Weight reduction on a road car

[Slip]

Is there any way of making a road car lighter apart from the usual
Removal of A/C system, taking out seats and interior?

Im just curious.......

[zapf]

You can replace your glass with lexen... $$$

[Slip]

Hah i thought of that but it wouldnt drop much weight.

What sort of 'diets' do race cars go on? Where do they drop all their weight from?

[YCEE]

Change the bumper, bonnet, trunk and doors to Carbon Fibre material, that should drop a LOT of weight. There are also many aftermarket parts that are marketed as 'Ultra light', just to name a few like Exhaust, Wheels, Intercoolers.

[R33]

Hey YCEE, good to see yet another M'sian on board. Where are you? I am in KL. I am going to the track on Deepavali day (Sepang). See you there?
You are right. Change the bonnet, boot lid, doors, dashboard to CF. Electra made CF bonnet, doors etc. They would shave at least 50% of the original weight. I use Top Secret FRP bonnet which is only 3.4kg - original alluminium is 8kg. Race cars also strip the interior to the bone. No dashboard at all. No door panel, carpet etc. Some people even scrap the body to make it thinner!

[SlowGts-t]

Im Malaysian too!

er.. but overseas

[R33]

G8!

[Slip]

Hey thats good thinkin YCEE I could prolly lose 10kg on the exhaust alone.

Thanks guys.

[zapf]

I guess you have no idea how much glass weight then? They are heavy!

Zapf

[Slip]

I spose, if you did the windscreen and rear window as well.

Yeah the lexen would be a lot lighter, is spose, i was thinking if it was just the windows, mine arent that heavy.

What do you reckon, 10kg in changing the glass to lexen??

[YCEE]

Originally posted by R33
Hey YCEE, good to see yet another M'sian on board. Where are you? I am in KL. I am going to the track on Deepavali day (Sepang). See you there?
You are right. Change the bonnet, boot lid, doors, dashboard to CF. Electra made CF bonnet, doors etc. They would shave at least 50% of the original weight. I use Top Secret FRP bonnet which is only 3.4kg - original alluminium is 8kg. Race cars also strip the interior to the bone. No dashboard at all. No door panel, carpet etc. Some people even scrap the body to make it thinner!

Hey I'm in KL too, I stay in OUG Old Klang Road. My GTR has only basic mods... Air Filter, Exhaust, Boost Controller, AFC... doing about 380hp on the dyno. How about yours? BTW, where did you get your Top Secret bonnet? I'm planning to get one too to chase the heat out, since it is damn hot here and the car produce much more less power when it is hot. Hope I can make it to Sepang tomorrow, what time will you be there? I really want to meet other Skyline's owner...

[zapf]

Originally posted by Slip
I spose, if you did the windscreen and rear window as well.

Yeah the lexen would be a lot lighter, is spose, i was thinking if it was just the windows, mine arent that heavy.

What do you reckon, 10kg in changing the glass to lexen??

Tomie in Japan sells Lexen for Skylines....

[R33]

YCEE, i got the bonnet from GarageR S'pore for less than 4k including the paint job. It is 3.4 kg. Compare that to Electra's CF cover which is 4kg and cost 8k ex factory! Contact Lester at 02-5544911. My GTR currently has 614ps (aboutr 605hp). I have posted about the car somewhere in the forum under the title "Me Tarzan You Jane Me Gonna Whup Your Arse" (I think!).
The track day yesterday was an absolute fun! Will post pics soon.

[YCEE]

Originally posted by R33
YCEE, i got the bonnet from GarageR S'pore for less than 4k including the paint job. It is 3.4 kg. Compare that to Electra's CF cover which is 4kg and cost 8k ex factory! Contact Lester at 02-5544911. My GTR currently has 614ps (aboutr 605hp). I have posted about the car somewhere in the forum under the title "Me Tarzan You Jane Me Gonna Whup Your Arse" (I think!).
The track day yesterday was an absolute fun! Will post pics soon.

R33, did you get your car modified in S'pore? How are the prices of parts in S'pore compare to Malaysia? Some of the prices quoted by Speedworks and Aerotech are really skyhigh!!!

[MarioGTR]

Yes.

Remove all unnecessary garbage from the boot area (spare wheel, etc).

Remove battery and install a lighter race unit.

Change boot, bonnet, front bumper, underskits, doors, rear quarter panels and front side fenders for carbon fibre items.

Change all drive shafts and prop shafts to carbon items.

Change all brakes, diffs and the clutch to carbon items.

Change windows to lexan items.

Remove seats and install race bucket(s). The OEM seats weigh in at almost 25Kg each!

Remove noise suppression (sound deadening tar) from the underside of the vehilcle.

Use light weight magnesium rims and competition tyres.

Remove fuel tank and install race plastic/kevlar unit in its place.

There is heaps more, but if you do this, you can drop the kerb weight from some 1650Kgs to some under 1250Kg's.

Mario.
www.exvitermini.com