POLIMOTOR 2, PLASTIC CAR ENGINE

Light weight materials like carbon fibre, Kevlar & other composite materials like Titanium, Magnesium have been used extensively in high performance cars to reduce weight. One critical component has always been left untouched since the inception of internal combustion engines is the powerplant itself. But this will soon be changed as a company called Solvay Chemicals has partnered up with US-based engineer Matt Holtzberg to build engine using plastic. The upcoming plastic motor under development has been christened Polimotor 2 and it’s a turbocharged four-cylinder powerplant. According to the engineers of Polimotor 2, by employing various polymers it is expected that the new motor will weigh around 63 to 67kg. This makes the plastic crafted engine around 40kg lighter than a conventional four-cylinder mill. 

Solvay plans to replace 10 components on the plastic engine with parts made from seven of its high-performing thermoplastic materials. These include the oil pump, water pump, water inlet/outlet, throttle body, fuel rail, cam sprockets and also the turbo charger. The Polimotor 2 will be used to power the M-20 C Coupe concept car built by French race car engineer Norma Auto Concept, which will be tested next year. This engine will feature a plastic turbocharger & improved fuel injection system. Power output is expected to pump out 450HP@8000RPM.

The previous version of the engine, called the Polimotor, was built in 1982. It was based on a 2.0-litre Cosworth BDA engine and was rated at 290bhp at 8,500rpm. Among the parts made out of plastic in the previous engine were the engine block, cam cover, air intake trumpets, intake valve stems, piston skirts and wrist pins, connecting rods, oil scraper piston rings, tappets, valve spring retainers and timing gears. It weighed 84 kg, which was half the weight of the engine that used metal parts. This engine was fitted to a Lola T616, which was raced in the International Motorsport Association’s Camel GT Championship and in the Camel Lights (C2) category in 1984 and 1985. A turbocharged V6 prototype was also built, but was only used for testing purposes & was said to have reliability issues. While the first Polimotor used glass-reinforced plastic, the Polimotor 2 also features carbon fibre. Both these engines use a patented material called Torlon. Earlier manufactured by Amoco Chemicals, the rights to produce and manufacture the material are now held by Solvay