Is weight a bad thing?
Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 2011
Posts: 7,079
Likes: 1,922
From: DFW, Tejas!
Weight, in terms of performance, is pretty bad.
It makes handling worse, acceleration worse and braking way worse. Not to mention gas mileage, tire wear, etc.
Then there are collateral problems and build up: more weight means wider tires which means more weight which more power/brakes/etc which again means more weight.
On the track, it's hell on brakes. No only are you stopping more weight, but way more energy. IE: Going down a straight away normally takes 10 seconds. With more weight it takes 12 seconds. You now have a heavier car to begin with, but also 2 more seconds of a 400hp engine pumping in power (which also means more cooling, more fuel consumption, more weight, etc).
Yeah, weight sucks.
Also I have no idea what your actual post is asking after the subject.
It makes handling worse, acceleration worse and braking way worse. Not to mention gas mileage, tire wear, etc.
Then there are collateral problems and build up: more weight means wider tires which means more weight which more power/brakes/etc which again means more weight.
On the track, it's hell on brakes. No only are you stopping more weight, but way more energy. IE: Going down a straight away normally takes 10 seconds. With more weight it takes 12 seconds. You now have a heavier car to begin with, but also 2 more seconds of a 400hp engine pumping in power (which also means more cooling, more fuel consumption, more weight, etc).
Yeah, weight sucks.
Also I have no idea what your actual post is asking after the subject.
Safety Car
Joined: Sep 2015
Posts: 4,785
Likes: 1,417
If you tried you could probably get a C7 down to 2600#s You aren't going to like driving it on the street, but what the hay...
No AC, no heated vented seat (replaced with ltw bucket), no stereo, roll down windows,no sound insulation, smaller wheels and tires, smaller brakes, ltw clutch and flywheel,.
Think about every single thing in the car, and then redesign it adding lightness above all. (Colin Chapman of Lotus fame)
No AC, no heated vented seat (replaced with ltw bucket), no stereo, roll down windows,no sound insulation, smaller wheels and tires, smaller brakes, ltw clutch and flywheel,.
Think about every single thing in the car, and then redesign it adding lightness above all. (Colin Chapman of Lotus fame)
Tech Contributor
Joined: Oct 1999
Posts: 41,058
Likes: 9,820
From: Charlotte, NC (formerly Endicott, NY)
If you tried you could probably get a C7 down to 2600#s You aren't going to like driving it on the street, but what the hay...
No AC, no heated vented seat (replaced with ltw bucket), no stereo, roll down windows,no sound insulation, smaller wheels and tires, smaller brakes, ltw clutch and flywheel,.
Think about every single thing in the car, and then redesign it adding lightness above all. (Colin Chapman of Lotus fame)
No AC, no heated vented seat (replaced with ltw bucket), no stereo, roll down windows,no sound insulation, smaller wheels and tires, smaller brakes, ltw clutch and flywheel,.
Think about every single thing in the car, and then redesign it adding lightness above all. (Colin Chapman of Lotus fame)
Bill
Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 2011
Posts: 7,079
Likes: 1,922
From: DFW, Tejas!
If you tried you could probably get a C7 down to 2600#s You aren't going to like driving it on the street, but what the hay...
No AC, no heated vented seat (replaced with ltw bucket), no stereo, roll down windows,no sound insulation, smaller wheels and tires, smaller brakes, ltw clutch and flywheel,.
Think about every single thing in the car, and then redesign it adding lightness above all. (Colin Chapman of Lotus fame)
No AC, no heated vented seat (replaced with ltw bucket), no stereo, roll down windows,no sound insulation, smaller wheels and tires, smaller brakes, ltw clutch and flywheel,.
Think about every single thing in the car, and then redesign it adding lightness above all. (Colin Chapman of Lotus fame)
AC is probably 50lbs
Seats are probably 50lbs (replacing both with a lightweight racing seat)
Stereo is probably 40lbs
Sound insulation- i dunno, 30lbs
forged wheels (18") and non runflat tires- 75lbs at most
Lighter brakes: 20lbs
Lighter clutch and flywheer is what- 20lbs at most?
You've basically dropped 200lbs, call it 300. You're nowhere near 2600. I think 3000 flat is a good ambitious goal for a true track only C7.
Corvette Stories
The Best of Corvette for Corvette Enthusiasts
Top 10 Most Expensive Corvettes Ever Sold on Bring A Trailer
Brett Foote
10 Things Every Corvette Owner Needs (2026 Edition)
Michael S. Palmer
8 Most "Only Corvette Owners Understand" Quirks and Problems
Pouria Savadkouei
10 Reasons the C6 Z06 is Still A Performance Benchmark After 20 Years
Joe Kucinski
How Much Horsepower Every Corvette Engine "LOST" in 1972
Joe Kucinski
Top 10 DOs and DON'Ts for Protecting Your Convertible Top!
Michael S. Palmer
Top 10 Most Explosive Corvettes Ever Made: Power-to-Weight Ratio Ranked!
Joe Kucinski
150 hp to 1,250 hp: Every Corvette Generation Compared by the Specs That Matter
Joe Kucinski
8 Coolest Corvette Pace Cars (and Replicas) of All Time
Verdad Gallardo
Safety Car
Joined: Sep 2015
Posts: 4,785
Likes: 1,417
I guess you could get smaller brakes if it's lighter, but that's hardly a good place to save weight.
AC is probably 50lbs
Seats are probably 50lbs (replacing both with a lightweight racing seat)
Stereo is probably 40lbs
Sound insulation- i dunno, 30lbs
forged wheels (18") and non runflat tires- 75lbs at most
Lighter brakes: 20lbs
Lighter clutch and flywheer is what- 20lbs at most?
You've basically dropped 200lbs, call it 300. You're nowhere near 2600. I think 3000 flat is a good ambitious goal for a true track only C7.
AC is probably 50lbs
Seats are probably 50lbs (replacing both with a lightweight racing seat)
Stereo is probably 40lbs
Sound insulation- i dunno, 30lbs
forged wheels (18") and non runflat tires- 75lbs at most
Lighter brakes: 20lbs
Lighter clutch and flywheer is what- 20lbs at most?
You've basically dropped 200lbs, call it 300. You're nowhere near 2600. I think 3000 flat is a good ambitious goal for a true track only C7.
The E36 M3 weighed 3200' very close to the C7, it got to 2400 with a cage. In fact we had to add ballast.
Instructor
Joined: Mar 2014
Posts: 239
Likes: 29
Honestly, the seats are extremely comfortable. Getting in and out isn't, as the side bolster is now hard carbon. Once your seated, I greatly prefer them. Wife approved (once seated), but choice words maybe have been used a time or two getting in. They are made by tecnocraft, and were one of the few seats that would give me some headroom and accommodate a larger driver (6'7" 240).
Melting Slicks
Joined: Feb 2000
Posts: 3,428
Likes: 569
From: new orleans
I would agree 3000 pounds would be remarkable. 2600 near impossible, unless you start trimming the heads off bolts. On my C6z which I’m going full race car, the radio etc was about 10 pounds, the a/c stuff around 20. The seats were not much, but the c7 seats are much heavier. Good weight savings in carpets and wireing harness.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 3,382
Likes: 250
The unnecessary electronics and wiring is heavy. The problem is so many things are incestuous and you can't remove stuff or the car will not work. Take tpms for example. How can you remove it? How about magnetic ride? Only a few have got the bcm out of the c5 and that car is primative by comparison.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 2011
Posts: 7,079
Likes: 1,922
From: DFW, Tejas!
The unnecessary electronics and wiring is heavy. The problem is so many things are incestuous and you can't remove stuff or the car will not work. Take tpms for example. How can you remove it? How about magnetic ride? Only a few have got the bcm out of the c5 and that car is primative by comparison.
Track Rat
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 6,466
Likes: 3,464
I think his point is that it's not just the parts but those thick bundles of wires running all over the car.
I wish someone made a set of carbon fiber doors without all the side impact protection that you could run on a car with a cage. The GT4.R Camaro does that and I suspect the weight savings would be significant.
Lightweight racing seats, removing the side windows and replacing with nets, Lexan windshield and rear hatch are probably the biggest weight savings you can do.
I wish someone made a set of carbon fiber doors without all the side impact protection that you could run on a car with a cage. The GT4.R Camaro does that and I suspect the weight savings would be significant.
Lightweight racing seats, removing the side windows and replacing with nets, Lexan windshield and rear hatch are probably the biggest weight savings you can do.
Last edited by Poor-sha; Oct 8, 2017 at 01:48 PM.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Feb 2000
Posts: 3,428
Likes: 569
From: new orleans
there is a lot of wireing that can be removed from a c6, not sure about a c5 or c7. It depends on what systems you want to keep. Radio and all wireing-gone, onstar, front headlights and wireing, turn signals and wireing, horns and wireing, etc. depends on what you keep
Racer
Joined: Jan 2015
Posts: 388
Likes: 41
C7 of Year Finalist (performance mods) 2019
For about $25,000 you can replace carbon fibre torque tube and tunel, saves 30 lbs, remove muffler, AFM, NPP and replace with x-pipe and straight exhaust, save another 30 lbs, replace with headers, remove secondary cats, replace battery with lithiom, save 25 lbs. replace some of the engine coverings with carbon fibre, save 15 lbs, replace wheels, tires and brakes, save 4 x 15 = 60 lbs. and bits and pieces of sound insulation or whatever is left over for another 10 lbs. Total weight reduction approx. 170 lbs. Very difficult to drop past 200 lbs. without going into the engine's mechanicals such as the fly wheel, rocker arms, harmonic balancer etc. The seats and some of the interior replacement can reduce the weight by another 30-50 lbs or so.
It would be nice if GM offered a stripped down version of the C7, not crazy stripped down but dropped 150 lbs.
It would be nice if GM offered a stripped down version of the C7, not crazy stripped down but dropped 150 lbs.
Last edited by tyho; Oct 9, 2017 at 11:44 AM.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 2011
Posts: 7,079
Likes: 1,922
From: DFW, Tejas!
For about $25,000 you can replace carbon fibre torque tube and tunel, saves 30 lbs, remove muffler, AFM, NPP and replace with x-pipe and straight exhaust, save another 30 lbs, replace with headers, remove secondary cats, replace battery with lithiom, save 25 lbs. replace some of the engine coverings with carbon fibre, save 15 lbs, replace wheels, tires and brakes, save 4 x 15 = 60 lbs. and bits and pieces of sound insulation or whatever is left over for another 10 lbs. Total weight reduction approx. 170 lbs. Very difficult to drop past 200 lbs. without going into the engine's mechanicals such as the fly wheel, rocker arms, harmonic balancer etc. The seats and some of the interior replacement can reduce the weight by another 30-50 lbs or so.
It would be nice if GM offered a stripped down version of the C7, not crazy stripped down but dropped 150 lbs.
It would be nice if GM offered a stripped down version of the C7, not crazy stripped down but dropped 150 lbs.