Lightweight Lotus is top of its class
By Helen Gilbert Posted 21 October 2008 9:35 am GMT
The Lotus cruised to 24 hour race win
A lightweight Lotus raced into pole position during a meeting at Silverstone thanks in part to the materials it was made from.
Evonik’s Lotus Exige took part in the 24 hour race last weekend and emerged top of its class with a lead of 44 laps against more powerful racing cars.
The racing car, which weighs in at just 820 kilos compared to the 935 kilos of the standard version, is made of lightweight material including Rohacell.
Rohacell is a polymethacrylimide structural foam used as a core for sandwich composites. Both the rear airfoil and the front and rear hatches of the Lotus are made of Rohacell combined with layers of fibre-reinforced epoxy resin.
According to Evonik, the use of Rohacell as the sandwich core eliminated the need for costly and heavy layers of carbon fibres. Yet the highly rigid, extremely light rear wing can withstand enormous wind pressures even at high speeds.
The firm added that using Rohacell components alone resulted in weight savings of about 20kg, allowing greater acceleration and improved handling.
The material is also used on aerospace applications such as rotor blades of helicopters or for fuselage parts.
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