any one did any weight reduction, like any thing major we can take out from our car to lighten up our rx7 FC. how about a/c and stuff? any idea what can take out that would make a major difference.

 

if i am not mistaken you can just search "emissions removal" and pretty much thats what you do. anyone care to help out?

you should really change your subject to what you are actually trying to ask.

 

Anything that doesn't make the car go, stop or turn is excess weight. Well, maybe not stuff related to safety. An FC with the bare minimum required to drive (on track, no headlights, side windows, etc) and all the right weight reduction tricks will be around 2000lbs.

 

My '91 N/A, with PS and AC deleted but otherwise mostly stock, weighs 2740 lbs.
with a full tank of gas.
So, figuring the gas weighs around 100lbs., to reach Black91n/a's theoretical target of an even ton you'd have to drop another 600lbs.
That's a lot of stripping.

 

My stock '91 TII wet, with a quarter tank of gas, weight 1305 KG. Give or take a few KGs... The papers say 1300 KG, so that seems right. When I'm done with the V-Dub and the Beamer I'll take out as much weight I don't need as possible.

Riz.

 

sorie 4 teh dubble post...

So my FC streetlegal track car that I have in my haed could be in the 1000 KGs? As in 1000-1099 KGs? Wow that would be a awesome achievement! Guess that's gonna be my goal then.

Riz.

 

1 Kg= 2.2 Lbs., so @2200+ Lbs.
Not sure exactly what "streetlegal" entails but I'd assume lighting and D.O.T. glass, both of which add some weight.

I can see how gutting the interior, 86ing the power windows/seatbelts/sunroof (if you have them) and ditching the dash / stock seats might get you a fairly easy weight loss of around 250Lbs.
Beyond that, it's going to get a lot more expensive and difficult.

 

91 FC track car, gutted interior, no emissions, 2x alum racing seats, kirk roll bar. 2400 lbs wet. This is probably the lightest I could see getting to while having any hope of remaining street legal.

There is probably 100 lbs of "easy" stuff I can remove/mod (eg. gut doors and glass, remove sunroof, lighter wheels) but some of these things would quickly make it mostly unstreetable)

Taking 400 more lbs off to get it down to 2000 would involve major surgery involving fiberglass and lexan.

-bill

 

That 2000lb number would only really be possible if you did EVERYTHING possible to reduce weight. That means no interior whatsoever, the lightest fenders, bumpers, hood, seat, etc you can find, gutted doors, lexan windshield and hatch, no side windows, gutting the wiring harness, cutting off excess length on bolts, no rear swaybar, lighter brakes, lighter suspension, lighter flywheel and clutch, lighter wheels and tires, etc, etc, etc. So you can see it's not really a realistic number for 99.999% of people, as that car wouldn't be close to being street legal. Just the absolute bare essentials, and the lightest you can find of all of those.

 

FP 88fc down to 2000 still got stock hatch full wire in engin bay

 

I'm with clokker, 91 GXL with spare tire removed, 1/2 tank, 18lb wheels. Wieghed 2720lbs at a truck stop.

I've been meaning to weigh it again with the turbo stuff on.

 

I don't need glas, lexan will suffice. I dunno about laws over here, but I might have to keep the windshield stock to keep it street legal. Lightest light weight headlights, tailights will be modified or just a panel with a couple of round LED lights. I'm talking about removing everything I don't need I daily drova a Bug for a long time, luxury is overrated. I might have to instal a alarm though for insurance.

I would gut the doors, remove suroof and all that stuff. So, maybe I could lose up to 100KGs more then you, getting me in the range I wanna be.

Would be nice if you guys could post pics of your cars when you are saying the numbers, so we get the idea... I'm not looking for more luxury then a F40... I want it as hardcore as some of those streetlegal race cars I see driving over here. They are like Porsches and Aston DBSs which are completely race ready. They have glass frontshiled and lighting and stuff like that, but other then that they are racecars. I believe manufacturers have to produce a nember of them for the street, so they are allowed to race 'em.

Riz.

 

I'm curious to see how light my car is now. I once rolled it up on a truck scale before but I don't remember the numbers since it was about 10 years ago. I should have some reduction with a fiberglass hood and front bumper now and all the extra crap removed from the engine

 

Bad example from Riz. The AM/Porsche factories are doing alot of things to those cars to lighten the hell out of them that most FC owners cant do. For example..... ever try to pick up a completed rear subframe? Any idea how much weight can be lost when using different materials to build it?

 

I was thinking about that the other day! I would love to see someone experiment with other materials and make a different / better subframe! Any ideas of how easy/hard this would be just to try and copy one with aluminum? Would it be possible to convert to a tube rear subframe setup?

 

Well yes, that is right. I know that, and that's why my car only costs a couple % of what those cars cost.

I was actualy reffering to the luxury and comfort those cars (street leagal track cars) offer. Virtualy none! I don't need to be more comfortable in my FC then in one of those cars. I got other cars for comfort/DD.

Obviusly I wasn't thinking I could compete with those cars, and certainly not with a somewhat realistic budget.

The only reason to keep it registerd is the Nordschleife, and maybe Time-Attack.

Riz.

 

I can't imagine it would be nearly strong enough if it was merely copied in aluminum.

I think a thin wall chromoly subframe would be the way to go.

 

Lexan windshield is a no-no on a street car, you can't use your wipers! You'll scratch the **** out of it.

 

doesn't lexan get milky eventually?

 

Anythings possible with enough bread tossed at it. Aside from weight savings, what other adjustability can be worked into it that aftermarket parts don't already offer?

The rear diff is the heaviest single piece back there though

Meh, for the extra few pounds, I'll take some creature comforts becuase I'm not competing heavily. Track days and auto-x so I'll sacrifice a little weight and keep my sunroof, power windows/locks etc etc. I did ditch the PS and the A/C only becuase I dislike them anyway. I RARELY use the A/C in my Jeep and it's black with a dark interior. The only time it's really on is in the summer when I have my two dogs in the truck with me

I would agree but as I said above, what are you gaining for all that work except shedding a few pounds and possibly bumping yourself up a few classes.

 

Hmmmm... would a carbon clutch setup really help much there, or is it mainly the outside metal that is really the heavy part?

 

The rear diff man, not the clutch. And yeah, in my opinion it's heavy but the trade off is strength. How many FC guys break that casing vs how many FD guys do? I've never heard of an FC case exploding while the FD guys are plauged with that problem @ higher HP levels while dragging. It's a problem to the point where there are a few different companies that offer diff braces and a few forum guys have made thier own.

It's really about what you want the car to do/class that would dictate the setup. Would I like to see a lighter diff, or even a lighter rear end assembly? Sure, but at what cost/benefit.

 

opps, I meant to say diff. Got mixed up in my head thinking clutch diff. Thanks.

Yeah I agree, would suck to have the whole casing explode just to try and same a little weight.

 

On a drivetrain component I would take extra weight rather than have a weak component. You can always make more power one way or another.

 

Is the rear diff housing made of aluminum or cast?

I've got three Mark VIII aluminum 8.8 center sections sitting in my garage... they seem like a good choice to swap into anything because of the gearing and diff options, but I wonder if they are lighter or heavier....