Igus bearings produce fastest roadster times for Lotus Engineering

The Goodwood Festival of Speed saw Lotus Engineering's stunning Type 119B gravity racer achieve a spectacular double victory with the help of iglidur G polymer bearings.

Claiming the fastest roadster times for both of the weekend's runs, the 119B finished over 1.3 seconds ahead of its nearest open-cockpit rival. The high-tech vehicle used iglidur G plain bearings in the steering system, which during the race proved vital to the car's success.

Four competitors spectacularly crashed out at speeds of up to 60 mph, but the Lotus racer steered clear of any danger and cruised to victory. iglidur G plain bearings are ideal for lightweight applications as they are manufactured in a homogeneous polymer. The part number used in Lotus' gravity racer has a mass of just 4.44 grams. However, despite being so lightweight, iglidur G is a high performance bearing material with a static load rating of 80 MPa. The bearing the roadster used could thus tolerate a radial load of 4800kg.

The polymer material also means it is excellent at vibration damping and, as with all iglidur materials, is totally self-lubricating and maintenance free. One distinct advantage of iglidur bearings is that they can be used with virtually any shaft material, including carbon fibre shafts and aluminium shafts. This means that further weight reductions are possible when choosing igus bearings.

All igus bearings have a predictable life that can be calculated on the internet on the igus CD, or by one of the igus engineers. For details, visit www.igus.co.uk. 3D and 2D CAD files can be downloaded and a detailed technical catalogue and CD-ROM are freely available upon request.

Lotus and igus have developed a strong relationship over many years. Together they have proved that iglidur plain bearings are well suited to arduous automotive applications.

About The Author:

Carey Voth is a successful author and regular contributor to http://www.bearing-n-bearings.com. Keep things running smoothly with ball bearings, roller bearings, ball thrust bearings and tapered bearings.