Case Study: Hornet Racing achieves 50% lighter intake and dramatically improved engine performance with Carbon

How CSU Sacramento’s Hornet Racing Formula SAE team improved engine performance

Hornet Racing, CSU Sacramento’s Formula SAE team, needed to overcome severe airflow and drivability problems caused by competition rules that replaced four throttle bodies with a single throttle and a 20 mm restrictor. Constrained by traditional machining and molding, the team couldn’t iterate or achieve the complex geometries required to improve throttle response and even air distribution. To address this, Hornet Racing partnered with Carbon and used Carbon’s Digital Light Synthesis technology and RPU 70 material to reimagine the engine intake manifold.

Using Carbon’s Digital Light Synthesis, Hornet Racing produced an integrated, previously impossible intake that consolidated parts (cutting weld joints), integrated fuel injector ports, and incorporated a shock-cone “bulb” with dimpled spike and tapered runners to minimize boundary-layer formation. The Carbon-enabled manifold reduced weight by about 50%, allowed the engine to rev to 14,000 RPM (a 33% increase over the prior 10,500 RPM limit), smoothed power delivery, improved handling, and helped the HR2017 achieve the team’s best competition finish—16th overall out of 80 teams.

Hornet Racing