3D Scanning a Porsche Endurance Racing Car in Just 10 Minutes

If you’ve ever felt exhausted by a long drive—maybe on the commute home after a hard day’s work—spare a thought for the drivers who take part in professional endurance racing. Unlike most racing drivers, these steely motorists have to keep their vehicles going over extremely long distances, sometimes for up to 24 hours, to achieve a podium finish.

But it’s not just the drivers who are pushed to their limits over an endurance race; the cars are, too. Most vehicles aren’t designed to operate for such long periods, and constant driving at high speed greatly increases the risk of mechanical failure. Endurance racing teams therefore require expert automotive engineering to guarantee the safety of their drivers and give them the best chance of winning.

Long-time Digitize Designs customer Fabworkz, a specialist in aftermarket performance parts in the motorsports industry, is no stranger to racing vehicles, and founder Aaron Dabrowski was recently asked to 3D scan a Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport Leichtbau built by Manthey Racing—a famous endurance racing team owned by Porsche. To carry out the ultrafast HD scans required, he used a brand-new Scantech KSCAN-X.

In this case study, we take a look at how Fabworkz was able to use the Scantech KSCAN-X to capture a full scan of the modded Porsche in just 10 minutes—and how Digitize Designs was able to help our customer prepare for the job.

Behind-the-Scenes Engineering Expertise

Unlike Porsche or Manthey Racing, Fabworkz is the kind of company that operates quietly behind the scenes, without the spotlight or fanfare. When a race car crosses the finish line after a grueling event, the driver and team take the glory. But often, it’s the subtle performance gains from aftermarket parts—like those crafted by Fabworkz—that make the difference between winning and losing.

Fabworkz specializes in skills like reverse engineering, 3D scanning, additive manufacturing, and custom fabrication in motorsports and other fields. All of its custom parts are built for durability and performance using state-of-the-art equipment, meeting even the most rigorous demands from customers.

That’s why Fabworkz was trusted to come in and capture 3D scans of a private customer’s 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport Leichtbau—a lightweight racer containing many carbon fiber components—at the Red Beard Racing auto shop in Purcellville, VA. By capturing detailed scans of the entire vehicle, with a focus on areas like the spoilers, side panels, and hood intakes, Fabworkz could obtain ultra-precise measurements that could then be used to make new, modified components, giving the car a competitive edge on the asphalt.

With ultra-fast cars like this Manthey Racing Porsche, every fraction of an inch matters. Identifying even the slightest exterior deviations allows engineering specialists like Fabworkz to make precise adjustments that maximize speed and endurance.

Simple, Fast, Accurate Scanning

High-speed, high-quality race cars deserve high-speed, high-quality 3D scans. So for the 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport project, Digitize Designs supplied Fabworkz with the latest in handheld laser scanning excellence: the Scantech KSCAN-X.

This new piece of kit, built for demanding, on-site scanning of very large objects, offers features like adaptive photogrammetry, ultra-fast scanning, and a high level of accuracy over an extended depth of field (0.3 m to 2.5 m). Its quad-cross technology enables a scanning rate of 6.5 million points per second and, as a bonus, only a few markers are needed, which reduces setup time and contributes to a faster end-to-end scanning process.

Despite its impressive specs, operation of the KSCAN-X is as simple as it gets—as Fabworkz demonstrated when using the scanner for the first time. As soon as the DefinSight software kicked into action, scanning the entire Manthey Racing Porsche took just 10 minutes of walking around the vehicle and directing the scanner. It’s a point-and-shoot process that’s as easy as pretending to spray paint the scanned object.

A Device for On-the-Move Professionals

Lots of 3D scanners are capable of scanning vehicle components. But the value proposition of the Scantech KSCAN-X is its ability to accurately capture that entire Porsche without taking the vehicle apart—and in a very short timeframe.

“The adaptive photogrammetry of the KSCAN-X allows us to have much higher precision over a larger area when scanning a complete vehicle,” Dabrowski explains. “And the wireless capabilities of the KSCAN-X allow us to completely scan an entire vehicle by just walking around and not having wires in the way or having to be followed along with the laptop.”

For users like Dabrowski, a key benefit of the KSCAN-X is that high level of portability. As his business involves traveling from town to town to work on different high-performance vehicles, having a fully wireless handheld device that can easily be packed up and unpacked for on-site work is a top priority.

However, it’s not just users in the automotive industry that can benefit from such a flexible device. Scantech developed its new handheld scanner for other demanding sectors like manufacturing, aerospace, and heavy industry, where engineers regularly need to scan large pieces of machinery, often in challenging environments.

Getting Mileage From Your 3D Scanner Supplier

For a company like Fabworkz, having a tool like the KSCAN-X in the workshop opens up a number of opportunities—especially when dealing with bodywork and external parts, or when a vehicle needs to be scanned on the owner’s premises.

But it’s not just the appeal of the latest technologies that keeps Fabworkz coming back to Digitize Designs for its 3D scanning needs. Since Dabrowski’s first purchase from us (about seven years after he first considered investing in a 3D scanner) our engineers have provided setup, training, and ongoing support as standard, reducing adjustment periods to the bare minimum. Although we provide training for users of all abilities, we can get a computer-savvy customer like Fabworkz up to speed with an new product in about an hour.

Just as endurance racing teams seek to build cars that can perform for hours on end on the racetrack, customers like Fabworkz look for an enduring relationship with their 3D scanning partner. When you choose a 3D scanner from Digitize Designs, we’re with you from the green flag to the finish line.

If your business could benefit from a versatile handheld scanner like the Scantech KSCAN-X, contact Digitize Designs today to schedule a demo.