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Rapid changes in competitive automotive market trends and customer expectations have forced automobile manufacturers to offer better products with more distinctive features and improved comfort, all at a lower cost. Occupant comfort within the cabin compartment and easy operation of peripheral controls are some of the important factors under consideration while choosing the vehicle over its competition. In the clutch actuation system, the clutch pedal is the first key customer touch point between driver and vehicle transmission hence its performance is most significant to the overall quality perception and customer appeal. The effect of high clutch pedal effort of the clutch actuation system is felt by the driver during heavy traffic conditions, where frequent gear shifts are required, this becomes an annoyance to the driver decreasing his productivity.

Indian automotive market has grown extremely competitive in the recent past. In order to meet the ever growing expectations of the customers, automobile manufacturers are compelled to offer their products under superior quality with supreme comfort. Customers wish of high levels of tactile comfort in the cabin compartment and effortless operation of peripherals will result in negligible fatigue and a pleasant drive, needs to be duly fulfilled. One has to focus more on Gear shift lever and Steering wheel, which are being the most sensitive tactile points in an automobile. The gear shift lever knob is frequently used and significantly influences the perception of the shift comfort for a driver during actual vehicle application.

In a heavy commercial vehicle, the engine cooling package is designed by considering peak heat load on the vehicle cooling system from an engine end. In cooling systems, the major unit that consumes most power from the engine is the engine cooling fan. It was seen from the vehicle measured duty cycle data, for most of the time engine operates at part load condition. Regardless of demand from the engine cooling system, engine fan was operating continuously at equivalent speed of the engine. This results in continuous consumption of productive engine power from the fan end ultimately affecting vehicle fuel economy. The present study shows that low idle speed viscous fan has the potential to meet stringent engine cooling performance requirements and consumes less engine power throughout an actual vehicle duty cycle. Experiments were conducted on test vehicle with different fan speeds.