Weight of "Stuff" in My Car
07-18-2016, 12:48 PM
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St. Jude Donor '13
Weight of "Stuff" in My Car
Today I took our 2009 Z51 A6 3LT coupe to the shop to get some rocker panel nicks touched up. I removed all our personal gear, which includes:
Two GM C6 "saddlebags" that go behind the seats; with maps, flashlights, flares, manuals, CB radio, etc.
A full glove box with the usual paperwork and misc.
Rear cubbie's contents of hockey pucks, small tool kit, compressor, small spare parts, TPMS trainer, bungees, lots of little odds & ends.
Putting it all on a scale came to 31 lbs. My Lloyd's trunk mat and front floor mats from Cocomats probably total another 14 lbs, for a total of 45 extra pounds.
We use the car mostly as a long distance road tripper, so this is probably more stuff than many folks carry. That's just us.
If the empty car weighs 3280 lbs (guess), adding all the misc gear and the two of us and gas comes to about 3780, divide that by 436 hp and we get about 8.7 lbs per HP. Which is another way of saying we would gain the equivalent of 6 1/2 HP if we removed ALL of the personal gear and mats. That's only the same amount of power we would lose if we didn't have the NPP exhaust, and nobody seems to complain that those cars are slugs.
Bracket drag racers probably won't care, other draggers will want to take it out, and road course people will be required to remove it all.
For us, I'll put it back in when the car comes home.
Enjoy the ride!
Two GM C6 "saddlebags" that go behind the seats; with maps, flashlights, flares, manuals, CB radio, etc.
A full glove box with the usual paperwork and misc.
Rear cubbie's contents of hockey pucks, small tool kit, compressor, small spare parts, TPMS trainer, bungees, lots of little odds & ends.
Putting it all on a scale came to 31 lbs. My Lloyd's trunk mat and front floor mats from Cocomats probably total another 14 lbs, for a total of 45 extra pounds.
We use the car mostly as a long distance road tripper, so this is probably more stuff than many folks carry. That's just us.
If the empty car weighs 3280 lbs (guess), adding all the misc gear and the two of us and gas comes to about 3780, divide that by 436 hp and we get about 8.7 lbs per HP. Which is another way of saying we would gain the equivalent of 6 1/2 HP if we removed ALL of the personal gear and mats. That's only the same amount of power we would lose if we didn't have the NPP exhaust, and nobody seems to complain that those cars are slugs.
Bracket drag racers probably won't care, other draggers will want to take it out, and road course people will be required to remove it all.
For us, I'll put it back in when the car comes home.
Enjoy the ride!
Last edited by Gearhead Jim; 07-18-2016 at 01:25 PM.
07-18-2016, 01:15 PM
#2
That's why I spend so much money on engine mods. To make up for carrying a bunch of crap around. 
Wasn't it Carol Shelby who coined the phrase "just add lightness"?
Wasn't it Carol Shelby who coined the phrase "just add lightness"?
07-18-2016, 01:21 PM
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St. Jude Donor '13
Carol Shelby probably said it, but Bill Stout, designer of the Ford Trimotor airplane, said "Simplicate and add lightness".
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dmk0210 (07-18-2016)
07-18-2016, 01:56 PM
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If I went on a diet and reached my target weight, I'd add about 6 more HP to mine....
07-18-2016, 04:18 PM
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"Simplify, then add lightness."
07-20-2016, 10:42 AM
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C6 of Year Finalist (performance mods) 2019
Not to argue with the quoter, but lighter may be quicker, just not faster. Speed itself is not related to weight like acceleration is.
BTW Jim, last year I did a thorough deep cleaning of my car for the first time in about 7 years (it's a high mile DD) and just for chuckles weighed the vacuum bag before and after. I picked up about 5 ounces of embedded dirt/dust.
BTW Jim, last year I did a thorough deep cleaning of my car for the first time in about 7 years (it's a high mile DD) and just for chuckles weighed the vacuum bag before and after. I picked up about 5 ounces of embedded dirt/dust.
07-21-2016, 09:37 PM
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St. Jude Donor '13
Not to argue with the quoter, but lighter may be quicker, just not faster. Speed itself is not related to weight like acceleration is.
BTW Jim, last year I did a thorough deep cleaning of my car for the first time in about 7 years (it's a high mile DD) and just for chuckles weighed the vacuum bag before and after. I picked up about 5 ounces of embedded dirt/dust.
BTW Jim, last year I did a thorough deep cleaning of my car for the first time in about 7 years (it's a high mile DD) and just for chuckles weighed the vacuum bag before and after. I picked up about 5 ounces of embedded dirt/dust.