ANTI VENOM

In my quest for a killer C4 "street" car, I think that I should put my car on a diet. It seems like a good way to gain performance with no negative points. Or is there? What are some of the best way to lose weight, gain perfomance, and keep most of the comfort of a street car. For starters the A/C stays. Please keep the options economical. I can't afford a bunch of carbon fiber or some crazy tube frame. Can't wait to hear what you guys can think of!!!!!!

leaftye

Lightweight battery and a polycarbonate windshield will shed lots of weight, and from one of the best areas to take weight off from: up top.

ANTI VENOM

I'm not familiar with the polycarbonate windshields. Are they street legal? (not really that big of a deal) Will they scratch in the rain from the wipers?

Zpeedstr

Straight pipes 30 lb
Melrose TTops plexi hatch 30 lb
Race seats 30 lb
AC 90 lb
Heater
Carpeting
Air bags
ASR
Bose & antenna
Remote locks
Hoosiers
The first 300 lb is the easy part

leaftye

No, they're not street legal, probably because you can't break it, but you don't plan on trying to get thru your windshield do you? I don't! The hardness of a good polycarbonate windshield is rater almost as high as glass, but even our standard windshields get scratched from the wipers, so these will too, but you should be able to fix that with some ultra-fine steel wool and glass polish. I haven't tried it yet, but it's in the plans before next summer.

leaftye

Not much of a street car when you do these. I have a race seat in my daily driver, and it is a PITA, but it also allows me to safely get rid of my airbags.

ANTI VENOM

I know that the AC is heavy, but I made my turbo fit with the AC and now I don't want to get rid of it. The heater has to stay, as occasionally the windows would fog if I didn't have it. I don't have a problem getting rid of the air bag and even using a light weight steering wheel. I have sport seats and I am sure they are fairly heavy with all the electic motors and such. The exhaust is about as light as they come. My turbo is my muffler for now... I suppose the amp and sub should go. damn.. I have a lightweight reciprocting assy, but my large road race style oil pan is twice as heavy as the stock one. May need to dump that for an aluminum one. Spare tire, gone.. Jack handle, gone. Emissions, gone. visors, gone. Could probably get rid of the carpet pad. Already have a small alternator.

ANTI VENOM

I am curious, is Evans non-aqueous coolant lighter than water? Remember, not all fluids weigh the same. Probably wouldn't justify the cost, but if you were going to run it anyway......

Also, do you guys that race use your windshield washer while racing?

AU N EGL

Cut out the beer?? That spare tire many of us carry must be 20 to 30 extra too.

ANTI VENOM

Not saying I couldn't cut out the beer abit, but at 165lb and 12% bodyfat, there isn't much to lose there. My car is the chubby one in this relationship. I still love her though!!!!

ScaryFast

I'm in the same boat, but I don't have the restrictions of a street car. My girl is track only. Anyone have a link to a good list of what steps to take to pull out the AC? What hoses do you need to cap off, any?

Bill Dearborn

Too bad you can't afford the carbon fiber since a carbon fiber hood would drop quite a few pounds off the nose where you need to lose them. CG would drop and the weight balance would shift more to the rear.
Bill

leaftye

VIS makes a Carbon hood for the C5 for about $500, that's far less than a racing seat, seat bracket, harness, and harness bar....although safety is more important.

ANTI VENOM

How much are the CF hoods? I think the lightweight fiberglass ones are around $1200. If I was to get one, it would be the raised cowl style.

leaftye

VIS CF hoods are $500 for stock style hoods. Everyone else sells them for $1300 and up.

ANTI VENOM

Sorry to be a pain, but would you tell me where to find the VIS CF hoods for a C4? I searched but found none. Thanks!!!

GTLocke13

Lightweight wheels. Get rid of all that unsprung weight. You can drop 10 - 15 lbs per corner just by going to a lightweight racing wheel. But get ready to shell out some $$$...

leaftye

Sorry, they only seem to make them for the C5. I should've remembered how insanely expensive hoods are for the C4 anyway. Good luck if you're still interested in pursueing carbon fiber anything for your Vette.

BrianCunningham

Try here: http://www.toledopro.com/partslist.html

ANTI VENOM

Thanks Brian

The car in question is a Z07 and I also wondered how Coil overs compared to the transverse springs for weight.