Solvay developing all-plastic auto engine for 2016 racing test

HOUSTON (ICIS)–Chemical producer Solvay plans to develop a plastic automotive engine to be tested in a race car in 2016, the company said on Monday.

Called Polimotor 2, the idea dates back to the first Polimotor engine designed in the 1980s that was tested and actually raced, though never installed in a street-model car.

The Polimotor 2, a four-cylinder, double-overhead CAM engine, will be made of specialty polymers and weigh 138 to 148 lbs (63-67 kgs), or about 90 lbs (41 kgs) less than today’s standard production engine, according to Solvay.

The project will replace up to 10 metal engine components – the water pump, oil pump and cam sprockets, for example – with parts made from seven of its high-performing thermoplastic materials.

Augusto Di Donfrancesco, president of Solvay’s Specialty Polymers Global Business Unit, said the project will prove that high performance polymers offer solutions in reducing weight, lowering fuel consumption and are a key contributor in diminishing CO2 emissions.

Two Polimotor engines went a long way toward proving that point in the 1980s.

Weighing between 150-170 lbs, the engines were designed by Matty Holzberg, a New Jersey-based car enthusiast, in partnership with Ford Motor and Amoco Chemical.

The first engine was never installed in a car, but the second motor went into a Lola T-616 racer with an engine block made largely of Torlon thermoplastic that raced at Watkins Glen in 1984, according to a story in the New York Times that year.

Historical information found on car blogs and websites say that the Polimotor engine was successful in racing, running smoothly and producing horsepower and RPMs much higher than metal counterparts, with only a third of the weight.

The problem was its cost, because the engine had to be virtually hand-built. Mass-producing the plastic parts was considered then to be cost-prohibitive, so Ford shelved the project.

Solvay said the Polimotor 2 will be installed in a Norma M-20 concept car in 2016 to compete in racing at Lime Rock Park, Connecticut.