Lightweight

[stevenb]

Has anyone lightened their cars?
And if so, to what level?

I can imagine shedding a load of weight would give the car a better power to weight ratio.

It's something I'm contemplating at the moment.
My car is only used every other week and so creature comforts are not that important.......so I guess the air-con could go.....and the stereo/speakers (Im not a music in the car fan TBH).
I was thinking about buying a lighter drivers seat and keeping the standard passenger one.

Also, if I did buy and fit a drivers harness in lieu of the seatbelt does it effect the MOT?

Cheers

Steve

[whitetrash]

Things i've done:

Removed Spare wheel
Removed soundproofing
Fitted light bucket seats

Next step for me is carbon (bonnet, engine lid and boot lid)

[sw20GTS]

You could also strip most of the trims off It will be a bit noisy esp on highway speeds but since you don't mind it will defo make a diff!

[whitetrash]

i was going to strip the inside completely but im deciding not to now..

Looking into a lightweight battery and might keep a lookout for some lighter wheels

[Ryan S]

i was going to strip the inside completely but im deciding not to now..

Looking into a lightweight battery and might keep a lookout for some lighter wheels

you could also get fibreglass doors off fleabay, or carben fibre creations do them as well i think

[whitetrash]

yeah i considered them and spoke to ben... but i would only use them with a full cage unless i could fab some impact bars

[travisfububarker]

I've stripped out my rev1 na, last time I weighed it it was 1120kg with 3/4 of a tank(30kg?). Could probably take out another 30-40kg.

Jonny

[stevenb]

Cheers chaps.

So far I have removed the double din stereo, ash tray, rear console and the centre armrest so as to expose the gear linkages.

Next will be the carpets and door trims and speakers.

I'm keeping all the bits (apart from the stereo) so if I need to sell it I can put it all back in.

I think the idea of lighter doors etc is off the cards for the mo as I have no money....

[mks2005]

Removed Spare wheel

humm i dont think id want to take any weight out of the front, its a bit light up there compared to the back anyway

[whitetrash]

Removed Spare wheel

humm i dont think id want to take any weight out of the front, its a bit light up there compared to the back anyway

Man Up

Actually i found it isnt that bad and under heavy braking a lot of the weight is shifted forwards anyway

[mks2005]

was not worried about braking but cornering and err accelerating within the speed limit of course aronud corners...

[stevenb]

I doubt the front wheel would make that much difference TBH.
However, when you weigh it up along with the toolkit, plastic surrounding I bet there is a fair few pounds there. So from all of that to nothing might make a difference.

My car doesn't even have the standard front strut brace.
Yet I have an engine brace and an aftermarket Cusco rear strut brace.

Getting the uprated roll bars will help with all the handling anyway.

Gone are now my side speakers and the plastic panels. Gone are the door speakers and tweeters but I'm retaining the door cards for now due to the switches/locking etc......that's a bit complicated for me.
Gone is the rear plastic panel at the base of the rear window.
Gone is the firewall carpet...and boy does that weigh a lot
Rear bins are empty (where the subs normally sit in).

Gone is the plastic tray in the frunk and gone is the boot carpet/wood panels. It now shows all the dirt though.

In total thats a fair amount of weight I've shifted.......but most prominent is the much louder noise of the engine and turbo which whizzes away. Sounds quite cool.....for now......hope I don't get fed up with the noise.
Mind you...I've kept it all...so can always pop it back in.

[mks2005]

I fonud my car really floaty around bents without the spare wheel and surround in thats all..

Anyway the standard seats are gonna be pretty heavy if its in ya budget then sure go for lighter aftermarket seats

Aircon is deffo another thing as you mentioned..

Careful when disconnecting it that gas aint good for you at all.

Also fiber glass wings, bonnet, doors, bootlid i guess probally all available if its in your bidget hehe

If you really want to go nuts replace the glass with lighter plastic

Stainless steel aexhaust may also be lighter than the standard...
Same goes for exhaust manifold i would think


Your idea is right tho shedding weight can do the world of good

[stevenb]

Cheers,

I have a single exit Apexi N1 already so a fair bit of weight saving there compared to a twin exit system.

With regards to the spare wheel removal, can you carry one of those inflatable tyre canisters instead and be legal?

I just had a thought about going to Sainsbury's shopping.
Oops....I think I might have to get one of those removable cargo nets for when it's my turn to go shopping in the tubby...