceramic glow plugs, NGK has now achieved a breakthrough at VW within this product segment as well. It is the first time that a European car manufacturer has installed ceramic glow plugs ex works.

Compared to conventional metal glow plugs, ceramic glow plugs reach high temperatures in a considerably shorter time. This third generation of ceramic glow plugs - New High Temperature Ceramic glow plugs (NHTC) replaces the second generation High Temperature Ceramic glow plugs (HTC), which have been available on the market since 1998. The first generation - Self-Regulating Ceramic glow plugs (SRC) was first introduced in 1985.

VW now uses two new NGK NHTC glow plugs in newly developed engines for existing diesel models. The thinner M8 glow plug has been selected for factory installation in the 2.0 litre 4-cylinder 4 valve engine e.g. in the Passat with 103 kW, while the NGK M10 glow plug is used for standard application in the 1.9 / 2.0 litre 4-cylinder 2 valve engine and 5 litre 10-cylinder engine models e.g. in the Phaeton and Touareg. In future, all 4-cylinder and V10 diesel engines with installed particulate filters will be fitted exclusively with ceramic glow plugs as original equipment.

NGK's concept of the new NHTC generation of ceramic glow plugs includes a longer heating element with a narrow diameter that achieves a significantly faster temperature rise - 1000°C under two seconds. In addition, a longer after-glow time of approx. 10 minutes becomes possible and, due to the possibility of intermediate annealing, the potential for reducing emissions - e.g. in the thrust phase - also becomes possible for the first time.

This new series of ceramic glow plugs achieves a high continuous temperature of approx. 1300°C, which ensures excellent starting behaviour even in engines with low compression ratios, which in turn also represent a potential for emission reduction. It also has improved mechanical resistance to vibration. Both new NGK NHTC glow plugs also ensure lower energy consumption.

In the areas of spark plugs and lambda sensors, NGK has been the main supplier of original equipment to the VW Group for many years. For example, NGK has won the coveted VW "Best Supplier of the Year Award" 5 times in the last 11 years. This award is given annually to only 25 of more than 10,000 VW suppliers worldwide.