The paper presents the possibility of using polymeric materials in the automotive industry. Some of the requirements for materials have been discussed and the possibilities of a significant increase in strength of the materials by the use of reinforcements have been indicated. Numerous examples of applications of reinforced plastics as automotive parts have been presented. Some of the latest technologies that enable the production of automotive parts from reinforced plastics, including hybrid structures, have been described.

A review of applications of reinforced polymers and polymer composites to the construction of automotive vehicles has been presented. Particular attention has been paid to the heavily loaded parts and subassemblies. Various components of vehicle body and power transmission and suspension systems, as well as subassemblies situated in the engine compartment have been analysed. In each case, the structure of the part involved, the material type used, and the loads to be borne have been described. The parts to be analysed have been deliberately selected to show the technological progress that takes place in the application of reinforced plastics to the construction of load-bearing structures of modern vehicles. The paper has been provided with conclusions concerning the development trends and directions of further research in the field of the use of reinforced polymers for the construction of vital vehicle parts and subassemblies.

Since 2001 he has been working at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, University of Zielona Góra as an assistant professor. He graduated from the faculty of construction and operation of machines. His scientific and research work focused in the field of optimization and development of polymer composites structures. Member of Central European Composite Claster and Polish Scientific Society of Motorization. Janusz Walkowiak, PhD, Since 2002 he has been working at the Department of Mechanical Engineering at University of Zielona Gora as an assistant professor. He graduated from the faculty of the construction and operation of machines. His scientific work and research focuses in the field of processing of plastics and polymer composites. Peter Frankovský, Ing. PhD. He is a senior assistant on Department of Applied Mechanics and Mechatronics. In 2010 he received PhD. in the field of applied mechanics. He works on scientific and research projects on the department and publishes the results in journals and conference proceedings at Slovakia and abroad. He made remarkable work on the building of laboratories and on publication of monographs and university textbook at the department.

The authors designed and built a test bench equipped with an engine, automatic transmission and specially designed brake torque generation subsystem to simulate road drag torque. This subsystem and engine throttle are controlled by a specially designed controller allowing to reproduce vehicle velocity time history on the base of signals of the throttle angle and vehicle velocity acquired during road tests. This controller is an integral part of the test bench and due to its functionality enables to make testing possibilities wider offering also possibility to make highly repeatable tests of dynamically changing drive train loads and controls. Significantly better signal measuring possibilities compared with road tests allow to get much more information about drive train working conditions. The paper presents the test bench design along with the methodology and principles of simulation control. Test bench control software prototyping process is described with use of tools dedicated for rapid control prototyping. The process of acquiring road test data is presented with data preparation for use with reproducing simulation. Finally the results of experimental tests of reproducing simulation are presented.

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