Aston Martin has been an icon of speed and subtle sexiness for almost 100 years, winning the most distinctive races in the world throughout the 20’s (French Grand Prix), 30’s (Biennial Cup at Le Mans), and 40’s and sweeping victories throughout the 50’s (Le Mans 24 Hours).
But for more than 45 years, the Aston Martin legend lay dormant on the racetrack.
The company resurrected their racing heritage in 2005 when they returned to the world circuit as Aston Martin Racing (AMR). AMR’s DBR9 gained an amazing CT1 class victory that year. Two years later, Aston Martin triumphed at Le Mans. James Bond or not, Aston Martin is back.
This time, AMR has geared up with some extra technology in their pocket.
For a car company like Aston Martin, where prestige and precision have been part of their heritage since 1913, going digital meant greater quality in less time.
After an extensive benchmarking process, AMR chose PTC Creo and PTC Windchill in 2011 for 3D CAD design of its racing vehicles and for product lifecycle management (PLM) in its racecar division.
In this three-minute video, PTC interviews Rick Simpson, Design Engineer at Aston Martin Racing. He explains the specifics of how PTC’s Creo design toolset helps them reduce lead times from design and fix design issues before they go into manufacturing.
With the Creo suite, Aston Martin can take a design scribbled together by a novice designer, put it into Creo Parametric and make it work. AMR can perform CFD analysis in Creo early on, and designers can make ergonomically comfortable controls. Instead of waiting for the expensive prototype, problematic areas are now digitally tested and corrected early in the design process using Creo.
In the end, AMR reduces waiting time for customers and shaves months – or years – off of production times using Creo. Check out their latest Le Mans prototype (LMP1) race car that took only six months to design.
