How light can you get an FC (what more can I remove?)
02-28-10, 12:25 PM
#51
power steering delete. Better feel as long as your moving and saves weight.
gut the doors and replace glass with lexan. Open window holes act as a parachute.
Find the lightest wheels and tires. Magnesium alloy
If your not scared, swap your TII tranny to the N/A.You might have to rebuild it after a couple of races so you might want two.
Of course get the light weight flywheel and carbon or aluminum drive shaft.
Take out everything related to the headlights. Glue or weld in the the covers for cosmetics.
Loose the tail lights and cover the holes with a thin bit of fiberglass or plastic, install round LED tails for a motorcycle (light and small)
Swiss cheese the interior panels of the car.
loose the dash and make just a flat panel from fiber or plastic.
Tubular cross members for motor and tranny
I'll bet you save 35 pounds taking off that wing.
Remove every wire, bolt, screw, and clip you don't have to have. It would be best to pull the ECU and starter harness and rebuild them with only the wires you need. You don't need any wires in the cockpit except for the tail lights.
Use a heat gun to loosen and remove the stock sound deadening.
I like the total loss charging system idea. don't use a flooded lead battery.
There are several other Ideas that have been put out there that I like.
Where you are now, only the radical things will get you big weight savings. But small gains add up fast if you do enough of them.
gut the doors and replace glass with lexan. Open window holes act as a parachute.
Find the lightest wheels and tires. Magnesium alloy
If your not scared, swap your TII tranny to the N/A.You might have to rebuild it after a couple of races so you might want two.
Of course get the light weight flywheel and carbon or aluminum drive shaft.
Take out everything related to the headlights. Glue or weld in the the covers for cosmetics.
Loose the tail lights and cover the holes with a thin bit of fiberglass or plastic, install round LED tails for a motorcycle (light and small)
Swiss cheese the interior panels of the car.
loose the dash and make just a flat panel from fiber or plastic.
Tubular cross members for motor and tranny
I'll bet you save 35 pounds taking off that wing.
Remove every wire, bolt, screw, and clip you don't have to have. It would be best to pull the ECU and starter harness and rebuild them with only the wires you need. You don't need any wires in the cockpit except for the tail lights.
Use a heat gun to loosen and remove the stock sound deadening.
I like the total loss charging system idea. don't use a flooded lead battery.
There are several other Ideas that have been put out there that I like.
Where you are now, only the radical things will get you big weight savings. But small gains add up fast if you do enough of them.
02-28-10, 06:40 PM
#53
tweaked: that roof spoiler and foresight spoiler weigh less than the stock urethane spoiler by itself.
Not kidding.
He already has a carbon/fpr hood.
Question. If you have a cage would it be posibble to cut out a large section of the roof and put a fiberglass panel in it's place without losing rigidity? Thought about this the other day staring at my own project. So far i've shed close to 200lbs from my car and i plan on loosing even more weight by eventually making my own rear subframe and trailing arms whenever i get my mig and figure out what i'm going to make the **** out of.
Aero isn't that heavy. My bn front and rear bumpers weigh less than their stock plastic counterparts.
AND STAV.....save for some forged wheels. The rotas and weds probably aren't cutting it and i hate to sound like "the ultimate wheel is" guy but te37's are hella light. If you can find a light 3 piece wheel that would be a good idea too because if you do bend or destroy a barrel, all you have to do is buy a new section to replace the damaged one instead of the entire wheel....
Not kidding.
He already has a carbon/fpr hood.
Question. If you have a cage would it be posibble to cut out a large section of the roof and put a fiberglass panel in it's place without losing rigidity? Thought about this the other day staring at my own project. So far i've shed close to 200lbs from my car and i plan on loosing even more weight by eventually making my own rear subframe and trailing arms whenever i get my mig and figure out what i'm going to make the **** out of.
Aero isn't that heavy. My bn front and rear bumpers weigh less than their stock plastic counterparts.
AND STAV.....save for some forged wheels. The rotas and weds probably aren't cutting it and i hate to sound like "the ultimate wheel is" guy but te37's are hella light. If you can find a light 3 piece wheel that would be a good idea too because if you do bend or destroy a barrel, all you have to do is buy a new section to replace the damaged one instead of the entire wheel....
03-01-10, 03:24 AM
#54
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Can't believe we're 42 posts in and not one mention of a running a smaller battery, ditching the sound deadening, or weeding unnecessary wiring. You mentioned buckets seats. ARe they fixed back / FRP? Do you need seats plural? A hollow front swaybar can save 10 lbs vs. an RB bar. A stock rear bar is 5 lbs. You are weighing your car with an empty tank of gas right? (Notice how there's no mention of that in the time attack car numbers).
You can go the other way of course and add power. My car is 3000 lbs. Wanna race?
You can go the other way of course and add power. My car is 3000 lbs. Wanna race?
I also run with no swap bars at all as JTP suggested whihc saved weight..
I'll bet you save 35 pounds taking off that wing.
Remove every wire, bolt, screw, and clip you don't have to have. It would be best to pull the ECU and starter harness and rebuild them with only the wires you need. You don't need any wires in the cockpit except for the tail lights.
Remove every wire, bolt, screw, and clip you don't have to have. It would be best to pull the ECU and starter harness and rebuild them with only the wires you need. You don't need any wires in the cockpit except for the tail lights.
04-04-10, 01:13 PM
#56
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Right then, took a few pics today of stuff I "may" be able to remove, but im not sure how if at all itd affect chassis strength, so best ask before i go wild...
Door-
I can just remove whatever I fancy I guess?
The two bits of metal where the rear hatch locks to. Ive got a FRP/lexan hatch, and have now removed the locks as they not needed. Can I remove both those vertical bits of metal?
These inner skins. The spot welding is near them, which makes me think they are structural, are they?
The wheel well. Again, spot welding has been done right near it, and its where the towing eyes bolt to on the sides, but can it be cut out ok?
Here's my lightweight rear hatch btw, works well, remove/refit in about 2min, can even keep the rubber seal if you like...
Thanks in advance
Door-
I can just remove whatever I fancy I guess?
The two bits of metal where the rear hatch locks to. Ive got a FRP/lexan hatch, and have now removed the locks as they not needed. Can I remove both those vertical bits of metal?
These inner skins. The spot welding is near them, which makes me think they are structural, are they?
The wheel well. Again, spot welding has been done right near it, and its where the towing eyes bolt to on the sides, but can it be cut out ok?
Here's my lightweight rear hatch btw, works well, remove/refit in about 2min, can even keep the rubber seal if you like...
Thanks in advance
04-04-10, 10:27 PM
#57
trying to build a racecar
If you are willing to lose the window mechanism you can cut EVERYTHING out of the door. See attached pic. I will also be trimming off the little square bit of metal that held the original interior door latch, and I'm thinking about cutting off that top piece entirely, so there would be essentially nothing left of the inner side of the door.
I think you can cut out the spare tire well, as well as the pieces that hold the rear hatch latches. But I would leave the rest of the unibody alone.
Good luck
I think you can cut out the spare tire well, as well as the pieces that hold the rear hatch latches. But I would leave the rest of the unibody alone.
Good luck
04-04-10, 10:58 PM
#58
Another datapoint.
My FC ITS racecar meets minimum spec for SCCA competition which is 2680lbs **WITH DRIVER** (and 6 point roll cage with double door bars)
I weigh 205 in my skin. My gear (helmet, HANS, suit, shoes, etc) is another 30lbs. I have 60-70lbs of ballast bolted to the drivers side footwell. The 2680 (actually 2680-2685) is weighed end of race with 15 gallons of fuel in the tank (~6lbs per gallon = 90lbs). I still have all the original glass including door glass.
So figure my generic ITS race car weighs 2300lbs with all the stock glass and lots of other crap that has to stay to keep the car legal. 2100lbs should be cake
FWIW,
Crispy
My FC ITS racecar meets minimum spec for SCCA competition which is 2680lbs **WITH DRIVER** (and 6 point roll cage with double door bars)
I weigh 205 in my skin. My gear (helmet, HANS, suit, shoes, etc) is another 30lbs. I have 60-70lbs of ballast bolted to the drivers side footwell. The 2680 (actually 2680-2685) is weighed end of race with 15 gallons of fuel in the tank (~6lbs per gallon = 90lbs). I still have all the original glass including door glass.
So figure my generic ITS race car weighs 2300lbs with all the stock glass and lots of other crap that has to stay to keep the car legal. 2100lbs should be cake
FWIW,
Crispy
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