Weight deduction...madness?
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Weight deduction...madness?
I'm planning to take a step further on deducting some weight in my car. I know that the entire dashboard and more with CF, looking to take out my backseats tomorrow, planning to replace fenders, trunk and hood with CF. Is this nuts or what? Plus, I know that CF racing seats are very uncomfortable so I'm going to go with it as well. I know something like this would improve acceleration but what about handling? Would 215/35/R18 do? Or should I just start down-sizing the wheels? I'm basically running on Tanabe DF210, stock springs and SPC camber kit, suspension wise. Any ideas would be appreciated.
If speed is what you're going for, monetarily speaking, you'd be better off to start working on your engine.
If weight reduction is your thing, then you can start by downsizing the rims (rotating mass), rear seats as you mentioned, stereo system, CF trunk/hood, removal of spare (naturally), and you might want to start chipping away at sound insulation and carpetting. I can only assume this is for a track car, where inconveniences like increased NVH (ie: vibration, sound) and lack of certain amenities (eg: stereo) won't be noticed.
If weight reduction is your thing, then you can start by downsizing the rims (rotating mass), rear seats as you mentioned, stereo system, CF trunk/hood, removal of spare (naturally), and you might want to start chipping away at sound insulation and carpetting. I can only assume this is for a track car, where inconveniences like increased NVH (ie: vibration, sound) and lack of certain amenities (eg: stereo) won't be noticed.
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Originally Posted by HonCivX02
if you strip the car down it still will not perform much better at all....
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it is worth the time. have people sit in your car and it will barely drive. then let everyone out and see how much faster it is. one thing people miss is draining the washer fluid or leaving it at low like 1/4 full that will save 10lbs. keeping gas around 1/2 tank and under saves 40lbs. spare tire 25 lbs, lightweight battery 15 lbs, cf hood/trunk 25 lbs at least, lighter rims, smaller rims. i would go 15s. i even tore up my stock carpet and pads and just got some cheap thin stuff from the store for looks. thats another 10-15 lbs with floormats removed. it will help for sure all that adds up. and some plastic seats for the front will save another 50lbs if you don't care about comfort.
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Lose weight in functional places.
Back seats and interior panneling is always good because its 100+ pounds instantly gone. Forget CFing stuff, just ditch it. Heck with the dash, pull it and leave it out.
Pull the AC
Aluminum control arms
Sub 10 lb wheels.
Titanium exhaust
Lose the spare
Aluminum or CF hood
Leave the trunk. pull weight off the front of the car
Take the bumper support off (off-road only)
battery to the trunk
Ditch the stereo
Lose the PS
Depends how rediculous you want to get,
Honestly, put 60 HP under the hood and leave everything in the car. Its easier.
Back seats and interior panneling is always good because its 100+ pounds instantly gone. Forget CFing stuff, just ditch it. Heck with the dash, pull it and leave it out.
Pull the AC
Aluminum control arms
Sub 10 lb wheels.
Titanium exhaust
Lose the spare
Aluminum or CF hood
Leave the trunk. pull weight off the front of the car
Take the bumper support off (off-road only)
battery to the trunk
Ditch the stereo
Lose the PS
Depends how rediculous you want to get,
Honestly, put 60 HP under the hood and leave everything in the car. Its easier.
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Thanks for ya'll recommendations. I see that downsizing the wheels is one way to go. Removing a whole lot more of the other shiet is another. For one thing, I just don't want to make my car look ghettoish and this isn't for track. Its more like a daily driver thing and I guess I'll go with boilmaker's advice. Thanks Boilmaker 

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