weight

[bigbob]

hey fellas are there any small things that can be removed that are unnessasary and will drop enough weight to matter?

[pre98zetec]

Spare tire, Back seat, stuff like that. Wont actually matter much though.

[ridge_runner]

ive heard every 100 pounds is a .1 off your 1/4 mile time....

[HONDABOND]

Power to weaght ratio matters ALOT. Strip a Mustang down to bare essentials I am talking engine and a sreaing wheel... No dash, nothing! And then run it, I GARANTIE AT LEAST one second diference from a TOTALY striped car.

[duplox]

I wouldnt go far as a second, but you can gain a decent chunk of time... Dropping a second in the 1/4 would mean dropping around 650lbs.. that is a lot. Maybe if you strip the car to bare metal, just an aluminum/fiberglass seat frame w/ padding for a driver's seat, strip the insides of the doors(locks/hinges, windows, everything, weld the doors on w/ nets in the windows, plexiglass windshield/rear window) no lights, no carpeting/headliner, etc...
Yes, stripping weight makes a big difference. As big of a difference as addin HP. After all, HP is a measure of accellerating X weight to Y speed. Consider this - if your car weighs 3000lbs and has 300hp, you should run around a 12.55. Drop 200lbs off the weight, keeping the same power, you should run around a 12.25. Now if you still had the 3000lb, car, you'd have to get your hp up to around 325 to run the same time. Not that 25hp is hard to get off of a 300hp engine, but once you've done all the basic things, 25hp will get harder and harder to come by. Stripping a car completely and installing a good suspension(laddar bars/4-link/caltracs, adjustable gas shocks, something along those lines) could probably get you a second in the 1/4. Also, losing drivetrain weight works doubly to your favor. Less drivetrain weight not only means your car will be lighter, but it will take less HP to turn the components. Lightened flywheel, aluminum driveshaft, gun-drilled axle shafts, lightweight aluminum rims, light brake components(light discs/drums), all help. You could probably free up 10-15rwhp while losing maybe 40-50lbs. On our 3000lb/300hp example car, that means going from a 12.55 to a 12.35(for 40lbs lost and 10hp gained, 50lbs lost and 15hp gained gives you a 12.28...)
If you drop 10% of the cars weight, you'll run faster than if you added 10%HP. Then again 10% of a 3000lb car's weight isn't terribly easy to do.

[93leadsled]

It's also about shifting weight. More off the front and transfer weight to the drive wheels (hence the battery in the trunk trick). Quick and cheap ways are lose a/c, ps, alum. driveshaft, and batt. relocate kit

Bud