Weight Reduction 101
02-22-2005
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Weight Reduction 101
You can reduce the weight of your car in many ways. I like to remember that my car is a daily driver and not a track car or go kart. To me it doesn't make sense to strip my 7th gen civic of its interior and amenities such as AC sound system to reduce weight. Reducing weight doesn't increase horsepower but since there is less mass you can accelerate faster.
Rotational Weight
Reducing weight of components that rotate when your car is moving will make the most significant impact, but the there is a loss of intertia(there are other trade-offs aswell).
These parts include:
-Wheels(smallest diameter that will fit around your brakes is ideal)
-Tire
-Flywheel
-Clutch
-Brakes
-Driveshafts
-Crank
Carbon Fiber
Other ways to reduce weight of your car without sacrificing amenities includes carbon fiber parts; carbon trunk, hood, doors and mirrors. The problem with carbon fiber is that it’s expensive and it is not ductile. So it’s impacted it will crack not dent resulting in the need to replace the complete carbon fiber part.
Sacrifice Creature Comforts
(A lot of these weight reductions screw up the weight distribution of your car)
Lighter glass- Lexan glass rear windshield. They now make scratch resistant lexan glass but you won’t be able to melt ice or defog your rear windshield.
Spare tire
Tire Iron and wheel cap
Jack
Trunk mat & Trunk cardboard
back seats
Front Passenger seat
Replace power steering with rack and steering shaft
Air Conditioner
Power locks are heavy, the motors weight quite a bit.
Sunroof is a horrible weight since its heavy and its right at the top of the car. The sunroof motor is quite heavy.
Sound deadener tar around the firewall. You’d be surprised how much weight you can save.
Interior Body panels
Rear seats belts about 6 pounds
Sound system
Use pins or quick release fasteners to retain the hood and trunk in place of heavy stock hinges and springs.
Use an aluminum master cylinder
Switch to manual brakes/Remove Vacuum Brake Booster
Remove the front/rear antisway bar
Once you’ve removed all your creature comforts you can take it a step further and remove the wires you are no longer using.
Remove impact beams from bumpers
Light racing seats- Not nice Recaros with adjustments and nice bolsterin, just simple buckets.
Lighter battery
Do not keep your gas tank full
Go on a diet
When do you Stop?
Well you know you’ve gone to far when your car looks like this
http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=776885
Links
http://www.montac.com/mustang/weight.htm
http://www.geocities.com/rapidmini4wd/weightred.html
http://www.evilplastic.com/p92-wgt1.htm
http://p207.ezboard.com/fzx2racingfr...opicID=1.topic
http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/7610/weight.htm
http://www.engg.ksu.edu/solarcar/mechanical.html
Reference
http://www.7thgencivic.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=167337
Rotational Weight
Reducing weight of components that rotate when your car is moving will make the most significant impact, but the there is a loss of intertia(there are other trade-offs aswell).
These parts include:
-Wheels(smallest diameter that will fit around your brakes is ideal)
-Tire
-Flywheel
-Clutch
-Brakes
-Driveshafts
-Crank
Carbon Fiber
Other ways to reduce weight of your car without sacrificing amenities includes carbon fiber parts; carbon trunk, hood, doors and mirrors. The problem with carbon fiber is that it’s expensive and it is not ductile. So it’s impacted it will crack not dent resulting in the need to replace the complete carbon fiber part.
Sacrifice Creature Comforts
(A lot of these weight reductions screw up the weight distribution of your car)
Lighter glass- Lexan glass rear windshield. They now make scratch resistant lexan glass but you won’t be able to melt ice or defog your rear windshield.
Spare tire
Tire Iron and wheel cap
Jack
Trunk mat & Trunk cardboard
back seats
Front Passenger seat
Replace power steering with rack and steering shaft
Air Conditioner
Power locks are heavy, the motors weight quite a bit.
Sunroof is a horrible weight since its heavy and its right at the top of the car. The sunroof motor is quite heavy.
Sound deadener tar around the firewall. You’d be surprised how much weight you can save.
Interior Body panels
Rear seats belts about 6 pounds
Sound system
Use pins or quick release fasteners to retain the hood and trunk in place of heavy stock hinges and springs.
Use an aluminum master cylinder
Switch to manual brakes/Remove Vacuum Brake Booster
Remove the front/rear antisway bar
Once you’ve removed all your creature comforts you can take it a step further and remove the wires you are no longer using.
Remove impact beams from bumpers
Light racing seats- Not nice Recaros with adjustments and nice bolsterin, just simple buckets.
Lighter battery
Do not keep your gas tank full
Go on a diet
When do you Stop?
Well you know you’ve gone to far when your car looks like this
http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=776885
Links
http://www.montac.com/mustang/weight.htm
http://www.geocities.com/rapidmini4wd/weightred.html
http://www.evilplastic.com/p92-wgt1.htm
http://p207.ezboard.com/fzx2racingfr...opicID=1.topic
http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/7610/weight.htm
http://www.engg.ksu.edu/solarcar/mechanical.html
Reference
http://www.7thgencivic.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=167337
Last edited by nindoo; 02-23-2005 at 03:22 PM.
02-22-2005
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Why is my vagina bleeding?
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Rep Power: 280 Here is some weight reduciton numbers by Redline04
Some more stuff off an old thread....
Ok est free weight reduction so far:
(bathroom scale so not 100% acurate)
Sp Tire 24lbs
Tire iron and wheel bolt 2lbs
Jack 3lbs
Center trunk carpet 1lbs
Cardboard? over Sp Tire 7lbs
Driver Side Back Seat 12lbs
Pass. Back seat 7lbs
Back seat bench 8lbs
Passenger Seat 35lbs
Center hinge trunk plastic 1lbs
Driver side trunk carpet 1lbs
Passenger side trunk carpet 1lbs
4 mud flaps 2lbs
Driver rear panel 5lbs
Driver rear pillar 1lbs
Passenger rear panel 5bs
Passenger rear pillar 1lbs
Side sills 2lbs
kick panels 1lbs
Front carpet 13lbs
Rear seat belts 7lbs
Entire rear deck inc. speakers 10lbs
That's about 149lbs so far.
Now 1 gallon of gas weighs 6.2 lbs. I try to keep a 1/4 tank when racing and never more than a half daily. So lets do worst case scenario. A civic has a 13 gallon tank.
13 x 6.2lbs =80.6lbs
Worst case 1/2 of 80lbs= 40lbs
So up to 189lbs.
My exhaust, header and intake should add up to 11 lbs less then the stock components for an even 200lbs.
Wheels. 12.5lbs 17" forged Velox Pg5-s.
2.5lbs less per corner of unsprung weight.
Kyokugen lug nuts 1/4lb less per corner.
So 2.75 x 4= 11lbs of unsprung weight, which actually has a greater effect than sprung weight.
Get the 15" Spoons (8.5lbs) and thats 4 more lbs per corner
Oh and for EX owners your wheels are 5lbs heavier than my dx 14's so that would be another 20lbs of unsprung weight reduced.
More things to reduce weight, that I myself have yet to do.
Door panels and anything else not needed behind them 5-10lbs per side?
Stereo 5-10lbs?
Roof liner 5lbs?
Sound insulation 15-35lbs?
AC and components 50lbs?
Center console 5lbs?
Stuff that's gonna cost
CF hood 5-10lbs?
CF trunk 5lbs?
CF Fenders 10lbs?
Racing seat 10-15lbs
Lexan rear windows 15-30lbs?
Lighter battery 10lbs?
Just an estimate though not 100% accurate.
Here is Zzyzx explanation of rotational weight reduction benefits
Originally Posted by Redline04
Some more stuff off an old thread....
Ok est free weight reduction so far:
(bathroom scale so not 100% acurate)
Sp Tire 24lbs
Tire iron and wheel bolt 2lbs
Jack 3lbs
Center trunk carpet 1lbs
Cardboard? over Sp Tire 7lbs
Driver Side Back Seat 12lbs
Pass. Back seat 7lbs
Back seat bench 8lbs
Passenger Seat 35lbs
Center hinge trunk plastic 1lbs
Driver side trunk carpet 1lbs
Passenger side trunk carpet 1lbs
4 mud flaps 2lbs
Driver rear panel 5lbs
Driver rear pillar 1lbs
Passenger rear panel 5bs
Passenger rear pillar 1lbs
Side sills 2lbs
kick panels 1lbs
Front carpet 13lbs
Rear seat belts 7lbs
Entire rear deck inc. speakers 10lbs
That's about 149lbs so far.
Now 1 gallon of gas weighs 6.2 lbs. I try to keep a 1/4 tank when racing and never more than a half daily. So lets do worst case scenario. A civic has a 13 gallon tank.
13 x 6.2lbs =80.6lbs
Worst case 1/2 of 80lbs= 40lbs
So up to 189lbs.
My exhaust, header and intake should add up to 11 lbs less then the stock components for an even 200lbs.
Wheels. 12.5lbs 17" forged Velox Pg5-s.
2.5lbs less per corner of unsprung weight.
Kyokugen lug nuts 1/4lb less per corner.
So 2.75 x 4= 11lbs of unsprung weight, which actually has a greater effect than sprung weight.
Get the 15" Spoons (8.5lbs) and thats 4 more lbs per corner
Oh and for EX owners your wheels are 5lbs heavier than my dx 14's so that would be another 20lbs of unsprung weight reduced.
More things to reduce weight, that I myself have yet to do.
Door panels and anything else not needed behind them 5-10lbs per side?
Stereo 5-10lbs?
Roof liner 5lbs?
Sound insulation 15-35lbs?
AC and components 50lbs?
Center console 5lbs?
Stuff that's gonna cost
CF hood 5-10lbs?
CF trunk 5lbs?
CF Fenders 10lbs?
Racing seat 10-15lbs
Lexan rear windows 15-30lbs?
Lighter battery 10lbs?
Just an estimate though not 100% accurate.
Originally Posted by Zzyzx
^^ its a misconseption.... reducing weight does not magically make your engine have more HP... it simply makes it so that the HP you do have has to accelerate Less mass = faster acceleration.
Also, you have to look at where the weight you are removing comes from.... for acceleration, reducing Rotational weight (any thing the engine has to get to rotate) will have a 70% more positive effect then just removing weight from the chassis....
Meaning, if you reduce your wheels weight by 10 LBS (Total weight removed from the drive wheels, not per wheel), it will have the same effect as if you had removed 33 LBS from the chassis...
so, the stock 15" steel wheels weigh 19lbs... if you reduce that to 10LBS each.....
(19+19 = 38LBS on the drive wheels stock. Vs 10+10 = 20 LBS on the drive wheels... = 18LB reduction in rotating weight, so it will feel as if you removed 60 LBS from the chassis. :P (18 is 30% of 60)
Also, you have to look at where the weight you are removing comes from.... for acceleration, reducing Rotational weight (any thing the engine has to get to rotate) will have a 70% more positive effect then just removing weight from the chassis....
Meaning, if you reduce your wheels weight by 10 LBS (Total weight removed from the drive wheels, not per wheel), it will have the same effect as if you had removed 33 LBS from the chassis...
so, the stock 15" steel wheels weigh 19lbs... if you reduce that to 10LBS each.....
(19+19 = 38LBS on the drive wheels stock. Vs 10+10 = 20 LBS on the drive wheels... = 18LB reduction in rotating weight, so it will feel as if you removed 60 LBS from the chassis. :P (18 is 30% of 60)
Last edited by nindoo; 02-22-2005 at 03:26 PM.
02-22-2005
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Desperate Custom Swapper Speed Freak
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Just so everyone knows. As far as the weight ratios in the 1/4 mile go, every 200lbs to strip from your car, your ratio drops so that you could improve .1 seconds in the 1/4 mile. Just a little tidbid I thought I would throw in.
02-22-2005
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Originally Posted by GuliziaN
Excellent thread and very useful... I plan on reducing rotating weight and using carbon fiber, but loosing your interior etc. is absurd.
Remember that mods have there draw backs. For example a lightened flywheel though balanced can make it a bit more diffcult to drive. The flywheel has does not keep the same interna so it looses speed quickly and also gains speed quickly. Carbon we know is expensive and it breaks on impact since its not ductile.
What do you guys no abour kevlar, can you have kevlar body panels?
Last edited by nindoo; 02-22-2005 at 05:16 PM.
02-22-2005
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my civic has no boost
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how many people have actually done any of these? i had a system so i took it out that weight at LEAST 70 pounds, then i took out the rear trunk cardboard floor. that probably was 5-8 lbs. spare tire makes sense but only at a track event. making yur car light over all for daily driving i think is most peoples concern. this is a great thread thanks for posting it its good info.
02-22-2005
#12
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Rep Power: 0 i removed trunk carpet, cardboard, tire, jack, tools, everything from trunk possible, cf trunk, cf hood, removed a/c, backseats, im prolly going to get c/f fenders too..
02-22-2005
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AKA Mr. 60ft. Not to be confused with Civic_Redline
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Rep Power: 0 I have done all that I listed, but I weighed everything on a analog bathroom scale so it's not 100% accurate.
Do they make CF fenders for our car? I would like some eventually.
Not sure if you mentioned it and it's negative effects are unknown, but a Crank Pulley will help. I think the stock is like 8lbs and my Unorthodox is around 2lbs.
Do they make CF fenders for our car? I would like some eventually.
Not sure if you mentioned it and it's negative effects are unknown, but a Crank Pulley will help. I think the stock is like 8lbs and my Unorthodox is around 2lbs.
02-23-2005
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Originally Posted by Redline04
I have done all that I listed, but I weighed everything on a analog bathroom scale so it's not 100% accurate.
Do they make CF fenders for our car? I would like some eventually.
Not sure if you mentioned it and it's negative effects are unknown, but a Crank Pulley will help. I think the stock is like 8lbs and my Unorthodox is around 2lbs.
Do they make CF fenders for our car? I would like some eventually.
Not sure if you mentioned it and it's negative effects are unknown, but a Crank Pulley will help. I think the stock is like 8lbs and my Unorthodox is around 2lbs.
Performance crank pulleys reduce speed of accesory pulleys. Side effects may include engine cooling system problems or charging problems.
Its like how some upgrade the altenator pulley from 3.25in to 5 inch so it rotates less(less rotations per minute) but it puts more strain on the altenator.
So it will definately free some HP to the wheel but at a cost.
Here's a cool small article on pulley ratios.
http://www.carcraft.com/techarticles/85610/index2.html
Last edited by nindoo; 02-23-2005 at 07:38 AM.
02-23-2005
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Originally Posted by Bmkarr
good post
when yall say removed a/c, did yall just remove the belt, or actually pull all the crap out of the car
when yall say removed a/c, did yall just remove the belt, or actually pull all the crap out of the car
Well this guy actually removed the air conditioning and he saved 27 pounds plus the weight of the refrigirant. (Not a 7th gen civic its a 1992 Saturn SC )
http://www.evilplastic.com/p92-wgt1.htm
On a 7th gen civic I'm not sure if Redline04 has removed his AC.
Last edited by nindoo; 02-23-2005 at 01:26 PM.
02-23-2005
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AKA Mr. 60ft. Not to be confused with Civic_Redline
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Rep Power: 0 Yeah I still have AC. I want to take it out but it gets faucking hot down here in Louisiana so for now it's still in there.
02-23-2005
#19
03-04-2005
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a little article I found about weight reduction.
a little article I found about weight reduction.
03-05-2005
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Originally Posted by Redline04
http://www.importtuner.com/features/0407it_striptease/
a little article I found about weight reduction.
a little article I found about weight reduction.
Wow there's a big diff between 100 and 180 pounds
Good find.
03-30-2005
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Rep Power: 280 Here is somthing from clubrsx.com
Originally Posted by ACTman
There are no long term effects on the engine with a properly balanced flywheel. However, the disc's center section will wear out faster with a lighter flywheel. The heavy weight of the flywheel serves as a damper of sorts to dampen the torsional vibrations of the engine. The springs in the disc's center which also serve to dampen these vibrations now have a harder time and take more of a beating.
Dirk Starksen
President/CTO
Advanced Clutch Technology Inc.
Dirk Starksen
President/CTO
Advanced Clutch Technology Inc.
03-31-2005
#28
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Rep Power: 0 ive removed just about everything i could on my car. and still make it drivable and ****
rear seats
a/c
powersteering
sound dampening material ( quick note, the 2nd post says its about 15-35lbs, when im my ex i probly say its more like 80-95lbs. i put it all in a large bag and i can't curl it with one arm, and i do about that 80lbs per arm... dont ask)
that included the floor on both driver and passenger, rear feet secont, space tire section, sound padding by firewall also. heavy ****!!!
spare tire
basically everything interior from driver seat back
carbon fiber hood
rear support bumper
total, it was about 200lbs.
didnt really notice anyhting above 60mph, but at like 10 or so, it picked up a lot of speed quicker.
this was before the turbo as 10mph wouldnt gain traction now so i couldnt tell you if i did it now and what i would notice.
rear seats
a/c
powersteering
sound dampening material ( quick note, the 2nd post says its about 15-35lbs, when im my ex i probly say its more like 80-95lbs. i put it all in a large bag and i can't curl it with one arm, and i do about that 80lbs per arm... dont ask)
that included the floor on both driver and passenger, rear feet secont, space tire section, sound padding by firewall also. heavy ****!!!
spare tire
basically everything interior from driver seat back
carbon fiber hood
rear support bumper
total, it was about 200lbs.
didnt really notice anyhting above 60mph, but at like 10 or so, it picked up a lot of speed quicker.
this was before the turbo as 10mph wouldnt gain traction now so i couldnt tell you if i did it now and what i would notice.
Last edited by gsrchad; 03-31-2005 at 01:27 AM.
03-31-2005
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Originally Posted by gsrchad
sound dampening material ( quick note, the 2nd post says its about 15-35lbs, when im my ex i probly say its more like 80-95lbs. i put it all in a large bag and i can't curl it with one arm, and i do about that 80lbs per arm... dont ask)
that included the floor on both driver and passenger, rear feet secont, space tire section, sound padding by firewall also. heavy ****!!!
that included the floor on both driver and passenger, rear feet secont, space tire section, sound padding by firewall also. heavy ****!!!
Did you remove any tar from the firewall? There supposidly a lot of weight there.
03-31-2005
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Rep Power: 0 i didnt see any tar. it was just this chick black carpet type materal. it was all fitted in between all the crap. but it wasnt tar. the sound materail attached to the floor i would say is more like tar. some came off in plate size chunks, others came off in chips... i would say if it were hot, it would be like tar, but other than that, everything was non tar like 
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