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More weight requires more power, wider, tires, heavier, duty, parts, When I raced modified they were some pretty lightweight cars and generally, we had to add a couple hundred pounds somewhere to make weight 2360 and then later on it was 2500. A few times I raced a late model they were 2900 pounds. The difference was night and day even though they had a 10 inch tire and modified had a 8 inch tire the late model was like driving a school bus compared to a modified. With less weight, you can run lighter parts. You don’t need extra heavy duty everything and when the car got out of shape, it was so much easier to get it back in control Now this was completely the opposite on dirt I would rather have the heavier car with the wider tires, but on asphalt lighter is always gonna be better and that’s why I’m so **** about it.
8.1 lbs Show me any aftermarket rear arms that are lighter .
You're not wrong on the rear arms. When I weighed mine they came to 10.2lb each, but your point stands. Van Steel rear arms weighed in at 18.8lb EACH.
From a strictly weight standpoint, going from a composite rear spring with stock trailing arms to Van Steel arms with coilovers ADDED about 14 lb on my car. There were other benefits to handling, though, so that change was still an overall performance improvement despite the weight increase.
I put my convertible on a diet when I got it. It was cast iron everything. I've since put in aluminum heads intake and water pump. Composite spring. Much lighter seats that stock and the list goes on. 1971 Base Corvette Convertible curb weight was 3216lb.s from the factory. With my weight reductions according to the land fill scales I'm just under 3000lbs at 2994lbs. My goal was to get under 3000.
From: I tend to be leery of any guy who doesn't own a chainsaw or a handgun.
I share the above preference for lighter vehicles. I recall years ago I saw a guy on tv (chief engineer of Aston Martin IIRC) make the comment "Weight begets weight.".Any additional weight on a vehicle always causes an additional increase in weight to support or control that additional weight. The fun part is the inverse of that. Usually any reduction in weight allows an additional reduction due to lighter brackets or springs or sway bars or brakes, etc.
I've had my car on a diet for the past several years. I weigh every part I have in my hand, and always try to see if I can reproduce that part in aluminum (and add a coat of semi-gloss black paint to not lose any NCRS points ), substitute that part with an aluminum part, or replace it with something smaller because of any recent weight removal.
In addition to the usual weight reductions, I also installed a C4 suspension under my car. The better handling also came with the benefit of less weight.
From: I tend to be leery of any guy who doesn't own a chainsaw or a handgun.
Originally Posted by AZSTAR
More weight requires more power, wider, tires, heavier, duty, parts, When I raced modified they were some pretty lightweight cars and generally, we had to add a couple hundred pounds somewhere to make weight 2360 and then later on it was 2500. A few times I raced a late model they were 2900 pounds. The difference was night and day even though they had a 10 inch tire and modified had a 8 inch tire the late model was like driving a school bus compared to a modified. With less weight, you can run lighter parts. You don’t need extra heavy duty everything and when the car got out of shape, it was so much easier to get it back in control Now this was completely the opposite on dirt I would rather have the heavier car with the wider tires, but on asphalt lighter is always gonna be better and that’s why I’m so **** about it.
8.1 lbs Show me any aftermarket rear arms that are lighter .
Just curiosity. What year trailing arm is that? I have a dust covered TA from a '72, I believe, and it's a bit heavier at 9.9# on my scale.
I put my convertible on a diet when I got it. It was cast iron everything. I've since put in aluminum heads intake and water pump. Composite spring. Much lighter seats that stock and the list goes on. 1971 Base Corvette Convertible curb weight was 3216lb.s from the factory. With my weight reductions according to the land fill scales I'm just under 3000lbs at 2994lbs. My goal was to get under 3000.
over time this is pretty easy and I’m sure someone will tell me but I thought it was about every 6 pounds that was one less hp needed to make it go.
Yeah, the upgraded aftermarket upper and lower control arms are also heavier than the stock components.
these are a type I used to use when I raced. Now these were not a good idea for the dirt but for asphalt they were great and for my car I think they’ll be just fine but they are a little weak if you’re gonna be banging wheels. Thin steel tubes with aluminum heims. Afco A frame parts , Frame modified for Integra racing shocks , wilwood lightweight calipers and weight jacks
over time this is pretty easy and I’m sure someone will tell me but I thought it was about every 6 pounds that was one less hp needed to make it go.
It's power to weight ratio. If you have a huge pickup truck with 500hp that weighs 7500lbs and a car with 500hp that weighs 3000lbs the car wins every time.
C3 weight
), substitute that part with an aluminum part, or replace it with something smaller because of any recent weight removal. 
