Evonik Industries has collaborated with Roding, a very low-volume manufacturer from Bavaria, to design an ultralightweight sports car. The performance vehicle will be driven in this year's DMV Touring Car Championship (DMV TCC). It premiered at a racing event in mid-June at the Hockenheimring race track. The new car is based on the Roadster made by the sports car virtuosos at Roding Automobile GmbH, which is located in the eponymous town of Roding in the Bavarian Forest region ofGermany.
Evonik equipped the vehicle with innovative automotive products for the automotive industry - including racing motor oil additives, Vestamin resin for carbon-fiber-reinforced plastics (CFRPs), and the lightweight construction material Rohacell while Roding rebuilt it into a race car.
The racing specialists at Bremotion of Frankfurt, who will put the
car into service, also added the finishing touches. "This racing project has deepened Evonik's expertise in producing ingenious components from our specialty chemicals and it shows our partner in the automotive industry how our chemicals can be put to practical use," says Eckart Ruban, who heads the Automotive Industry Team (AIT) at Evonik, explaining the background to the
project activities. Evonik bundles its automotive activities within the AIT.
Evonik is using the car as a technology platform, and the first step in the process has been to equip the car with solutions from the company's areas of expertise in lightweight construction, fuel economy, and emission reductions. The performance vehicle has Plexiglas windows for instance, which weigh around 50 percent
less than customary window materials.
This is the first year that the AIT and its partners are using the Roding Roadster as race car. Powered by a 360 hp turbocharged V6 engine, the new race car also has a lightweight CFRP chassis, and weighs approximately 1.050 kilograms. "This ultra-lightweight sports car is ideally suited for the race track," Ruban confirms with
optimism. Other Evonik materials will be used over the course of the season and tested under extreme racing conditions. Evonik is hoping that these tests will generate additional insight into the performance and longevity of its products.
In its work with the automotive industry and other project partners, the Evonik Automotive Industry Team is a constant source of ideas for the mobility of the future. As part of these efforts, specialists from various business units of the company develop innovative automotive material solutions in fields of development such as lightweight construction, fuel economy, and lighting and surface technologies.
Founded in 2008, Roding is a technology firm and low-volume manufacturer with extensive expertise in the fields of lightweight construction, composites, and overall vehicle design.
