The Apollo Evo hypercar features a complex, single-piece 3D-printed titanium exhaust, called “Dragon Skin,” developed with Farsoon Technologies. The component, which takes 123 hours to print, showcases how advanced manufacturing is pushing the boundaries of performance and design in the low-volume, high-value automotive sector.
The exhaust was developed for the entire ten-vehicle production run of the track-only Apollo Evo, a machine with a price tag north of $4 million. The first customer car featuring the system, the Apollo Evo “Caribbean Dragon,” was unveiled at the 2026 Goodwood Festival of Speed.
The engineering challenge of a 3D-printed titanium exhaust
This project is more than an exotic car part; it is a powerful demonstration of additive manufacturing moving beyond prototyping and into the production of critical, end-use components where performance is absolute.
Creating an exhaust for a vehicle like the Apollo Evo presents a formidable engineering puzzle. The system must handle the extreme temperatures and pressures generated by a Ferrari-derived 6.3-litre V12 engine that produces over 800 horsepower and screams to 9,000 rpm. Simultaneously, it must be exceptionally light to preserve the car’s power-to-weight ratio and fit within a tightly packaged, aerodynamically sensitive chassis.
Traditionally, such a component would be fabricated by welding together multiple bent and formed sections of metal. This method, while proven, introduces potential points of failure at each weld, adds weight, and severely restricts the geometric complexity of the design.
Engineers are forced to compromise on ideal gas flow and packaging to accommodate the limitations of the manufacturing process. For a car that generates 1,350 kg of downforce and hits 62 mph in 2.7 seconds, such compromises were not an option.
Apollo sought a solution that could create a single, integrated component with monumental strength, low weight, and extreme temperature resistance. The answer lay in moving the manufacturing method from a constraint to a core part of the design process itself.
This required a partner with deep expertise not just in printing metal, but in designing for the process. This is where the collaboration with Farsoon Europe GmbH, based in Sindelfingen, Germany, became crucial.
Farsoon’s additive manufacturing solution
The partnership integrated Farsoon’s additive manufacturing expertise from the earliest stages of product development. By applying Design for Additive Manufacturing (DfAM) principles, the engineering teams were able to consolidate what would have been numerous parts into a single, cohesive titanium structure, dramatically reducing assembly requirements and downstream finishing operations.
Laser powder bed fusion in action
The exhaust system is produced on a Farsoon FS811M-6, a large-format laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) machine. The process involves fusing layers of fine TA15 titanium alloy powder—an aerospace-grade material also known as Ti-6.5Al-2Zr-Mo-V—with high-powered lasers. This layer-by-layer construction allows for the creation of incredibly complex internal and external geometries that are simply impossible to achieve through casting, forming, or machining.
The choice of TA15 titanium alloy provides an exceptional strength-to-weight ratio, crucial for performance, and outstanding corrosion resistance. Titanium is approximately 43% lighter than stainless steel, a significant saving on a performance car. Its ability to maintain structural integrity at high temperatures, coupled with a high-temperature ceramic coating rated to 1,000°C, makes it ideal for handling the intense heat from the Evo’s V12 engine.
The crucial role of ‘Beam Shaping’ technology
A key innovation that made this project possible was Farsoon’s patented Beam Shaping technology. A major challenge in LPBF is printing enclosed, hollow structures, as they typically require internal support structures to prevent warping and collapse during the build. These supports must then be painstakingly removed in post-processing, a costly and time-consuming task that is often impossible for complex internal channels.
Farsoon’s technology enabled the entire exhaust pipe system to be produced as a monolithic component without any internal supports. This breakthrough was instrumental in achieving the complex, free-flowing internal geometry needed for optimal engine performance.
It drastically cut post-processing time and eliminated the structural weaknesses associated with welding separate sections, resulting in a stronger, lighter, and better-performing part. For a look at how this technology is changing production, some insights from HP Additive Manufacturing show a similar industry trend.
The ‘Dragon Skin’ finish as integrated design
Further demonstrating the project’s innovative approach, the distinctive “Dragon Skin” surface texture is not a post-production finish. Instead, the intricate, scale-like pattern was developed by Apollo and Farsoon to be created directly during the 123-hour 3D printing build process. This not only ensures a perfectly consistent appearance across all components but also serves a functional purpose.
According to Apollo, the textured surface aids in the even distribution of heat across the exhaust system, a small but important detail in a high-performance application. The part is then finished with machined details to achieve a chrome-like finish on the tips, merging the raw, functional aesthetic of the 3D-printed texture with highly polished elements.
This seamless merging of art and engineering into a single functional component was a core goal of the project.
From one-off part to industrial production
While 3D printing is often associated with one-off prototypes, this collaboration showcases its viability for low-volume industrial production. The process was used to manufacture the complete exhaust systems for all ten of the exclusive Apollo Evo vehicles. This required a robust and repeatable manufacturing workflow, moving far beyond a simple proof-of-concept.
The development was managed in multiple stages to de-risk the project. Additive manufacturing’s speed allowed the teams to produce and assess multiple design variations in parallel, including samples for milling tests and various surface treatments.
This rapid, iterative cycle is a key advantage of AM over traditional tooling-based manufacturing, which can take weeks or months to produce a single new design. The process highlights a shift where manufacturing partners like Farsoon provide comprehensive application engineering, not just machinery.
This application of advanced materials and manufacturing is not limited to hypercars. The UK aerospace sector, for instance, relies on similar principles of weight reduction and high-temperature performance, often turning to titanium and additive processes to produce critical flight components. The lessons learned in these high-stakes industries often trickle down to more mainstream applications over time.
Broader implications for high-performance manufacturing
The Apollo Evo’s exhaust is a prime example of a wider trend in manufacturing: the transition of additive manufacturing from a prototyping tool to a core production technology. In sectors where performance is paramount and cost is a secondary concern—such as motorsport, aerospace, and hypercars—AM offers unparalleled advantages.
It unshackles designers from the constraints of traditional manufacturing, allowing them to create parts optimised for function, not for ease of fabrication.
This shift is enabling a new generation of components that are lighter, stronger, and more complex than ever before. Bugatti famously used 3D-printed titanium for the brake calipers on its Chiron hypercar, and numerous motorsport teams use the technology for custom parts.
While a hypercar exhaust and a new hot strip mill represent different ends of the industrial spectrum, they both point to a future defined by investment in advanced production technology.
For now, the high cost of materials like aerospace-grade titanium powder and the operational costs of large-format LPBF machines restrict this technology to low-volume, high-value applications. However, as the technology matures, costs fall, and processing speeds increase, these techniques are expected to find wider adoption.
The Apollo Evo project serves as a compelling glimpse into a future where complexity is no longer a barrier to manufacturing, but an opportunity for innovation.
