You might have heard about Gorilla Glass developed and sold by an American company named Corning; the toughened glass is usually used in manufacturing smartphones and other electronics with displays. However, Porsche is all set to become the first automobile company to use Gorilla Glass for rear window panes for its 911 GT3 RS racing car. Gorilla Glass is super strong, flexibility, and has high resistance to scratches and chips thanks to the manufacturing process in which the thin pane of glass is chemically treated to remove the fine imperfections. Porsche previously experimented with something similar for the rear pane of the 918 Spyder Weissach.
With reducing overall weight as one of the primary objectives, the use of Gorilla Glass just for the rear safety glass window will be able to cut down the weight of GT3 RS by 4.6 pounds. But weight saving is not the only benefit of using Gorilla Glass. Traditional safety glass blocks close to 70 percent of ultraviolet radiation, while thin-film glass can block up to 99 percent. Additionally, thinner glass also means lesser optical distortion. However, there are two major drawbacks. First, the high flexibility of Gorilla Glass prevents it from use as a lowerable door window: At higher speeds, the air stream would bend the glass outward and impede closing. Secondly, the production is still very expensive because of it’s limited use. But, with Porsche exploring its use in the automobile industry, other carmakers might join in soon which will ultimately bring down the price.
