Case Study - Radical

NT CADCAM, the leading UK reseller for SolidWorks, in conjunction with Steve Prentice Design (SPD), has enabled innovative racing company Radical Sportscars to develop its latest state-of-the-art racing engine. The 2.6 litre, V8 engine producing almost 400 BHP is based upon combining 2 Suzuki motorcycle engines, and is acknowledged to be a technological milestone in engine development. Successfully launched at the Autosport show on January 13th, Radical Sportscars already has over 18 orders.

Steve Prentice of SPD is the designer behind the Radical V8 and has worked with both SolidWorks and NT CADCAM since their introduction into the UK in 1997. He explains the significance of both in bringing the Radical V8 to life, and how this interacts with other key factors. “Radical has years of experience of working with Suzuki motorcycle engines and a constant source of supply. They also have access to the required levels of professional expertise and funding required to develop an engine of this nature as an affordable Clubmans race engine comparable on performance with exotic and expensive Formula engines. The engine was essentially a niche waiting to happen.”

He continues, “It is in this context that the role of NT CADCAM and SolidWorks can be best understood. The engine simply couldn’t have been designed in the time frame it was without SolidWorks. We would have expected to have gone through a secondary design stage to compensate for components that would have required further refinement or complete redesign. The sheer range of functionality that SolidWorks provides was instrumental in SPD choosing it when it first came to the UK in 1997. It was and remains simply in a different league to the competition. In fact, on the Radical project, SolidWorks has proved more capable than a full seat of Pro-Engineer by delivering functionality that Pro-Engineer couldn’t match, and at a price that is totally affordable. The support and assistance from the NT CADCAM team has been first class.”

In fact, the value of NT CADCAM and SolidWorks has proved itself so much to Radical Motorsport that Radical have now invested in their own system from NT CADCAM, which is already delivering significant benefits.

Bob Clements, NT CADCAM’s Marketing Director is delighted at the success of the project. “Since originally meeting Steve Prentice in 97, it was obvious that he was not only an incredibly talented engine designer, but also really understood how to get the most from 3D CAD software. The fact that SPD has delivered such a successful design project to Radical in such a condensed time-frame, simply re-enforces the strength of partnership between NT CADCAM and SolidWorks.”