Kinda wanna go the other route, instead of just having massive hp, dropping the weight to go faster and corner better. Basically get my car ready for some track time in the future. Have any of you guys done some minor or serious weight saving on your car, but still kept good weight distribution?

 

The C5 is pretty light as it is. Unless you are going to gut the car, I'm not sure how much weight you will save or what you will do to achieve it. How much weight would you save by swaping something like the exhaust or the wheels? How much would it cost to do that? Just mod the hell out of it and enjoy!

 

I remember Kalita saying once that the easiest way to take 20 pounds out of the car was to take it off the driver. As for me, I could take 50 pounds out of the car if I could get back down to 200...I guess I better order the supercharger...

 

in order to gain a tenth you'd have to pull 100lbs from the car. IMHO thats gonna be pretty hard to do unless you gut the interior and race prep it. It would cost you more to shave the weight in the car than to add additonal HP

 

Check out the sticky and do the math. It's not cheap to drop a lot of weight, but you could drop 200-300 and still have a comfortable daily driver. I'm looking into Aerogel....if it's not insanely expensive, it'll be an option to replace the insulation with something that literally weighs next to nothing!

 

I am new to the Vette world (looking for mine now) but, looking at reduction options I would guess the seats are a solid one. I had a 2000 Mustang and the drivers seat (elec) was a whopping 70 pounds and the passanger seat was 40. Take two lightweight racing seats and you could loose alot of weight. It is a trade off like everything else. Through weight loss and a very small NOVI 1000 I was able to put the little GT in the 11's in the 1/4 with only 329rwhp. Not bad for a Ford......I AM A CHEY GUY NOW SO DON'T FLAME ME TOO BAD!

 

Aerogel? That's pretty spooky looking stuff. That that I've seen looks like solid smoke. A great insulator for heat and acoustics, but I'm not sure it's commercially available. Might be by now, but it's likely quite pricey.

 

Well, I already modded the driver, lol. I workout, mountain bike and eat healthy. I'm 180lbs 5'11'' with 16 inch arms, used to have 10 inch arms a few years ago and weigh almost 200 lbs

Anywho, I'm definately looking into some racing seats and stuff as the savings are pretty substantial. We'll see how far I guess I'll go.

 

This is an excerpt from a sticky thread started by leaftye in the General section . Many performance mods not only add horsepower but reduce weight:

Weight reduction

You can achieve substantial weight reduction with the following modifications, while still having a car that's very comfortable to drive. Most of these modifications will directly increase (and decrease in a few cases) the safety of the car, while safety is indirectly improved due to the better handling and limits of a lighter car. Fighter pilots say "speed is life". Acceleration, deceleration, and lateral acceleration are all forms of acceleration, and lighter cars accelerate better in each of these ways because the tires have less mass to control....thus a lighter car is a safer car. Lighter cars have better moments of inertia which allows them to turn in more easily and roll less. Lighter cars are also easier on the tires and gas.

All the stage weight estimates are typically wild butt guesses, but it makes it easy to see what is possible. The weight listings in the separate weight posting is MUCH more reliable.

Stage I: Streetable weight reduction mods

Non-popup headlights (~40 lbs)
Braking rotors with an aluminum hat, or titanium rotors (unproven on street cars) (~20-30 lbs)
Carbon fiber hood (~12 lbs)
Z06 (thinner) windshield and side windows (~5.7 lbs)
Non runflat tires (~20 lbs)
Slicks (~30 lbs)
Z06 wheels (~4 lbs est.)
Corsa titanium exhaust (~35 lbs)
Long tube headers (~20 lbs)
Halltech aluminum alternator & bracket (10 lbs)
Carbon fiber driveshaft (~2 lbs)
Newer torque tube
Less options [HUD, elec AC, Active Stability, seat/mirror/steering wheel memory, cd changer] (~50 lbs)
Less gasoline & wiper fluid (No wiper fluid=9lbs, 6 lbs for every gallon of gas in that 18 gallon tank....~81 lbs for autocrossing)
Remove cargo net
Remove targa top (~20 lbs)
Remove BCM’s
Remove C5 "appearance mods" - exhaust plates, doorsill covers, etc.
Remove fuel rail covers
Replace stock crank pulley with aluminum aftermarket pulley
Replace steel dampener with aluminum dampener
Replace stock targa top with lexan piece (coupes)
Replace water pump with electric water pump
Replace battery with smaller battery
Replace non-stressed fasteners with aluminum or titanium fasteners
Replace leaf springs with coil over shocks with titanium springs
Replace steel shifter with aluminum shifter and delrin or titanium shift ****
Remove all loose change, CD's, golf clubs, misc. items, from center console, hatch area, and glove box
Empty your pockets of extra change, PDA's, cell phones, keys, lead plates, or whatever other junk you lug around
Go on a diet =p

Stage II: Hardcore semi-streetable weight reduction mods
Aluminum flywheel (~10 lbs)
Lighter clutch like Exedy or Quartermaster (~10 lbs)
Racing buckets (40-50 lbs)
Remove tire repair kit (Z06)
Off-road x-pipe (10 lbs)
Remove floor mats
Remove fog lights
Replace stock hood, fenders, doors, roof, hatch and bumpers with aftermarket carbon fiber pieces

Stage III: Track only weight reduction mods
Racing steering wheel & delete both airbags (~30 lbs, but get a 4-6 point harness)
Use unpadded aluminum or carbon fiber steering wheel
Run open headers
Remove column locking hardware
Remove interior – passenger seat, carpets, speaker panels, head liner, dash, center console, glove box, door panels, sun visors, rear view mirror, insulation, etc.
Remove A/C Compressor
Remove A/C controls and ducting
Remove AIR pump system
Remove factory radio, speakers, and/or CD changer, and unnecessary wiring
Remove HUD projector
Remove windshield wiper fluid reservoir and pump
Remove windshield wipers and motors
Remove stock cat back
Remove power steering pump
Remove front sway bar (drag only)
Remove ABS, TC, AH hardware and sensors (drag only)
Remove fender wells
Remove headlight assembly, turn signals, taillights and reflectors
Remove/shave side mirrors
Remove torque tunnel cover
Remove seat belts
Remove parking brake
Remove side windows and motors
Remove power locks and power windows
Remove side impact beams
Replace stock front and rear glass with polycarbonate “glass”
Rebuild motor with Al or Ti connecting rods, Ti valve spring retainers and pushrods
Port the heads
Remove all flashing from the engine, then polish
Replace valve covers with magnesium or carbon fiber parts
Strip entire car, acid wash chassis, put car back together.

Reducing unsprung weight—not all is streetable
Replace stock wheels with forged 1-piece wheels
Use 3-piece wheels by Jongbloed, Kodiak, CCW, BBS
Skinny front wheels (drag only)
Use Ti fasteners on 3-piece wheels (~1 lbs per wheel)
Use lighter non-runflat tires, or even Hoosier nylon corded slicks
Use lighter calipers
Replace stock rotors with 2-piece, unvented or titanium rotors
Replace wheels studs with titanium studs
Replace lug nuts with aluminum or titanium lug nuts
Remove tire pressure sensors
Use rubber valve stem without a cap
Balance the wheels without tires or balancing weights, and then mount tires

 

To get over any worries about Aerogel, take a look at this short review:
http://www.backpackgeartest.org/News...04022300142413

Aerogel enhanced insoles are less than $30. Burton made a snowboarding jacket with an Aerogel liner for $500 and it was used by a few people at the North Pole. Aerogel has also been used on at least one satellite and I think a rover too.

I'm still waiting to get a return email about pricing from one of the guys on the Zero-G project. If you want to know about pricing, let me know.

Eugene