Where Speed Meets Innovation

Good morning from the heart of Southern California’s motorsports scene! MatterHackers is thrilled to be at the legendary Streets of Long Beach for the Formula Drift 2025 season opener. While engines roar and tires screech, there’s a quieter revolution happening in the pits—one powered by 3D printing.

From rapid prototyping to race-ready components, 3D printing is transforming how elite teams like Papadakis Racing design, test, and optimize their vehicles. We spent the day with Steph Papadakis and his crew to discover how additive manufacturing is fueling their competitive edge—and which filaments MatterHackers recommends for projects just like these.

The Tire-Shredding World of Drift

In Formula Drift, tires are swapped out after just a couple of laps, but it’s not just rubber that’s pushed to the limit. The unique demands of drifting create extreme engineering challenges: high temperatures in the engine bay, rapid part wear, exposure to chemicals, and the need for constant innovation and customization. These conditions demand materials and manufacturing techniques that are fast, flexible, and robust—making 3D printing an indispensable tool.

Papadakis Racing: From Concept to Car in Hours

We caught up with Steph Papadakis, a legend in the drift world, to see how his team integrates 3D printing into their workflow.

Rapid Prototyping: Test, Revise, Repeat

“Most of what we use plastic 3D printing for is revision checks,” Steph explains. “If we have a new part in mind, we’ll design it in CAD and print the first prototype in plastic—usually PLA. It’s quick, holds good tolerances, and lets us test-fit the part on the car.”

MatterHackers Technical Recommendations:

  • MH Build PLA: This filament is ideal for rapid prototyping due to its low cost, high dimensional accuracy, and ease of printing. PLA’s low warping and minimal shrinkage make it perfect for checking fitment of brackets, mounts, and other components.
  • PRO Series PLA: For projects requiring even tighter tolerances or a smoother finish, PRO Series PLA offers improved print consistency and a wide range of colors, which is helpful for visually distinguishing between prototype iterations.
  • Technical Note: PLA is not recommended for high-heat or load-bearing applications, but its printability makes it the go-to for fast, iterative design cycles. Papadakis Racing often glues together multi-part prototypes for large components, ensuring every geometry is validated before moving to final manufacturing.

Functional Parts: Not Just for Prototypes

Once a design is finalized, the team often transitions to printing functional parts for use directly on the race car. These parts must withstand harsh conditions: elevated under-hood temperatures, vibration, and exposure to automotive fluids.

MatterHackers Technical Recommendations:

  • PRO Series ABS: ABS is a classic engineering thermoplastic known for its heat resistance (up to ~100°C), impact strength, and machinability. It’s a top choice for parts like sensor brackets, shrouds, and housings that need to survive the heat and vibration of the engine bay.
  • MH Build ASA: ASA offers similar mechanical properties to ABS but with superior UV and weather resistance, making it ideal for exterior or under-hood parts exposed to sunlight and heat. ASA’s higher glass transition temperature (~105°C) helps prevent deformation during long drift sessions.
  • NylonX (Carbon Fiber Reinforced Nylon): For parts subjected to high stress or impact, NylonX’s carbon fiber reinforcement delivers exceptional strength-to-weight ratio, stiffness, and resistance to fatigue. It’s perfect for structural brackets, mounts, or even custom intake components.
  • Tough PLA: For applications that don’t require high heat resistance but do need improved durability over standard PLA, Tough PLA provides enhanced impact resistance and flexibility, making it suitable for interior mounting clips or dash panels.

Technical Note:

  • ABS and ASA require a heated bed and ideally an enclosed printer to minimize warping and cracking.
  • NylonX absorbs moisture from the air, so it should be stored in a dry box and dried before printing for optimal strength and print quality.

Advanced Manufacturing: Beyond Plastics

For the most demanding applications—where even high-performance plastics can’t deliver—Papadakis Racing leverages advanced 3D printing services.

“My new favorite is Multi Jet Fusion,” Steph says. “We don’t have that printer in-house, but we’ll upload the design and have the part made.” Multi Jet Fusion (MJF) produces parts from Nylon PA12, which offers excellent mechanical properties, chemical resistance, and fine feature resolution.

MatterHackers Technical Recommendations:

  • Nylon PA12 (MJF): Available through MatterHackers’ custom print services, PA12 boasts high tensile strength, good elongation at break, and resistance to oils, fuels, and automotive fluids—making it perfect for functional prototypes and end-use parts.
  • Metal 3D Printing (Aluminum, Inconel): For ultra-high strength, heat-critical, or load-bearing applications, MatterHackers can connect you with metal additive manufacturing solutions. Aluminum is lightweight and strong for brackets and housings; Inconel is used for extreme heat resistance, such as turbo manifolds or exhaust components.

The Competitive Edge: Less Waste, More Wins

One of the biggest benefits? Fewer surprises and wasted resources. “We almost never have bad parts coming back from CNC anymore because we’ve already test-fitted everything in plastic,” Steph explains. By validating designs with 3D printed prototypes, the team ensures parts not only fit but function as intended—reducing costly and time-consuming errors during CNC or metal fabrication.

3D Printing Drives the Future of Racing

As drifting evolves, so do the tools teams use to stay ahead. 3D printing is no longer just for prototyping—it’s a critical part of the race-day arsenal, enabling rapid innovation, customization, and performance gains that were unimaginable just a few years ago. Material selection is key: by leveraging the right filament for each application, teams like Papadakis Racing can quickly iterate, validate, and deploy new designs with confidence.

From the pit lane at Long Beach to the podium, MatterHackers is proud to support teams pushing the boundaries of what’s possible, one layer at a time.

Ready to bring race-proven 3D printing to your garage or workshop?
Explore MatterHackers’ full range of printers, materials, and expertise today. Not sure which filament is right for your next automotive project? Our technical experts are here to help you choose the optimal material for your needs—so you can build, test, and race with confidence.