The car definatly acts like it's nose heavy, I'm relocating my battery and I'd like to build n a ballast/subbox in the back to get the car as close to 50/50 as possible. Maybe even alittle rear heavy for snow/ice driving. So my question is:

Has anyone put a 1st gen on a 4 way scale to see where all the weight is? Or know how much I need to add and where to get as close to 50/50 as possible?

This is a gs 85 manual.

 

They come 50/50 from the factory... (at least there supposed to be)

 

I did mine last year. Battery relocated to behind passenger seat where the storage bin was. The heaviest corner was the left front with around 32% of the weight of the car. The next lightest wast the left rear with like 27%. Right front was a little more than the right rear. Stock the front rear bias is closer to 50/50 because of the heavy appendages like muffler, catalytic converters etc being on the right side of the car. The more you strip the car, the more the weight of the steering box and electronics, brake booster, master cylinder etc. being of the left front corner shows up. Alas, when corner weighting, the left front will be the heaviest. Hope this helps.

 

Do you have the actual weights? Or maybe the actual lweight of your car so I can get some numbers. I'm trying to calculate the box weight for the back. I'll put the battery on the right rear to offset the front left. Thanks, that helps alot!

 

This is actually incorrect. From the factory these cars were not exactly 50/50 but close. I don't know the exact number, but its something like 52/48 or something like that. The 2nd gens were 50/50 though, probably due to the heavier hatch area.

 

Move the battery to the passenger side storage bin. This relocates the weight not only to the light corner from the heavy corner, but to a lower point in the vehicle AND inside of the wheelbase which will make the car more agile.

If you remove all of the AC components you will shave a considerable amount from the front, much of which is in the left corner. Don't just take out the AC, be sure to take off the heavy iron accessory bracket. If you have Power Steering, remove the pump and all the lines and loop a line from one opening of the steering box to the other.

That is about 100 pounds out of that part of the car and should really improve upon your performance.

 

2246 lbs w/ 1/4 tank of gas. I am using se seats, still have power headlights, power windows/mirrors. I can give you a list of what it took to get the car to weigh that much if you want.

 

When I weighed my GSL-SE, it was at 53-47. no jack and spare tire crap in the trunk and ~1/2 fuel tank.

 

Tires will help more than 50/50 balance, unless your car is actually a race car and fully stripped, my DD is stripped inside and removed AC etc, has no rear anti-sway bar and is great in the snow.

corner weighting is only a benefit if you are driving the car at 10/10ths into and out of corners, if you are only going at about 9/10ths the difference will be negligible on a street car.

How much snow do you get in Florida anyway.......

 

according to Motor Trend the stock '83 GS is 54/46.

Here it is on my site, I got it from PB&J Racing's site (thanks)

 

holy crap thats pretty light,, yes pleas do list what you have taken off, i hope for my car to be under 2200 with a 6pt cage,, i bet im close too,,

will post what it actually wieghs when finished,,,

so far,, i have stripped interior,, power nothing,, fc subframe which got rid of the left front wieght of the steering box.. i guess distributed more,,, a bunch of other stuff taken out,, of course no spare or jack,, oh and my cage is chromoly so it doesnt wiegh much.,, the last time i started a thread about wieght reduction i got flamed and nobody took it seriousely, maybe we can actually have a refernce now of how much different models were stock so we can get an idea what they are modified..
also knowing key places to take wieght off helps,, i will post some of the custom projects ive done to save wieght,, for free,, on areas like the hood sunroof, dash,, (while still looking mildly stock with a1/2 dash,,

 

Sorry need to update my sig. Recently moved to Kansas... So unfortunatly I get quite a bit. I'm more interested in stability in snow, ice, and rain. I had a 1st gen back in highschool in FLA and it would hydroplane like crazy. Granted I had some crappy tires on it.

What tires would you all reccomend for all season performance. Again not looking for the drag radials here, just a good snow/rain/all season tire.


All this info is great. I'll relocated the bat. Although I always read it is best to have it right above the rear axle? I was just going to put a leather bat box above my rear axle on the RH side. I'm keeping the AC...spare...jack...etc. This is a daily driver, I've got my other RX for speed. I'm just tuning this one up installing a header and ditching the cats.

When I'm done I'll try and get it up on the aircraft scales at work and leat you all know exactly where the weight is.


Thanks alot!

 

As far as tire go i run P400 185/70 13s. they are good all round tire. a little stiff on the walls but good tire over all. they have a good tread life onthem also. they are made by perellie i think that the is the spelling of them.

 

Please do.

 

im not sure how much my car weighs but im thinking its in the 1600's some where woot i do know the back of my car weighs more than the front now and you can push it around the shop with 1 finger wating to put it on corner scales might do that in the next few days if i can get my friend to bring them over



im getting the abs dash cover from VB os it looks like there is a dash

the car is been plasma cut, gutted, striped, caged, unwired, and striped the paint off and have just a light coat of primer...........lol paint primer clear cost can be an ez15-20 lbs or better and if its got body filer even more ill take more pics if some1 wants to see

 

oh yeah its a street car

 

I am interested. I am building a EM car, and need to lose a lot of weight.

 

2416lbs:

From the front bumper to the rear bumper what I've removed is as follows:

ALL A/C- Compressor, Bracket, Condenser, all lines, Evaporator, A/C unit (behind Dash) All A/C wiring.
Full Stock Exhaust removal-No Cat, RB header, 2.5" piping, into 3" Borla XR-1 muffler.

Under Hood- every nut and bolt/bracket that wasn't holding something crucial, rats nest removal, No smog pump, No OMP, Mazdatrix Oil Cooler lines (not really lighter), SE oil cooler (my car is an SE, but with a 12a in it), Blaster SS coil on leading side (maybe 8oz lighter), no cold start fluid system, no cruise, no choke.
Probably a few other small things I can't remember now.
Act Clutch-pressure plate and unsprung 4 puck metallic disc.

Inside Car- Insulation on floorboard, grant steering wheel, no radio/wiring, no a/c controls/wiring, no ecu/wiring, no storage bins/associated metal piece they attach to, of course no carpet, no door panels (heavy), no headliner(but still have glass sunroof), no rear wiper/motor/wiring.

Wheels and Tires weigh 32lbs apiece w/air in them. Car has a thin layer of primer.

If I could get the car to weigh 2300 with cage I would be really happy. If I spent the money on chromoly tubing I could right now, but I don't have those kinds of ends. There are probably a few more things I removed, so I will add them if I remember.

There are still lots of things to slim down, I would think it feasable to be weighing 2150 to 2200lbs and be street legal but that means removing sunroof entirely, lighter wheels and tires, removing mechanical headlights, lighter flywheel, lighter suspension components, among other more drastic measures. The moral of the story here is that it can be done, and a lighter car requires less power to move down the road. Its also a lot more fun at the TRACK! Love seeing the looks after a session on the Porsche, Ferrari owners faces who thought the car does all the driving!

 

First off, If you lighten the car too much, how do you expect to get it going in the first place? Am I the only one here who owns more than one vehicle? LOL! Just giving you a hard time. I would only be looking to drop that kind of weight if I was building a drag car or something. Food for thought for your snow days.

 

i kinda want to build mine to handle drift tracks better so what should i remove? also what should i move to where to help balance out the weight for cornering?

 

lol na im good that is my drag car for street use i own more than 1 car i have 3 fbs and 1 fc

 

that is kinda of a dumb statement..........it would be ez to move a light car? it would take less power to get it to move.........can you plz explain your statement for me???

 

He's could be talking about traction problems due to the lack of weight over the drive wheels.

 

thats why i wanted him to explain.......but if you are going to lightin the car that much like i did.you would have the whole car set up. you can add weight where is needed and use very good tires......

how my car is set up right now it has no problem hookin up....the back of the car is heaver than the front and i have ET streets 28x10.5x15 woot got lots of traction

 

Ok, here goes.

Building a lightweight speed demon isn't my first rodeo.