weight reduction

Body, Paint, Interior and Trim questions and answers

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kitkat
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Postby kitkat » Tue Jul 11, 2006 12:47 pm

well the NA6 weighs in at around the 950kg mark... i think the race cars get down to the 800kg mark but im not 100% on that.

you can also remove all the carpet... from what ive noticed in the race cars all they keep is the dash.
also im not sure about sound deadening under the car but that can carry alot of weight.

kula
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Postby kula » Tue Jul 11, 2006 1:02 pm

ive done a fair few things to add lightness...

the next step gets pretty drastic...

but heres the ultimate site for it..
http://www.lightweightmiata.com/lightness/lightness.htm

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RaYmO
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Re:

Postby RaYmO » Tue Jul 11, 2006 1:16 pm

kula wrote:ive done a fair few things to add lightness...

the next step gets pretty drastic...

but heres the ultimate site for it..
http://www.lightweightmiata.com/lightness/lightness.htm


Yeah... That guy has gone to the point of starvation to lose weight off himself! :shock:
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Boyracer
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Postby Boyracer » Tue Jul 11, 2006 4:35 pm

We get the NA race cars down to about 850-860 kg...thats with a pretty substantial half roll cage.
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JSE
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Postby JSE » Tue Jul 11, 2006 11:46 pm

If I was ever going to reduce the weight of my ride I would take out all the carpet and sound deadening. I'm estimating all the carpet and sound deadening would probably weigh around the 25kg mark, take out the spare tyre. I would love the hear the ROAR of the little 1600 with the sound deadening out...mmmm
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kula
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Postby kula » Wed Jul 12, 2006 12:43 am

way ahead of ya..

its a bit louder, but not too bad..
less than i though.

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painted with fridge paint too :)

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Okibi
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Postby Okibi » Wed Jul 12, 2006 2:05 am

It looks great Mark!
If you had access to a car like this, would you take it back right away? Neither would I.

kula
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Postby kula » Wed Jul 12, 2006 9:57 am

not yet, ive still got more to take out:)

the carpet and sound deadening is a little lighter than i thought, but yeah im guessing all up 20kgs?

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Postby kula » Wed Jul 12, 2006 3:35 pm

yup and yup..

i still have the deadening on the firewall...
but that might come out in a week..

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timk
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Postby timk » Wed Jul 12, 2006 9:00 pm

Don't discount going on a diet yourself, you'd be suprised how many people don't think of this! 8)

kula
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Postby kula » Wed Jul 12, 2006 11:01 pm

yeah havent weighed the car yet, but hopefully soon..

yay i reckon i could easily loose 15kg:P

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RaYmO
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Re:

Postby RaYmO » Thu Jul 13, 2006 10:06 am

kula wrote:yeah havent weighed the car yet, but hopefully soon..

yay i reckon i could easily loose 15kg:P


15kg is a lot of salad and exercise :lol: :lol: :lol:
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OMY005
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Re:

Postby OMY005 » Fri Jul 14, 2006 11:07 am

RaYmO wrote:
kula wrote:yeah havent weighed the car yet, but hopefully soon..

yay i reckon i could easily loose 15kg:P


15kg is a lot of salad and exercise :lol: :lol: :lol:


I did 18kg in 12wks. :mrgreen:
2hrs exercise each day Mon-Fri (riding to & from work) and 1500 calories a day. :(
Which is about 2% reduction for the combined weight of car and driver.

Andrew.
Previously, White 95 NA 1.8 Hard Top,Stock standard
Now, 2016 Fiat 500x, 2014 Fiat 500, 2015 ND GT 2.0

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CT
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Postby CT » Fri Jul 14, 2006 2:24 pm

Well, I have a custom hardtop made from fibreglass which weighs around than 6kgs with a polycarb rear window. It bolts on and doesn't have rain rails so it does leak but it's a race car - who cares! My race car is a fatty around 890kgs but as it's a 1.8 it has heavier diff and chassis, plus the roof, plus my cage has a couple of extra bars in it.

A lighter bootlid and doors would be the main items I'd like. There's not much weight to be saved in a lighter bonnet - unless it's single skinned and uses no hinges. Which we can use in a race car!

To be honest, if I had the money (which I sadly don't) I'd love to mould a one piece front from carbon and a one piece rear from carbon. One of the lotus's that race with us has a full carbon drop on body made by a guy in Newcastle I believe. It would save maybe 100kgs by the time you gas axe the rear end and add mounting points. Much easier to work on to for a race car and heaps easier to fix. I have in car video of a lotus hitting my front guard - his car just went back into shape while I had to use a hammer on mine. I'll even donate my SE for the mould making process - it's paint is crap anyway!
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Shadow
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Postby Shadow » Mon Jul 24, 2006 12:33 pm

i know on some of the rally cars they chop out the stucture of the doors and replace it with aluminium honeycomb to save the weight but increase the strength dramatically. i daresay a similar type of thing could be applied to the racecar.
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