Arrow McLaren and Greene Tweed cut IndyCar suspension weight with composite lever

Arrow McLaren and Greene Tweed co-engineered a lighter anti-roll bar lever for the team’s NTT INDYCAR SERIES cars, replacing an aluminum part with a thermoplastic composite. The change trimmed 64 grams per car and is now running across the full Arrow McLaren lineup.

Why it matters: - The new anti-roll bar lever reduces weight on Arrow McLaren’s IndyCar race cars without sacrificing the strength and reliability required in elite open-wheel racing. - In a series where cars regularly exceed 220 mph and gains are measured in fractions of a second, lighter suspension parts can support handling, tire management, and stability.

What happened: - Greene Tweed and Arrow McLaren co-engineered a lightweight anti-roll bar lever using Greene Tweed’s Xycomp® DLF™ thermoplastic composite. - The redesigned part replaces a 7075 aluminum billet component. - The component cuts 64 grams per car. - The anti-roll bar lever first appeared on Nolan Siegel’s No. 6 car at Barber Motorsports Park. - Arrow McLaren has since rolled the part out across all of its cars.

The details: - The anti-roll bar lever is a suspension component that helps control chassis roll and keep handling balance consistent in high-speed cornering. - Greene Tweed worked with Arrow McLaren’s engineering team to assess performance requirements, geometry, manufacturing approach, and material demands before redesigning the part. - Xycomp® DLF™ is a high-strength, lightweight thermoplastic composite designed to replace complex metallic parts in aerospace and defense, industrial, and other demanding applications. - Greene Tweed said the project also reduced internal development workload for Arrow McLaren’s engineering and production teams. - Greene Tweed said the redesign and manufacturing process benefited from technical support throughout the project. - Sebastien Kohler, Senior Scientist at Greene Tweed, said the Arrow McLaren program served as a proving ground for Xycomp® DLF™ and required deep collaboration and trust.

Between the lines: - The project is another example of IndyCar teams chasing marginal gains through advanced materials rather than just geometry or setup changes. - The move from a familiar aluminum billet to a composite part signals growing confidence in thermoplastic composites for highly stressed racing applications. - The workload reduction suggests the value of materials partners can extend beyond part performance and into development speed. - Kory Drake, Design Engineer at Arrow McLaren, said Greene Tweed exceeded expectations and made the development and production process remarkably seamless.

What's next: - Arrow McLaren and Greene Tweed say they expect to keep working together. - More information is available in Arrow McLaren’s case study.

The bottom line: - A 64-gram weight reduction is small on paper, but in IndyCar, that kind of change can matter. - The partnership shows how materials engineering is becoming a competitive tool on the racecourse.