BASF & Hyundai Motor Company Has A JV for the RN30
The RN30, jointly developed by BASF and Hyundai Motor Company, combines key solutions from the chemical industry with purposeful aerodynamic design and specialized high-performance technologies.
As a racing machine designed for race tracks, the RN30 must be lightweight and have a low center of gravity. While high-performance cars generally contain carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) to reduce weight, the partners moved away from the fixed idea of using CFRP. Instead they explored new lightweight materials by BASF suitable for high-performance cars as an alternative.
For example, due to their outstanding flowability, BASF’s Elastolit rigid integral foam and reaction injection molding (RIM) systems developed for body panels permit the realization of even those most challenging designs such as the fender and spoiler of the RN30. Combining high quality with low weight, they can even directly be painted due to their Class A surface.
The RN30 also features semi-structural sandwich solutions for the trunk floor, providing a considerable weight reduction as well as a highly efficient production process. BASF’s Elastoflex E, a spray impregnation polyurethane for very light and stiff sandwich structures consisting of a long-fiber reinforced surface layer and a paper honeycomb is the ideal material for these applications.
When driving at maximum speed, drivers have to rely on the uncompromising quality of durable and reliable materials. BASF’s Infinergy is the world’s first expanded thermoplastic polyurethane. Combined with an elastic coating, it is used in the roll bar padding of the RN30 because of its long-term durability and outstanding resilience.
Fast cars also need high-performance brake systems. BASF has developed a new technology, Hydraulan 406 ESI, which it says exceeds all technical challenges and fulfills demanding legislative requirements by extending the durability of the brake elastomer.
For the complex and compact electronic assemblies of the RN30, BASF’s new Ultramid Advanced N allows for miniaturization, functional integration and freedom of design. It can be used in electronic components as well as structural parts near the engine and the gearbox in contact with hot, aggressive media and different fuels.
During the interior design process, RN30 designers and racing experts from Hyundai Motorsport worked closely together to deliver a layout that helps the driver focus his attention more intensely on driving. A bucket seat for racing, which perfectly fits the driver’s body and an integrated roll cage, which increases the vehicle body strength, protect the driver in precarious situations.
For those parts with complex geometry such as the seat shell and pan, BASF offers Ultracom, a thermoplastic composite system for parts with continuous fiber reinforcement in injection-molded structures. This allows the seat to be lighter while still maintaining optimum strength and rigidity. The seat shell and pan owe their final shape to a matched combination of semi-finished products like tapes or laminates and injection-molding compounds.
In the realization of such parts, BASF’s unique simulation tool Ultrasim, as well as its Ultratest parts testing facilities and processing technologies play a major role across the entire process chain of seat component production.
Race cars are reduced to the maximum to avoid any unnecessary ballast weight such as air conditioning. Keeping the car cool and comfortable can be achieved with heat management solutions such as BASF’s near infrared-reflective films, protecting windows of the RN30 against solar heat. The entirely organic and transparent film has an advantage over metal films in that it is designed to filter out only infrared rays while allowing other rays such as light, GPS and telephone signals to pass through.
The water-based binder Acrodur strengthens the natural fibers and enables an environmentally compatible, dimensionally stable and, above all, lightweight solution for car composites such as dashboards and door panels of the RN30 which can be finished in various ways for high-quality design.
RN30. RN30’s power is supplied by a high-performance 2.0-liter turbocharged engine, under development by Hyundai for N production models, upgraded with an enlarged turbo to increase thrust at full throttle. To manage the additional power, the engine block has been applied by forging parts, instead of casting parts, to increase its durability and resistance. As a result, the RN30 features 380 PS (279.5 kW) and a maximum torque of 451 N·m (333 lb-ft).
A wet-type dual-clutch transmission (DCT) delivers quicker responses during gear shifting and direct coupling to provide dynamic acceleration. To manage the car’s power while enabling precision driving at high speed, the RN30 is equipped with an all-wheel drive (AWD) system.
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