3D printed F1 parts are now being built into road cars and the performance jump is wild

Formula 1 tech in road cars is often more marketing than mechanics, but that’s finally changing thanks to new 3D printing tech.

Enter Michael Fuller, a former F1 engineer who founded Conflux Technology – now a key supplier of 3D-printed cooling systems for motorsport and aerospace.

His latest breakthrough? 

Bringing that tech to the street via a new partnership with Dutch sports car maker Donkervoort and its upcoming P24 RS.

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The centerpiece of the Donkervoort-Conflux collaboration is a 3D-printed air-to-water intercooler that slashes weight from 35.3lbs to just 3.1lbs.

Traditional air-to-air intercoolers are bulky and less efficient, but 3D printing enables compact, precisely shaped channels for faster cooling and better airflow.

A few years ago, a part like this would have been impossible to manufacture.

Now, thanks to 3D printing, Conflux designed, tested, and delivered a road-ready cooler for Donkervoort with only one refinement cycle.

“We were able to pass through those sorts of gates, where it started with proof of concept, which then went into their durability testing, and we only had one iteration of refinement,” Fuller explained.

Because there’s no need for costly tooling or retooling, engineers can tweak designs fast and build parts around performance, not compromise.

What’s even more exciting? This isn’t a one-off project.

The Conflux intercooler is fully configurable and can be adapted to other cars and brands.

The tech is ready for Ferrari, McLaren, and Aston Martin-level volumes.

With cost curves trending down and performance scaling up, this kind of tech could soon become a supercar standard.

So why isn’t every car already using 3D-printed components?

For now, scale and speed are still limitations. Building something like a Toyota Corolla’s radiator using additive manufacturing just doesn’t make economic sense… yet.

“It’s quite a slow process… in order to speed it up, you either improve the productivity of the machines and the technology… or increase capital equipment,” Fuller said.

But that’s starting to change – 3D printing machines are getting faster, cheaper, and more precise every year.

“The additive manufacturing [industry] over the coming five-, seven-, ten years, we will see more and more markets open up to this technology…”

So with the barriers falling, it’s no longer a question of if, but when.

Unlike competing companies, Conflux focuses purely on heat exchangers.

“We’re an inch-wide, mile-deep company focusing on heat transfer solutions,” Fuller says.

That expertise helps them lead the charge in high-performance cooling.

They aren’t just disrupting the industry, they’re redesigning the entire supply chain for one of the most important systems in any performance car.

This tech is the real deal, forged in the paddocks and now powering the streets.

And if this is what’s coming in 2025, we can’t wait to see what 2030 looks like.

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