Case Study: Rodin Cars achieves lightweight, large-scale titanium gearbox production with 3D Systems' DMP Factory 500

Rodin Cars Uses 3D Printing to Produce Titanium Gearboxes for Ultimate Hypercar

Rodin Cars, a New Zealand boutique manufacturer, set out to build the Rodin FZERO—an ultra‑light, track‑focused hypercar engineered to outperform modern F1 lap times—and needed large, high‑quality titanium components (notably an eight‑speed sequential gearbox) to meet extreme weight, strength and corrosion‑resistance targets. Conventional casting and most metal printers couldn’t deliver the required build volume or performance, so the company faced the challenge of producing large, thin‑walled titanium parts to exacting tolerances.

Working with Ricardo and 3D Systems (including its Application Innovation Group), Rodin used the large‑format DMP Factory 500 and LaserForm Ti Gr23 to print the gearbox as four sections with integrated internal channels. The final titanium gearbox measures 400 × 650 × 300 mm, weighs 68 kg including internals, features 2 mm case walls, was printed under <25 ppm oxygen for high purity, and achieved excellent accuracy and repeatability—delivering the lightweight, high‑performance solution the FZERO required.

Rodin Cars

Adam Waterhouse

Lead Engineer