Former champion's car uses composite panels

A European Rallycross Championship car made my Citroën is using Carbon-Kevlar composite body panels.

The Citroën DS3 is driven by former World Champion Petter Solberg and features 11 composite parts designed and manufactured by Galway Carbon.

Each panel was vacuum infused using Scott Bader’s Crestapol 1250LV urethane acrylate type acrylic resin reinforced with carbon fibre and Kevlar fabrics. The bonnet also has a foam core in an attempt to save weight.

Parts originally made from steel such as the nearside door, bonnet and boot were instead made from the composite components, which is said to reduce the parts’ weight by between 82 and 89 percent.

Overall, Galway Carbon says the car’s original weight has been reduced by over 56kg.

Sean Hession of Galway Carbon said: “There are several reasons why we chose Crestapol 1250LV. The resin’s mechanical performance is exceptional, combining the strength and durability needed to reliably cope with harsh rally car racing conditions.

From the processing side, it is extremely good for vacuum infusion, with very rapid cycle times at room temperature, which is way ahead of any comparative epoxies, and the surface finish is excellent.”