KYOTO, JAPAN--Dome Co. Ltd. is using engineering software from Tecnomatix Technologies Ltd. (Nashua, NH) to create digital mock-ups of its race cars.

In the past, Dome engineers built life-size mock-ups of each car so that they could perform collision tests and verify the driver's position and field of vision. However, this process was time-consuming and expensive.

Now, Dome uses Empower software from Tecnomatix to produce digital mock-ups of the vehicles. The first car designed with the software debuted in May at the All Japan GT Championship at Fuji International Speedway.