Anyone have weight reduction tips?
Race Director
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 11,331
Likes: 18
From: Missouri City Texas
Remove the Passenger seat (about 40-45 pounds and takes about 10-15 minutes)
Remove the front swaybar/brackets
Remove rear carpetting in the hatch
Remove mufflers/tips
Drain windshield fluid or remove the resevoir completely
Lightweight battery
Skinnies in front and lightweight wheels in the rear
Non runflat tires
Base rotors
Never have more than 1/2 tank of gas
Glass top instead of stock painted top
Take EVERYTHING unnecessary out of the car
Those are all easy weight reduction mods and will get you a couple hundred pounds lighter than the next guy.
Remove the front swaybar/brackets
Remove rear carpetting in the hatch
Remove mufflers/tips
Drain windshield fluid or remove the resevoir completely
Lightweight battery
Skinnies in front and lightweight wheels in the rear
Non runflat tires
Base rotors
Never have more than 1/2 tank of gas
Glass top instead of stock painted top
Take EVERYTHING unnecessary out of the car
Those are all easy weight reduction mods and will get you a couple hundred pounds lighter than the next guy.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 1,214
Likes: 3
From: CA
If you don't plan on driving in the rain and know you'll never need them...remove the whipers and whiper motor assembley. Also, remove engine beauty covers, swap manifolds for headers, etc.
Here's a tip though... Removing 1lb from 10 different places is easier than removing 10lbs from 1 place. Removing a little weight here and some more there, it all adds up.
Here's a tip though... Removing 1lb from 10 different places is easier than removing 10lbs from 1 place. Removing a little weight here and some more there, it all adds up.
Racer
Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 418
Likes: 0
From: South Central Kansas
Bob
Last edited by 1fastbob; Mar 4, 2011 at 08:26 PM.
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Racer
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 401
Likes: 0
From: Dallas TX
Safety Car
Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 3,725
Likes: 84
From: Woodlands (houston) TX
i have built 2 LS powered miatas. almost completely useless though,just smoke the tires. they fit easily monster miata make tons of parts for this and a complete 5.0 kit.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 2,625
Likes: 195
From: On the east coast we drive until we die
It depends how much you want to alter the car. Lowering rotational weight such as lighter wheels, tires, brakes, and a lightweight clutch/flywheel will probably make the most impact without losing any of the car's comforts. Although every little bit helps, everything else doesn't seem to do as much. It takes a lot if weight removal to improve performance and sometimes it's not worth it. But only you can make that decision.
Jmo
Jmo
Last edited by 5knives; Mar 6, 2011 at 12:36 AM.
Tech Contributor
Joined: Oct 1999
Posts: 41,024
Likes: 9,777
From: Charlotte, NC (formerly Endicott, NY)
If you are looking for a track car then skinnies in the front would be a disaster. They don't turn well. To get the weight out of the car you should think about the following:
Dump the Carpet
Get rid of passenger seat
Replace Driver's seat with Sparco or similar unless you are installing a bar/cage then go with aluminum race seat
Pull AC/Heater and plug the firewall holes.
Pull interior panels off from doors, quarters, etc
Remove hood insulation
Remove headlights
Remove knee bolsters from dash pull glove box
Drill holes in every hinge flange (keeps strength but takes out weight)
Replace back glass with plexiglass
Take out the door windows and pull the mechanisims
Two piece rotors front and rear
Replace mufflers with straight pipe
CCW Classic wheels front and rear (won't fit wide body big brake cars)
Dump the run flats and go with Hoosier Tires (most of them are pretty light compared to other brands)
Probably some more things but I can't think of them now. Have seen most of those things done to a number of C5/C6 Race Cars.
Bill
Dump the Carpet
Get rid of passenger seat
Replace Driver's seat with Sparco or similar unless you are installing a bar/cage then go with aluminum race seat
Pull AC/Heater and plug the firewall holes.
Pull interior panels off from doors, quarters, etc
Remove hood insulation
Remove headlights
Remove knee bolsters from dash pull glove box
Drill holes in every hinge flange (keeps strength but takes out weight)
Replace back glass with plexiglass
Take out the door windows and pull the mechanisims
Two piece rotors front and rear
Replace mufflers with straight pipe
CCW Classic wheels front and rear (won't fit wide body big brake cars)
Dump the run flats and go with Hoosier Tires (most of them are pretty light compared to other brands)
Probably some more things but I can't think of them now. Have seen most of those things done to a number of C5/C6 Race Cars.
Bill
Last edited by Bill Dearborn; Mar 6, 2011 at 01:45 AM.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 3,138
Likes: 37
From: Burbank. CA.
Be very very careful. It's addicting. I started out with a few items, then next thing I know it looks like this.
C5 FRC. #2750
Steve A.
C5 FRC. #2750
Steve A.
Last edited by mountainbiker2; Mar 6, 2011 at 09:14 PM.
Team Owner
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 24,989
Likes: 2,691
From: Far NW 'burbs of Chicago
St. Jude Donor '13
That's good advice.
A 2006 coupe has about 7.5 lb/hp. Removing 150 lbs, which is a major project that will effect the street usefulness of the car, will add the equivilant of about 20 hp. Getting another 20 hp from a blower, make it 25 hp to account for the blower weight, is pretty easy.
Weight has other disadvantages, but for an already-built car, adding hp is usually the way to go.
A 2006 coupe has about 7.5 lb/hp. Removing 150 lbs, which is a major project that will effect the street usefulness of the car, will add the equivilant of about 20 hp. Getting another 20 hp from a blower, make it 25 hp to account for the blower weight, is pretty easy.
Weight has other disadvantages, but for an already-built car, adding hp is usually the way to go.