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Graph Conclusions??
A lot of the gains from what I have read and been told is from the reduced mass of the bearings. This can be seen the in the Timken bar chart and the comparison graphs. The slip and inertia are directly related to the mass of the balls in the bearing...
This would seem to negate any benefit from a ceramic coating, as the hardness is not really relevant and the negligible thickness would not appreciably affect the mass.
Many racing two stroke engines benefited from ceramic bearings in their crankshaft assemblies owing to the reduced inertia. As for cars, as was stated, I tend to think transmissions and such would benefit the most, as they tend to have higher speeds and loads than wheel bearings, etc. It should be noted that ball bearing applications in auto engines are few and far between, with most running plain journal bearings.
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