Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics L+S GmbH’s Sponsored KA-Raceing Team Wins 2016 Formula Student Germany Electric Using Meldin® Thrust Washers

Garden Grove, CA, October 12, 2016 --(PR.com)-- Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics L+S GmbH lent its full support to the Formula Student Electric KA-Raceing team at the University of Karlsruhe Germany by sponsoring them this year as they participated with their KIT16e electric racecar, which raced them to the very top. The KA-Raceing team used Meldin® thrust washers from Saint-Gobain Performance Plastic L+S GmbH that were designed for the racecar’s gearbox. The Meldin® thrust washers were selected due to its excellent tribological and mechanical critical properties, having a temperature range from cryogenic through +600°F (+316°C) for continuous operation and may be used intermittently up to +900°F (+482°C).

The competition challenges teams to build not only the fastest car but the best overall package of construction, performance, and financial and sales planning. Each team has an abundance of talent and skills with students having a wide variety of disciplines such as mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, computer science, industrial engineering, economics and physics. Throughout the season, the KA-Raceing team had been building momentum and logging in solid results coming into the final event: the Formula Student Germany at the Hockenheimring in Germany. Expectations were very high and their hard work was not to be disappointed.

More than 100 teams entering the final competition consisted of various disciplines, starting with the static disciplines, Business Plan and Cost Report, in which the KA-Raceing team finished sixth overall. The static disciplines were followed by the dynamic disciplines and accelerated the team to third place. In the Autocross-event, the KIT16e electric racecar showed its full potential and finished in first place, having put in the fastest lap. Finally, the main event was followed with an endurance race. This race pushed the KIT16e racecar to its limits but it was able to persevere, finishing the race with no issues and also passing the re-scrutineering procedure.

After the race, the teams gathered in anticipation for the final rankings and overall results of all the disciplines. The KA-Raceing team members at the University of Karlsruhe Germany erupted in loud cheers when the results were announced. For the first time in its history since they first competed in 2007, they had won the Formula Student Germany Electric! The team members at Saint-Gobain Performance Plastic L+S GmbH, happy to hear such ground-breaking news, sent congratulations to the KA-Raceing team for their great achievement. The collaborative project proved that on a small closed circuit or on a wide open road, the Meldin® thrust washers have proved to be a critical part in the automotive industry for not only gearboxes but also transmissions, powertrain and steering.

To learn more about Saint-Gobain Performance Plastic L+S GmbH or Saint-Gobain Seals, please visit www.seals.saint-gobain.com.

About Saint-Gobain Seals (www.seals.saint-gobain.com)
Saint-Gobain Seals is a strategic business unit under Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics’ Engineered Components SOA (sector of activity); our parent company, Saint-Gobain, is one of the world’s top 100 industrial groups as well as one of the oldest manufacturing companies in the world with 350 years of excellence. With more than 50 years of manufacturing experience and an established global presence (with strategic sites in Garden Grove, California, USA; Wertheim, Germany; Kontich, Belgium; and Minhang, Shanghai, China), we offer a diverse range of critical parts for extreme applications.

About Saint-Gobain Performance Plastic L+S GmbH (www.seals.saint-gobain.com)
Saint-Gobain Performance Plastic L+S GmbH is a global partner for applying high performance polymer materials to solve engineering challenges in advanced transmissions and drives. Since 1985, they have specialized in design, testing and manufacturing expertise in seal rings, thrust washers and radial plain bearings. In line with the trends in automotive and transmissions developments, their engineered components are designed to increase energy and economic efficiency by reducing leakage, drag losses and component wear through compact installation, low mass and easy assembly. They offer a diverse range of innovative sealing and polymer solutions to meet industry needs and challenges as well as in-house capability covering the entire process from initial design and thorough testing to high quality production.