Been thinking about some weight reduction on the car but no topics exist on it.

What are some peoples tips to making the BA lighter? What have you done? But trying to keep the car in a rwc state.

Side skirts and rear spoiler? and so forth. How much weight did u decrease?

did you want to permanently drop the weight or just for track use?? if its just a street car, I wouldnt waste my time....

more power to offset the weight

or Jenny Craig

I have thought about it but its most likely pretty hard and expensive to lighten one.. easier to make some more power!

But there is always stuff you could do to it like a Fibre glass bonnet, light wheels, light spare or none at all, small battery, different front seats, no sunroof/stereo/towbar/big brakes etc.

run around the block twice a night, or go to the gym... workes for me

seriously, on the street I can't see much of a reason, but for drag racing and stuff maybe...

Think of it: the car is made from plastic where it once was steel, and lotsa alloy too.

Where does the near 2 tonnes come from? The bells and whistles, air bags and sensors and kilometres of wiring.

You`d have to gut it like a fish.

Okay, going to the drags? Loose the spare, jack and liner. The back seat if you can be farked and anything unneccessary like CD`s, the street directory etc.

As an aside, I always marvel at high dollar drag cars with carbon fibre this and fibreglass everything else with swiss cheese hole saw work all over it.

Then Clarry who wieghs 150 kg wet climbs in.

I mean, I`m not slagging big folk, but sh!t a brick, he`d prolly spend 7k taking 10 kg out of the car..

wow.

well I was thinkin about shedding 100kg max out of the car.

I weight 75kg so its not me I have to worry about lol.

how much does the stock bonnet weight? xr8 fibreglass bonnets wieght less? WIll be for street car not drag car, just wondering if anyone has gone down the path. but 7k for 10g....lawl.

battery is a good one.... might research those small batteries when I do the new air induction. Any idea how much those weight compared to a big battery?

I was just pulling a figure outa me arse 7 grand for 10 kg, but you see the point.

I`ve seen lil ride on lawn tractor batteries used. I wonder that I would.

You can get fibreglass all sorts of panels, but fit and finish can be an issue. You can make anything work, though. I`ve seen a few fibre and carbon even looking pretty decent.

Legality and insurance may rear their ugly heads.

I`m somewhat concerned about say, a stock bonnet is designed to crumple. I`d be scared a carbon bonnet would come through the screen and cut my fool head off.

But that's just me, sh!t does happen. It has happened..

Up to you guy, but yeah you need to google and then contact.

Edited 21/02/10 09:34 AM21/02/10 09:34 AM by _Spin_

I've been quietly headed down this track myself.

First step was lightweight wheels....aside from the obvious weight reduction it is also UNSPRUNG weight so the handling characteristics change quite dramatically. Most on here seem to have fitted aftermarket wheels of some sort so with a little extra expense you can have ultra light ones.

Bonnet is pretty heavy. A Carbon fibre XR8 bonnet weighs a mere 11kg. Not cheap but looks good. Added to the bonus here is the fact that the weight of the bonnet is both high and frontward so benefits are obvious.

One of the most over looked options is exhaust. Has anyone actually taken the time to weigh one of the factory suckers? It is insanely heavy. Once again exhaust is one of the frequently addressed things by most on here so if you plan on replacing it then weight savings can be made there too.

Next most obvious in my books would be the front seats. Big, fat and damn near require a forklift to lift the things. All those electrics come at a cost!!

I know many on here scoff at the idea of weight reductions, the most common theme being that there is minimal benefit to be gained from significant expense. Personally I dont agree. I feel that well planned weight reduction, particularly when targeted to the right areas are a no brainer.

Skirts, spoilers etc are there for a reason so aside from upgrading to F6 wing and skirts I have left well enough alone in those areas though if anyone ever finds a carbon boot lid at sensible pricing I will be in.

I agree alot of people overlook it, if these things were 1500kg from the factory I wonder how much better the driveline would hold up??

anything that's not needed could be removed like brackets, engine lifting plates..

someone was making up full rear suspension and it was alot lighter than the stock stuff, but can't really remember much about it.