Software speeds GT racer to the show

An ICEM product story

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Aug 6, 2003

The Icem Surf surface modelling, analysis and visualisation software enabled designers at Seat to complete the design of the body for the new Cupra GT racer in just two months.

The Icem Surf surface modelling, analysis and visualisation software was instrumental in enabling the designers at Spanish automotive manufacturer Seat to complete the design of the body for the new Seat Cupra GT racer in just two months - from stylist's design sketches to a full-scale physical model.

Unveiled at the Barcelona Motor Show in April, the stunning Cupra GT is the result of joint design and development work by Seat Sport and the Seat Design Centre.

With a 3 litre, V6 engine delivering some 500bhp, a top speed of 295km/h and a 0-100 km/h time of 4.2s, the Cupra GT's power is harnessed in a striking body built for speed, handling and visual impact.

Seat's designers used Icem Surf throughout the body design and development process in order to reduce the number of iterations required to arrive at the final shape, to ensure dimensional accuracy and tolerances as an aid to Class A surfaces development and to cut overall development time.

Designers, clay modellers and Icem Surf users worked in parallel, refining the design by modifying the clay model and updating the Icem Surf digital model accordingly, or modifying the digital model and making the appropriate changes to the clay.

Once the final design had been agreed, the Icem Surf digital model data were used in the machining of a full-scale prototype model of the car for display at the Barcelona Motor Show.

"Icem Surf enables good interaction between the stylists and the body designers", says Juan Perez Serrano, Manager of Exterior Design at Seat.

"This is very important to us during the design development process because the stylists will change various features of the body shape as the design proceeds.

With Icem Surf we are able to modify the digital surface model very quickly and see the results of these changes immediately, while ensuring that the overall design continues to meet our surface quality requirements".

Icem Surf's assembly modelling and photorealistic visualisation facilities were also used extensively for design review purposes during the design development process, enabling the design team to create high quality visualisations of the Cupra GT that could be viewed on normal desktop PCs rather than requiring the use of expensive, specialised graphics workstations.

"Icem Surf has enabled us to combine the traditional clay modelling approach to design with highly accurate, real-time digital modelling", says Serrano.

"This combination gives us the control we need to develop the design data required by engineering at the same time as satisfying the stylists' needs and maintaining the design intent".

The new Seat Cupra GT is expected to race in this year's Spanish GT series and Seat Sport will start building GTs to customer order later this year.