The Czinger C21 hypercar set a lap record at the Laguna Seca Raceway track. The previous holder was McLaren Senna and Czinger C21 beat its time by 2 seconds. The C21 costs more than $1.5 million and its body includes reinforced polymers and 3D printed titanium parts.
This 3D printed hypercar has been in the making for 6 years. The early versions were shown by California-based startup Divergent Technologies, and at the time the car was called Blade. In 2020, chief designer Kevin Czinger presented a final prototype, now owned by a startup called Czinger Vehicles. The car went through some changes in its looks, got a completely revised structure and a new engine and was now called Czinger 21C. It seems that the track version was the one to set the record. The road version will be released in 2022 as a limited series with 80 cars costing around $1.7 million each
Hybrid powertrain delivers more power to the rear axis and additional power to front ones. The system was developed in-house. It’s based on a turbocharged 2.9 liter engine that delivers the power of 925 HP. Combustion engine powers an electric motor at the front that works using lithium-titanate batteries and adds 230 HP to make the combined power 1,155 HP. The maximum speed is 236 mph (380 km/h). The car accelerates from zero to 60 mph (around 100 km/h) in just 1.9 seconds and reaches 186 mph (300 km/h) in 15 seconds.
The road version will output 1,250 HP and will reach 280 mph (450 km/h) but it will not feature a wing. Net mass of a car will just be just 2,756 lbs (1240 kg), so it will have a weight to power ratio of 2.23 pounds per horsepower (or 1 kilogram per horsepower).The car is a 2-seater, but a passenger seat is located behind a driver for better balance and visibility.
The construction of a hypercar body is quite interesting, since it includes carbon-reinforced polymers and 3D printed titanium parts. The latter were designed in-house using 3D printers by SLM solutions and multiaxial robotic manipulators.
These additive systems use the selective laser melting technology (SLM). Aiming to topologically optimize designing 3D printed elements, the generative design technology was used. An alternative method to use 3D printing for the production of metal parts would be to use a resin 3D printer such as the Phrozen Sonic XL 4K with the Bluecast resin. The printed part can be then used as a pattern for casting in aluminium, for example.
Beating a record set by McLaren Senna is a great achievement, especially considering that the sports car (that was named after legendary racer Ayrton Senna) was designed with the goal to improve the lap times. McLaren’s record was held for almost 2 years but was beaten by Joel Miller at the wheel of Czinger 21C. His time was 1 minute and 25.44 seconds, which is 2.18 seconds faster than McLaren.
