Nahaufnahme Motor Simply gorgeous

Simply gorgeous

Designers have long since discovered the engine compartment. Yet there is scarcely any place in the vehicle where coated components are subjected to such stress.

The concept of beauty is slightly different here, of course. That’s understandable. What could be beautiful about an engine compartment? And how are aesthetics defined in this case?

“I’m no tinkerer,” admits Axel Wolf, account manager for top coats. “I just want to know where the oil goes in and how to refill the brake fluid without spilling any.” UV coating specialist Fred Wagner, by contrast, knows the car junkies. “Some of them go for gold parts or install light-emitting diodes.”

Nadine Hochlinger from color design thinks of it this way: “Perfection is when the function and appearance harmonize.” Ramona Baumgärtel, director of the development lab for top coats, adds: “When you look at an engine and discover parts that are coated with our paints, that does make you proud.”

Performance alone is no longer enough. The engine is no longer the exclusive domain of fanatics, and its importance as a selling point has extended well beyond the premium segment.

Automobile designers are always on the lookout for new ideas. Plastic components with embossed logos, metallic-look hoses, and trim in the color of one’s choice are just a few of the special requests that regularly find their way to Wörwag.

Extras such as pressure hoses in Ferrari Red and the rings of the Audi logo coated in Wörwag paints have been on the agenda for years already.

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Entire product ranges in demand

The key factors are always temperature resistance, often corrosion protection, adhesion with plastic components and, of course, resistance to lubricants and gasoline. “For many years, we’ve been supplying metallic single-coat paints for components like engine compartment covers, which fulfill the specifications of different carmakers and give plastic components a technical, metallic look,” says Baumgärtel. Wörwag is currently developing a paint for a plastic engine compartment cover.

For engines, demand spans the entire product range from water-based or conventional liquid coatings in single- or multilayer variants to UV coatings and powder. The latest trend: textured coatings. An engine so pretty you want to touch it? Wolf shrugs. “In my car, the engine compartment has to be small enough to keep the martens out.”

Wörwag Lacke

Nadine Hochlager and Fred Wagner

Automobile designers are always on the lookout for new ideas. Evaluating the technical feasibility is often an afterthought.

Nadine Hochlinger and Fred Wagner concern themselves with engines for different reasons. In the Wörwag development department, Hochlinger, a chemical engineer, has been responsible for design since 2013: “Using accent colors in the engine compartment as well is innovative. I find the interaction of technology and color design a very exciting thing.” Her colleague Fred Wagner is a coating technician who has been with the company since 1987. Wagner, who specializes in UV coatings, notes: “It’s used to coat engine blocks, oil filters and drive shafts, among other things.”

Text: Benjamin Baumann

Photos: Image Source / Alamy, Boris Schmalenberger

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