Practical weight saving

squiffy · 6 Mar 2007 at 17:32

Just buy a new car. After you've spend thousands with the above, you could have just bought a new race-prepped sports car, rather than clapped out Escort and then trying to make it something special.

Berger · 6 Mar 2007 at 17:35

squiffy said:
Just buy a new car. After you've spend thousands with the above, you could have just bought a new race-prepped sports car, rather than clapped out Escort and then trying to make it something special.

Because taking the seats out costs money.

SB118 · 6 Mar 2007 at 17:39

[TW]Fox said:
Just go for more power, it does the same job.

Firestar_3x said:
Not really, lighter the car the better it goes round corners.

Does that mean that heavier, more powerful cars might not make it around corners? And, youknow, fall into a ditch or something?

squiffy · 6 Mar 2007 at 17:39

Berger said:
Because taking the seats out costs money.

You know damn well what I mean.

DRZ · 6 Mar 2007 at 17:42

squiffy said:
Just buy a new car. After you've spend thousands with the above, you could have just bought a new race-prepped sports car, rather than clapped out Escort and then trying to make it something special.

Christ almighty. Got out of bed on the wrong side, did we?!

Small and quite often free (or very cheap) changes can make a huge impact on times and general drive of the car. I wasnt talking about any specific cars and to the best of my knowledge, nobody in this thread so far has an escort so perhaps you should just back out the thread before posting crap.

squiffy · 6 Mar 2007 at 17:43

DRZ said:
Christ almighty. Got out of bed on the wrong side, did we?!

Small and quite often free (or very cheap) changes can make a huge impact on times and general drive of the car. I wasnt talking about any specific cars and to the best of my knowledge, nobody in this thread so far has an escort so perhaps you should just back out the thread before posting crap.

Sounds like you're overly sensitive there pal. :rolleyes:

Lopéz · 6 Mar 2007 at 17:56

squiffy said:
Sounds like you're overly sensitive there pal.

Sounds like you're being overly snide more like.

silversurfer · 6 Mar 2007 at 17:58

colin chapman said:
to add speed, add lightness

I think the general rule is that excluding other factors, if you have double the weight then you need to quadruple the power to make up for the handling losses.

Newer cars tend to be heavier and more powerfull so just buying a new(er) car doesnt sound like much of a solution if the above holds any water

The_Dark_Side · 6 Mar 2007 at 19:26

DRZ said:
Removing the spare tyre etc is an obvious place to start

i read something interesting a while ago in which it was estimated that it's better to run without a spare anyway.
the thinking is that given the average occurance of a puncture to the average motorist you're better off having no spare and calling the recovery services out given the minute extra fuel savings you've made due to less weight over the same period of time.

Jonnycoupe said:
Smaller diamter wheels and brakes along with the flywheel all go to reduce rotational inertia too

i was under the impression that 16 inch rims were the ideal balance and larger rims simply sapped more power but gave very little in return.
your thoughts?

sigma · 6 Mar 2007 at 19:33

First thing I thought of when I saw this topic was an infamous thread floating around the net a few months back (probably posted on here) about someone posting that placing the rear seats flat down would reduce weight lol

loltim · 6 Mar 2007 at 19:37

Remove aircon unit.

olv · 6 Mar 2007 at 19:42

The_Dark_Side said:
i was under the impression that 16 inch rims were the ideal balance and larger rims simply sapped more power but gave very little in return.
your thoughts?

Surely the ideal balance depends entirely upon the car in question? For example, you definately wouldn't want to run 16" rims on a 7. 13" are commonly regarded as the best size for handling on a 7.

The_Dark_Side · 6 Mar 2007 at 19:50

olv said:
Surely the ideal balance depends entirely upon the car in question? For example, you definately wouldn't want to run 16" rims on a 7. 13" are commonly regarded as the best size for handling on a 7.

true, but a seven isn't a "top speed" machine so it doesn't need to have a compromise.

Westyfield2 · 6 Mar 2007 at 19:50

silane said:
First thing I thought of when I saw this topic was an infamous thread floating around the net a few months back (probably posted on here) about someone posting that placing the rear seats flat down would reduce weight lol

Yep, I rememberd that too

NickXX · 6 Mar 2007 at 20:00

silversurfer said:
Electric sunroof represents a lot of weight in the worst place for a car, welding that up would be an improvement. Thats prehaps why those csl cars often have a lightweight roof - http://bmwworld.com/models/m3_csla.htm

CF roof was also intended to lower the centre of mavity

MikeHunt79 · 6 Mar 2007 at 20:26

Removing sound deadening can help a bit...

Removing stereo, speakers, electric windows, and oher electrical gubbins helps also.

Alu rads tend to be a bit lighter than stock copper ones

Smaller fuel tank can help also

Battery in the boot is nice if you have a front engined car, but this would add weight due to the extra cabling.

Can't think of anything else right now. I wonder if the computer could be ripped out of these more modern cars, would would it render them un-driveable?

On then 205gtidrivers forum, there is a lovely thread with the weight of most of the stock 205 bits (ie, wheels - 9kg each, etc.)

I'm sure similar forums have similar info.

Fantom · 6 Mar 2007 at 22:53

I always have a poo before I go for a hoon

:cool:

MikeHunt79 · 6 Mar 2007 at 23:19

L337 LooX said:
I always have a poo before I go for a hoon

You could also leave shoes and other non-essential clothing in the house :eek:

Fantom · 6 Mar 2007 at 23:22

MikeHunt79 said:
You could also leave shoes and other non-essential clothing in the house

Brazillian tbh f.t.w

Ollie's Gadgets · 6 Mar 2007 at 23:26

Never give friends lifts anywhere.