Production of the Koenigsegg CCX Body-In-White.

As the use of composites increases in the Automotive Sector, the integration of production techniques with material selection is essential to meet the cost targets demanded by OEM's. Devising a competitive process for full scale production of an all composite car is the major challenge facing moulders of automotive composite components today. Building on their involvement with the McLaren-Mercedes SLR project, Smiths Aerospace, based in Hamble-le-Rice, Hampshire UK, have now embarked upon full scale production of the Koenigsegg CCX Body-In-White.

Just a decade after the launch of the original CCR sees the emergence of the CCX, the latest update to the car that broke the world speed record. The CCX has been re-engineered to comply with US crash regulations and now includes a new composite carbon fibre chassis, carbon fibre bodywork and an updated engine that was developed in-house.

ACG was instrumental in the initial re-engineering of the project, manufacturing tooling and several pre-production prototype body kits at its UK base. However, for large-scale commercial production of the car, a company with a manufacturing facility was required. Facing stiff international competition, Smiths were eventually selected as manufacturer by Koenigsegg and immediately set to work on a costdown programme for the car.

A thorough review of material options was undertaken in collaboration with ACG engineers. A solution based around ACG's MTM®58FRB was selected for the chassis and structural components, as this system offers the best balance between performance and competitive pricing. ACG's BPS240 carbon body panel system was selected for the bodywork.

Both systems offer the flexibility of curing under vacuum-only conditions, thus enabling Smiths to optimise work flow through their plant. All prepregs were nested onto Smiths' XY CNC cutting machines at the earliest opportunity, giving optimum material usage with a fixed bill of materials for order placement purposes. This resulted in efficient materials scheduling into their plant for the duration of the contract, together with enhanced quality control of the moulded components.

All finished mouldings are also CNC machined on Smiths' 5-axis milling machines, thereby minimising labour input while also increasing repeatability. Smiths also assembles the chassis and panels to Body-In-White standard, providing instant feedback on any engineering issues that needed to be addressed on-line, again giving their customer the advantage of an entire turn-key package.