The Diet Thread

[PAImportTuner]

Originally Posted by RRnold

Do you really plan to replace the chassis bolts with titanium? That could add up quickly.

http://www.racebolts.com/index.php?m...ndex&cPath=623

Lugnuts, flywheel, driveshaft to diff and trans yeah I would. Chassis no.

I'd also want CNC aluminum uprights.

[RRnold]

Originally Posted by PAImportTuner

Lugnuts, flywheel, driveshaft to diff and trans yeah I would. Chassis no.

I'd also want CNC aluminum uprights.

haha I was gonna say, that is a bit over the top to go through the entire chassis with titanium! Less unsprung weight with titanium for the rotating stuff ->

[Maxim]

Originally Posted by RRnold

If you are driving around the street, why would you be concerned about reducing the weight?

Have you been in a car with the seats gone, no radio, no emissions, no air con, no carpet, no sound deadening material etc? Its not fun for a daily driver.

Read my post, you must have only skimmed it; deleting the radio, air-con and sound deadening were specifically mentioned as things I didn't want to do.

The little things can quickly add up. Apart from the above mentioned items, there are many ways to drop weight in a vehicle without drastically altering the usability. Dropping 100-150lbs should be do-able. Can you notice the difference between driving around alone and driving around with another person in the car? I sure can.

That's why I'm interested in it.

[Maxim]

Originally Posted by PAImportTuner

This is all a replacement list.. not a take away list. - I tried to stay at a reasonable cost.

Low profile lightweight speakers

Full titanium exhaust, bolts/nut throughout the chassis

Enkei RPF1s or lighter

Aluminum bodied shocks/struts

Aluminum control arms and links

Aluminum front and rear crossmembers

Aluminum uprights

Aluminum engine and trans mounts

Aluminum/Carbon drivershaft

Fiberglass/CF hood,trunk, and Sparco or Corbeau bucket seats, aluminum seat brackets.

I'm sure it will come with plastic intake manifold and valve covers like almost every Subaru these days come with.

There we go, this is the kind of thing I was looking for. All this stuff could be done and significant weight could be dropped while still being totally usable as a daily driver.

That means better handling, more enjoyable day-to-day driving, better performance on the occasional trackday, and maybe a 1-2 mpg's better economy.

I'm hoping for a carbon driveshaft from the factory, like the 370z, but I'm definitely not counting on it.

Fully aluminum suspension bits would actually drop a significant amount of weight....how cost prohibitive is something like that?

[tranzformer]

Originally Posted by Maxim

Dropping 100-150lbs should be do-able.

Dropping 5% (based off 2700lbs car) is going to be hard if you don't want to delete AC, stereo, carpet, insulation, rear seat, front passanger seat, use of polycarbonate windows...etc.

[RRnold]

Originally Posted by Maxim

Read my post, you must have only skimmed it; deleting the radio, air-con and sound deadening were specifically mentioned as things I didn't want to do.

The little things can quickly add up. Apart from the above mentioned items, there are many ways to drop weight in a vehicle without drastically altering the usability. Dropping 100-150lbs should be do-able. Can you notice the difference between driving around alone and driving around with another person in the car? I sure can.

That's why I'm interested in it.

Originally Posted by tranzformer

Dropping 5% (based off 2700lbs car) is going to be hard if you don't want to delete AC, stereo, carpet, insulation, rear seat, front passanger seat, use of polycarbonate windows...etc.

Yeah I get your point but 100lbs of weight reduction may only increase about 2mpg. That's may seem like a hefty price to pay just for 2 more points.

I fully read your post but as tranzformer mentioned, it seems like you want to reduce weight but add more in other areas!?! Not bashing but trying to make sense of the situation. I can see weight reduction becoming a factor if it's say a 60/40 or even 70/30 car.

[Maxim]

Originally Posted by RRnold

I fully read your post but as tranzformer mentioned, it seems like you want to reduce weight but add more in other areas!?!

I don't think you're reading the same posts I'm writing. Nowhere have I mentioned adding anything. I've re-read my own posts and am completely unable to see where you got that from.

[blur]

Ill give you my list..

-Titanium single exhaust(if I can afford it) -~45 lbs
-Titanium headers (ditto) -~25 lbs
-Race pipe/test pipe -~7 lbs
-Intake -~10lbs
-Bumper bars -~30 lbs
-Entire trunk tool kit and spare -~40 lbs
-Lightweight wheels -~25 lbs
-CF Trunk(ditto) -~15 lbs

That's about 197 lbs. Thats as far as I'll go. At this point the car will be loud, wont have a spare and the bumpers will damage more easily. I can live with that. After those, I'll be looking into sway bars, TRD springs/coilovers, sticky rubber, and possibly a tune. Cosmetics last.

[Maxim]

Originally Posted by RRnold

Yeah I get your point but 100lbs of weight reduction may only increase about 2mpg. That's may seem like a hefty price to pay just for 2 more points.

I fully read your post but as tranzformer mentioned, it seems like you want to reduce weight but add more in other areas!?! Not bashing but trying to make sense of the situation. I can see weight reduction becoming a factor if it's say a 60/40 or even 70/30 car.

Yeah, that would be a hefty price to pay for a 2 mpg increase. Good thing that reducing weight pays dividends to every aspect of performance...braking, cornering, acceleration, mpg, tire life....

I guess I don't see why you're having trouble understanding why I would want to reduce weight. This car centers around being light-weight. Of course I want to make it more-so.

It's a mass produced car. There will be numerous things that can be swapped out for better quality, lighter weight components without impacting the day-to-day comfort.

[Abflug]

honestly you should do this e. g.

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1229

- get rid of all the crap it´s in it and have fun otherways you just waste your money!

sorry but

be real!

[Maxim]

Originally Posted by blur

Ill give you my list..

-Titanium single exhaust(if I can afford it) -~45 lbs
-Titanium headers (ditto) -~25 lbs
-Race pipe/test pipe -~7 lbs
-Intake -~10lbs
-Bumper bars -~30 lbs
-Entire trunk tool kit and spare -~40 lbs
-Lightweight wheels -~25 lbs

That's about 182 lbs. Thats as far as I'll go. At this point the car will be loud, wont have a spare and the bumpers will damage more easily. I can live with that. After those, I'll be looking into sway bars, TRD springs/coilovers, sticky rubber, and possibly a tune. Cosmetics last.

These are all good ideas. I might be ok with the idea of getting rid of the spare and replacing it with a tire patch kit and pump....though I hesitate to remove weight from the rear. Maybe replace the spare and tool kit with sealant and a pump....and relocate the battery to the rear?

I'm not sure that the exhaust and headers would save that much weight though. Maybe 40 pounds total if you did both? I'd skip the race pipe too. More compact, high-flow mufflers (or perhaps a conversion over to only one side with one muffler) would save a good 10-15 pounds and give the car a better sound.

How much weight does a WRX save by converting to single side with titanium components? That would give us a pretty good estimate for weight loss.

The wheels are probably the most important aspect to change....it really depends on how much the stock pieces weigh. Some cars are coming from the factory with damn good wheels now...the RX-8 R3 for example.

[Maxim]

Originally Posted by TomGT

honestly you should do this e. g.

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1229

- all the crap it´s in it and have fun otherways you just waste your money!

sorry but

be real!

Seriously? What is with people on this forum.

[blur]

Originally Posted by Maxim

These are all good ideas. I might be ok with the idea of getting rid of the spare and replacing it with a tire patch kit and pump....though I hesitate to remove weight from the rear. Maybe replace the spare and tool kit with sealant and a pump....and relocate the battery to the rear?

I'm not sure that the exhaust and headers would save that much weight though. Maybe 40 pounds total if you did both? I'd skip the race pipe too. More compact, high-flow mufflers (or perhaps a conversion over to only one side with one muffler) would save a good 10-15 pounds and give the car a better sound.

How much weight does a WRX save by converting to single side with titanium components? That would give us a pretty good estimate for weight loss.

The wheels are probably the most important aspect to change....it really depends on how much the stock pieces weigh. Some cars are coming from the factory with damn good wheels now...the RX-8 R3 for example.

No, my exhaust weight estimates are from other cars.. Stock exhausts usually weigh around 45-55 lbs due to cast iron construction, titanium weighs 11lbs. Big difference. Same with headers, stock about 25-35, titanium are 5-10 lbs. You pay big bucks for these kind of weight savings though. An exhaust runs for over a grand, and I'd be willing to say the headers would run 800 or more. However, theres a loss of 87 lbs in the exhaust system alone, as well as more power, more response, and some cosmetic appeal. As an engineer however it's just cool to have so much titanium in your car.

[Maxim]

Originally Posted by blur

No, my exhaust weight estimates are from other cars.. Stock exhausts usually weigh around 45-55 lbs due to cast iron construction, titanium weighs 11lbs. Big difference. Same with headers, stock about 25-35, titanium are 5-10 lbs. You pay big bucks for these kind of weight savings though. An exhaust runs for over a grand, and I'd be willing to say the headers would run 800 or more. However, theres a loss of 87 lbs in the exhaust system alone, as well as more power, more response, and some cosmetic appeal. As an engineer however it's just cool to have so much titanium in your car.

Agreed on all points. Massively reduced corrosion for the exhaust system that way too.

I didn't realize the weight differences would be that great. I'd be more than willing to shell out that kind of money for a headers-back system that saved that much weight while increasing power and sound quality!

Now I'm interested in how hard/expensive it would be to do the same thing with suspension components. I was thinking that would be prohibitively expensive.

Honestly though, if your weight estimates are semi-accurate, I'd probably be willing to stop there too. That's a damn good amount of weight to lose, and several of those components also increase engine performance at the same time.