soo.. jsut wondering...what kinda weight reduction mods are there for our cars?

=]

thanks

 

How about the Atkins diet? I can't think of much without sacrificing major items of comfort. You could always remove the spare tire if that doesn't bother you. Carbon fiber hoods are available for the coupe, but the weight savings are neglibile.

 

Interesting question. If you are not going to sacrifice creature comforts, like tossing out the rear seat and the stereo, then you have to simply factor in weight as part of the decision factor when making mods.

For example:
If you swap out the catbacks, the Borla is 12 lbs lighter than the stock. This might influence your decision relative to other high performance aftermarket exhaust systems.
If you switch to Nismo 18" wheels you will save around 6 pounds a wheel in unsprung weight compared to the stock 18" wheels.
The RT high flow cats are lighter.
Be careful of the tires you select, they can vary by as much as 3lbs apiece (the Michelins and Toyos are light, the Bridgestones and Goodyears are heavy, etc.)
The Nismo clutch and lightweight flywheel can save you another roughly 15 pounds.

SO while you are improving your hp you can also be improving your performance with weight reductions, better than 50 pounds with just the above. The combined effect of reduced weight and more ponies is potent.

Cpe 6MT/Aero/Prem/ATI/RT cats/Borla hdrs-catbcks/Nismo flywhl-cltch/TS-ECU/Tein flex EDFC/Stillen sways

 

Well, anytime u try to reduce weight with mods, it's going to cost you.But here's a list of what u can do
-weight reduction stuff
- race seats...stock seats are HEAVY. any decent seats from sparco or other respectable company will save you a lot of weight(at least 25 pounds per seat i think)
-yellow top optima battery...saves around 20 pounds or so.
-lighter rims. If you go with 18's, you'll save a lot of unsprung weight as well as rotational mass once your car gets moving.
-carbon fiber hood...expensive and you'll save very little weight but hey, mods are mods. ( i guess u can get a carbon fiber trunk to be custom made and that'll save u some weight also.
-rear seat deletion...take those suckers out and line the area with something thin and lightweight. That's only if you dont need the backseats and are desperate in losing weight.
-get headers and exhaust that is lighter than the stock pieces. This should save u some weight. (going with titanium pieces would save a lot of weight but also costs a lot.)
-finally, removing all unnecessary stuff like the trunk mat, the mats in the driver/passenger/rear seat area, and spare tire/tools would save some weight also. And if you're as big as I am(for an asian guy, 5'11 195is pretty big) losing weight yourself can help. But I like how I am so that won't change. =P
Good luck and hope this helps...btw...some of the things that I mentioned are for dedicated racers or people who really want to lose weight on the car with some money. Do as you please.

'03 G35c DG/G 6mt, full options

 

This reminds of that article where they took a car and completely stripped it of pretty much everything to show how much weight affects performance. Quite funny as they pretty much ended with a motor, a seat, and a steering wheel from what looked like a brand new car.

 

How much weight do you need to lose before you can notice a difference?
100 lbs?
in terms of throwing around a corner it's probably more noticible than just straight line acceleration, right?

when would start to feel the car to be more nimble? is it even possible to save 200lbs? probably not really worthwhile to do that thou

 

i think the general rule is you gain about a tenth of a second for every 100lbs you lose

2003 Black , sunroof, leather,
splashguards, 8 wire Hypergrounding kit, 350Z intake duct, K&N filter.

 

I guess a diet is the best way to go if you just want to reduce 10-20 lbs. or so. I remember you can reduce 10-20 lbs. by getting carbon fiber hood and trunk covers, but that will set you back a lot of $$$.
It's kind of funny, on a motorcycle forum I frequent, someone was asking about weight reduction on the bike and the majority answer was losing weight yourself. Of course, 20 lbs. off on a bike is a hell of a lot more than it is on a car.

<font color=purple>2004 G35 Coupe Diamond Graphite/Graphite 5AT</font color=purple>
Premium, Nav., 18" Wheels, Z-Xtreme Hyper Grounding Cables,
K&N filter, Clear Corners, 350Z Aluminum Pedals,
Sony Ericsson HCB-30

 

Eagle makes some excellent points. Taking the G (I'll call it a GT) and trying to make it nimble is akin to trying to make an airbus into a fighter jet. Careful not to throw the baby out with the bath water. Don't forget that some of the things one might do in the name of weight savings will cause a substantial change in chassis balance. Spare tire? like the car needs more weight on the front wheels, especially diving under braking. The wheel and tire suggestions are especially good, due to the symmetry and fact that they are unsprung weight. On the other hand, one really good way to keep the weight down is leave the passengers at home, but then why'd we buy a G instead of a Z? The G is not Lance's bicycle. Hood's already aluminum. Spending ludicrous amounts of money on CF to shave ounces? To each his own.
Vanquish or Modena. If you're a Modena-guy, S2000, Elise, or Boxster S is the ticket. Aston fan- G will fit the bill nicely. Need more nimble- put 235/50-17s on the back and 225/50-17s on the front. Drive a base coupe if you're not a believer- you'll see. Fat tires with short sidewalls and larger diameter wheels make the car feel a bit more sluggish than the stock 17 set-up. As an added bonus the car will have less of an understeering tendency. But you won't be as cool. Compromises.

DB

 

Yes what people are saying is true..

Exhaust can save you 10 LBS
Cats can save you 12 LBS
Carbon Fiber Hood and Trunk lid 10 LBS each
Yellow top battery 22 Lbs
Spare tire and other tools 50 Lbs
Lightweight flywheel 15 Lbs
Crank Pulley 3-4 Lbs

As you can see thats about 123 Lbs

Then you can start talking about removing the back seat, new seats without motors, tires and rims. That could be another 50+ lbs..

Most important is rims and tires, UR pulley and flywheel as they are rotational mass.

I believe 1 Lbs saved on rims will gain you 15 Lbs on your car on power to weight ratio.

These are some basic things you can do without killing the looks and feel of the car..

Grounding kit - Yellow Top Optima Battery
350z Pipe / Stillen High-Flow-JUN Flywheel
Crawford Intake Manifold V5 Black-High - Flow cats
Nismo Clutch
Best 1/4 14.153 @ 99.19 / 2.29 - 60'

 

Just get a super charger

It'll probably cost the same.

what's the estimated price on all those mods listed Vs a super charger ?

AKA SET ROK

 

my weight reduction diet:

replaced premuffler with straight pipe= loss 35lbs
ur crank pulley=loss 8lbs
new 18" wheel/tire combo=loss 20lbs (5lbs off each corner)
3.5% smaller diameter vs oem tire/wheel combo= less inertia to move.

loss 63 lbs accompanied by a coupe'ish sounding exhaust note.........and i'm not even gonna try to convert the "less rotating mass/inertia from crank pulley and tire/wheel into hp gains....unless you want to!

04 Black Sedan 6mt / front blinker mod, z tube+k&n panel filter / 18" r/h c2s w/khumos 235/40zr18 / pre-muffler, what pre-muffler?


Less is more, unless your modding......

 

You could always go the extreme route and have dry carbon body panels custom built for you...And don't forget to snag a set of carbon fiber wheels and a titanium exhaust

"All the Power in the World resides in the Eyes..."

 

If I wanted a lightweight race car, I would have held out for the new Lotus Elise. I drive my sedan too and from work, and I want my seat motors and back seat and electric windows and nav system and rear a/c ducts and spare tire right where they are.

If you're willing to spend $500 on a carbon fiber hood to shave 2 pounds, plus race seats and all those other extras, I think you can afford the Elise.

But hey.. do with your car whatever makes you happy.