Cupra Is Using 3D Printed Parts On Its Wild 2020 Leon Competicion Racer

BY Dan Mihalascu | Posted on

With the all-new 2020 SEAT Leon out in the open, the automaker is now preparing for the unveiling of the Cupra Leon Competicion racer.

Scheduled to debut on February 2020, the new touring car racer is shaping up to be a wild-looking thing, judging from these teaser images released by SEAT’s performance brand. The front end is dominated by a massive bumper sculpted by aerodynamics, an angrier Cupra grille and huge bonnet air vents.

It’s also pretty clear that the Leon Competicion will be much wider than the road car, with the broader fenders housing big motorsport wheels shod with racing tires.

Another in-your-face element of the 2020 Cupra Leon Competicion is the massive fixed rear wing. Interestingly, many of the parts used by the new race car have been 3D printed. Those include the mirror caps, steering wheel center control module, bonnet air vents, and brake and water cooling inlets.

The parts were produced using HP’s industrial grade Jet Fusion 5200 3D printing solution and fitted to Leon Competicion prototypes which recently underwent development tests on the Portimao track in Portugal.

According to Cupra, this solution ensures greater agility, efficiency and flexibility. “The main goal is to have a lot of parts in a short time. We can quickly test a wide variety of designs and furthermore, since vehicle development is now done in parallel, this technology enables us to react swiftly to any changes in the design process”, says Xavi Serra, the Head of technical development at CUPRA Racing.

For example, TCR regulations stipulate that the side mirror must have the same shape as on the production car. However, 3D printing enabled Cupra engineers to give it an additional function by designing an air intake in the maximum pressure zone, thus providing the driver with more cooling.

The new Cupra Leon Competicion will debut on February 20 at the inauguration of the Cupra Garage in Barcelona, Spain. In a first for a touring race car, Cupra has already opened pre-bookings for a batch of 10 units. All pre-booked Leon Competicion race cars will be delivered exclusively at the brand’s new headquarters from April 2020.

 

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