Official Grand Am Weight Reduction Thread

[Knifeblade]

LOL, Marc, no ya not, I compliment ya on doing the math conversions, metric always confuzled the hell outa me when converting to US, and let's not EVEN go there with socket sizes, LMAO.

[Knifeblade]

LMAO, hey this was all about weight reduction, and passengers are added weight, and the loss of the weight adds to HP, so I stand innocent, heehee.

[Knifeblade]

One thing no one seems to mention is the wheels, ya can save at least 40 lb.'s over stock rims by going billet all around, and that is at the ground which has to add an incremental boost due to lack of inertial force [weight] to get the tires moving, I think.

[Knifeblade]

>snip<

Next time anyone I don't like wants to ride with me, I'll just do the mental math of their weight, and tell them roughly how much HP I will be loosing because of them

>unsnip<
Well, that seems one very polite way of saying to a woman she is too heavy,

I in a mood, so excuse the flippancy, guys.

[Ridenour]

LoL yeh it is tough to say to them without making them think they're fat. What I've said is always underestimating - say they look like they weigh 150, I'll be like "...sayin you weigh about 130, that'll be a cost of about..,..." - LoL it's a zinger

[Knifeblade]

Lol

[Martina]

Remind me never to hitch a ride with you guys :/

[Ridenour]

LoL. Hey I've got some great news (I'll get pics up soon). On the topic of weight reduction, I just got an incredibly badass S/CT hood for free. Not only do the open scoops help get cooler air to my intake, but the hood feels at least 15 or 20 pounds less then my stock one. It's so awesome. I swear my car handles a little bit better too cause that's a decent weight drop for up on the front end of the car where it matters most. I am VERY happy - I just put it on tonight, and it looks so badass, and was great driving

[grandamdriver52]

Thats awsome. How did you get it for free?

[Forkliftguy]

That's pretty sweet, Ride. Oh yeah, I looked further into the glass issue. My supplier will hook me up for just under CDN$1000, and they'll use the spec'd templates for my car to cut them for me! They're Lexan weighs 1/4 the weight of automotive glass and is a hell of a lot stronger and they said my wipers won't damage it.

I figure auto glass: Windshield-80lbs, Rear window-100lbs, Front door windows-50lbs ea, Rear door windows-40lbs ea, 1/4 glass (rear doors)-5lbs ea, Total-370lbs

If lexan is 1/4 that of glass:92.5lbs total.

Weight saved 277.5lbs. That's like gaining at least 25HP!!! Not bad for a grand.

Marc

[Knifeblade]

Marc, just curious, is the Lexan glass mod. ya mentioing pretty good at resisting scratches, or will there be some future problem with hazing or dulling so visibility gets bad?

[Ridenour]

Holy shit marc, that will kick serious ass! 277 pounds saving just off of glass alone!!! - Good lord!! . You will TOTALLY be feeling that difference.
And to explain my hood, grand am driver, just go check the off-topic thread in our forum - I posted the whole story and some pics.

[Knifeblade]

I still say dump the g/f to ride around with, so ya can pull up to my beater '89 eagle Premier, and try to show what ya have off the line, LOL, LOL, trust me, it is a screamer, though not like the GA at rpm's, but I've dusted my share of GA's with the Eagle.

[Night Rider]

hey burnin half of your tires should save on weight...lol

[Ridenour]

LoL oh no kiddin - rotational mass is a biggie! - not only that, but burn em down enough and you'll have made yourself a set of street slicks, which will help a shitload with launches!

Oh, and tam, I believe you when you say your eagle is "a screamer". LoL