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Product Background
Speed to Market came to life with the Doran Design JE4 project. The Grand American Road Racing Series developed a new rules package for the 2003 season. The new package called for a new car design. Doran Design recognized the opportunity this presented and contracted Catalyst to develop the bodywork for the new car. Catalyst and Doran worked hand in hand in creating and developing the new car design.
The Challenge
The new car must comply with the new rules package and be competitive upon shipment from the manufacturer. The timeline was very tight, with only 12 weeks allotted for Industrial Design and Engineering to be completed.
The Design
 The initial brainstorming process produced several sketches that were quickly narrowed down to only one. Once the final body work concept was selected, curves were generated to demonstrate the body’s position relative to the chassis, which allowed us to determine problem areas and minimize the frontal area. The cockpit was designed to create some pressurized areas at the trailing edge of the windows. This area was used for a cooling duct for the engine compartment and exhaust vents for cockpit ventilation. Since the delivery of the first new complete car, stiff competition has commanded continuous improvement of the initial design. In this process Doran Design and Catalyst have collaborated to develop both low and high down force components for the components that can be changed within the rules package. Catalyst has also analyzed various components of the suspension in an effort to reduce the amount of unsprung weight for the car. Starting with the analysis of an existing part, we can locate areas of material that are not providing structural purpose and remove them to deduce the overall mass of the part.
The Catalyst Difference
 Traditional race car builders would have stopped with the generation of the preliminary model. Artisans at the composite shop would have been asked to generate the split lines and joints for the entire car from one large body block. Knowing that this process could be done much more efficiently, the Catalyst Engineering team developed all of the individual body panels to ensure a solid, reliable joint at each seam. By engineering the individual panel bucks, Doran was able to reduce the time needed to manufacture the bodywork. The bucks were sourced to different machine shops and the quality could be controlled using the database generated at Catalyst.
Speed to Market
The entire program from initial concepts through final engineering lasted only 12 weeks. Doran Design was able to field a car at the Daytona by letting Catalyst speed the design and manufacturing process for the bodywork with new technologies.
 The Result
The Doran JE4 enjoyed a very successful first campaign. The chassis won the first driver’s championship under the new rules package and won the 2004 Rolex 24 Hour Race. |
