Ford Advanced 3D Printing Technology for Ken Block

Recently, the performance vehicle that benefited from Ford 3D printing belongs to none other than Ken Block.

Ford is one of the most famous household names in the automotive world. This brand that you can recognize easily with the blue oval and the cursive name of the brand was the first to develop and use an assembly line to reduce the cost of vehicles, it was the brand that found a way to take down European dominance at Le Mans, and it’s also the brand responsible for developing advanced 3D printing technology for performance vehicles. 

Ken Block and Ford Together

Ken Block is the most famous driver of drift cars in the world and he’s been a partner with Ford for several years.You can find a variety of the Ken Block Gymkhana videos that are his series of videos that give you a look at Ken at work. In these videos, he performs different driving stunts with a variety of cars to give us a look at the overall performance that canbe had when a vehicle is set up for the pros to get to work and have some fun.

The Part Needed from Ford

For the next part of the Gymkhana series, which will be the tenth version of the series, Ken Block has worked with the Ford team to create the Hoonitruck. This truck is a 1977 Ford F-150 with a tuned-up twin-turbocharged EcoBoost V6 engine that’s been sourced from the Ford GT. This truck needed a special part to feed the air to the intakes the way it was needed and allow this truck to breatheand for Ken to be able to drive it. The engine has been improved enough to give it 900 horsepower with the use of the specialized intake manifold that’s been created.

The Largest 3D-Printed Part in History

The new and specialized intake manifold that was created for the Hoonitruck is the largest functional car part to be created using 3D printing technology. This part took the design team in Germany several weeks to create and it took the 3D printer five days to fabricate. It’s not simply an item that’s stationary or one that doesn’t have to perform, this intake manifold is responsible for feeding the air into the engine to allow Block to race his truck the way he wants.

The Results are Glorious

The success of this new intake manifold and the overall build of the new Hoonitruck make it possible for Ken Block to complete the project and make a vehicle that’s worthy of being the one in his latest video. The use of aluminum to create the part was important and the intricate web design is one that wouldn’t have been possible with the use of a standard stamping process. Check out the video below and see how this part was created and the process that it took to make it a significant part of this new truck that’s featured in Gymkhana 10.