lighter audi

[RACER D12]

what could you do to make an A4 lighter and the A4 is 3200lb is that really all that heavy thats lighter than the EVO8, the A4s only a tad heavyer than the NSX and mustang, also its lighter than the G35, XKR, SC430 and the is300, Sentra and it weighs about the same as a maxima. Their are more sports cars to that are heavyer like the saab 9-3 so is it fair to call it heavy?

[Layla's Keeper]

The easiest way for you to compare weights is to locate an article on the car in question, or check the factory weights in Gran Turismo 3. Those are accurate, too. Though they're in kilos. I don't have either in gront of me, so I have to go off of an educated guess which tells me an EVO is near 2800lbs.

As for weight reduction, stripping the interior, careful selection of parts (chrome 20in wheels tend to be heavier than one piece Enkeis), removing unnecessary devices (ac compressors, heater hoses and heater blowers) and either removing the bodywork under bracing, or replacing steel bodywork with carbon fiber, or lightweight fiberglass (not all fiberglass is light weight) should drop pounds quickly. It all depends on how hardcore you are.

[Cbass]

The A4 is not too heavy, and there are lot's of good parts available. Use a dry cell battery, get a fiberglass hood, take out the spare tire and jack... If you want to go further, you can strip the interior, but then it get's kind of ricey. There is a point where function is comprimised like air conditioning...

Where do you live? I assume you're in North America, because most posters here are... In Europe they get the S3, which is Volkswagen Golf based... very light, very nimble.

Something VW/Audi is holding out on is 4motion Golfs. The AWD 1.8T Golf is a rocket, with near limitless tuning potential.

[GTi-VR6_A3]

well hopefully we will get the chance to own the new r32 which is a 4motion golf and alot more but the a4 from what ive heard doesnt seem too heavy.

-GTi-VR6_A3

[unconvinced]

The A4 is not too heavy, and there are lot's of good parts available. Use a dry cell battery, get a fiberglass hood, take out the spare tire and jack... If you want to go further, you can strip the interior, but then it get's kind of ricey. There is a point where function is comprimised like air conditioning...

3200lbs. is heavy, no question.

Stripping the interior is not ricey, since it takes a serious commitment to going faster. Ricey is when you're hopping up your car with shit that does nothing but slow you down or just look tacky. In fact, I'd say that stripping the interior is a main element that separates ricers from the hardcore.

There is indeed a point where function is compromised. Like air conditioning. When it's installed in a car, the car's performance function is compromised.

Most people will never understand the joys found below 2000lb...

[Cbass]

Again, you're seriously comprimising it as driver then, because it will be noisier and colder too. While stripping out an interior(including sound dampering) is something all race cars have done, it's often done by ricers, to emulate the whole "race" image...

It's much better to go to lightweight components instead, and still have air conditioning and leather seat

There's another good area to trim weight, a good set of fixed seats. This will save as much as 100lbs in some cars.

Custom door skins, really easy to do if you're handy with an exacto knife... full door skins can weigh as much as 25 lbs each.. customs that weigh 3 will save 40 lbs.

Good wheels and tires will save a bundle. A really good forged wheel weighs about 15 lbs for a 17x8, which is pretty much the perfect size for an A4.

I'm sure you could find 300lbs of weight there, without having to strip your interior or lose the air conditioning. You could probably also get fiberglass S4 body parts, and drop another 300lbs there, maybe even more.

[RACER D12]

ya I live in CT so I would not strip the interior but light weight fiberglass S4 parts sounds like a good idea. Explain the door skins thing to me more i dont under really stand what your talking about?

[Cbass]

I mean the inside door panels, like where the interior door handle is.

The S4 widebody panels should be available. Audi/Porsche always make fairly thick metal panels, so there's of weight there. A 2800 lb 350hp AWD A4 shouldn't be too hard.

[-The Stig-]

3200lbs is not heavy.

my Nova(s) weigh in at about 3100lbs.

RACER D12: you mentioned your car weighs more than a Mustang? 02 GT weighs 3241lbs. So your about the same give or take a few pounds.

On the other hand a 96 GT Mustang comes in a 3077lbs. Just to give you an idea of how a few years can make a car differ from one another.



Octagon: I ussually dont let a video game do my research. But GT3 is pretty accurate, just the 2000 Cobra R handles like crap in that game which it shouldnt. I love my 3 C5Rs.

[unconvinced]

Okay, 3100lbs. is not heavy...for a Cadillac.

Anyway, back when I had the Suzuki, it weighed in at 1760lbs after weight reduction. In all my years, I have never seen a car stripped that was not at the track, but then again this is Canada, so I guess you have a point - up here, we'll only strip our cars if we're serious about it.

I've also found that lightweight components installed in cars that retain leather seats and A/C often tend to be of the stylish, impressive and imported variety. In terms of reducing overall weight, it's kinda like rearranging deck-chairs on the Titanic.

Anyway, I'd support many of the recommendations made so far tho: seats, fix-a-flat in place of the spare, dry-cell battery, hood...I'm sure you can find carbon-skin doors for Audis, too.

Of course, when the car's ready to retire to track-only duty, give me a shout and we'll get to taking some serious weight out of it.:smoker2:

[Layla's Keeper]

I stand in defense of my resouces. For until I create a racing game, Yamauchi's masterpiece stands as the most realistic and comprehensive racing game of all time.

Anywho, I said this before. If you cant get lightweight replacement panels, or if you can't afford lightweight replacement panels, remove the stamped bracing from inside the panels. My teammate and I did that back when he was cruising a Geo Storm, shed about 200lbs off of the nose by ditching the bracing on the hood and fenders. Of course, afterwards the car rattled like crazy and at high speed the hood would flex and contort in front of you. It was cool to watch, but really troubling to experience.

Then again, that car was troubling in any case. It was bought for $500 cash, with bullet holes in the hood. We ran borrowed drop springs from an un-named manufacturer on it, 16inch wheels off of an Impulse turbo, with shaved Falken tires, welded up the exhaust ourselves as a metal shop project, complete with used header and high flow cat swiped from a junkyard C4 Corvette, welded up the strut tower braces ourselves, removed the bottom forward link on the multi-link rear suspension and replaced it with an adjustable rear bottom link to get camber adjustment as well as toe adjusment, and removed the ratchet from the handbrake. All this added up to one very twitchy and loud Geo Storm that was insanely easy to whip around corners. Winter was a BLAST in that thing. Except fo the fact that the heater had been removed. Oops. :angel:

[-The Stig-]

Originally posted by unconvinced
Okay, 3100lbs. is not heavy...for a Cadillac.

ill have you know the 01 Cadillac Seville tips the scale at 4027lbs.

thus making 3200lbs not heavy.

[unconvinced]

...for a Cadillac. Exactlyright.

[-The Stig-]

Originally posted by unconvinced
...for a Cadillac. Exactlyright.

3200lbs isnt heavy, most cars weigh about that if not more.


i know you'll say imports are super light, which they are usually from 2200-2800lbs. But look at the full size sedans. 00 Maximas are 3200lbs, 01 Infiniti Q45s are 4000lbs to name a few.


so blah!

[Cbass]

Sorry Redneck, 3200lbs is heavy for a performance car... if you're over 3000 lbs in a sports car, it's a serious handicap. Of course, if you've got a 6+ liter smallblock, it doesn't hurt too much. Then again, consider the same engine in a lighter car... Damn it, I'm rambling again...