What makes the FC so heavy?
 

Any ideas?

well, the TII's have all the beefy drivetrain components. FC's have lots of sound deadening bullshit... also have you ever picked up a stock seat? hahaha

but overall FC's really aren't THAT HEAVY, what are you comparing it to?

100lb doors :) 60lb steel hood :) Except for aluminum hoods.

Numbers are exagerated of course.

Could be the all steel chassis.

Me tippin' the scales at bill brasky makes my fc kind of heavy :D

Most of our 2nd gen 7's are around 2650-2850 lbs stock, depending on the model and optional equipment. An AWD STI, for example, weighs in at a rather hefty 3350 lbs. mostly due to the added drivetrain. And it's a smaller car. If you were to strip a 7 for track use, with 1 seat, no a/c, sound deadening, etc. you can bring it down to around 2300 lbs if I remember correctly, which is pretty respectable.

A lot of what makes them heavy is the result of Mazda's commitment to making cars and trucks that have a very solid feel, are rattle-free and quiet. It takes thick steel, multiple-rib and multiple-crease floor pans, large pillar posts and well-engineered stampings to achieve this, not to mention all of the sound-deadening and insulation.

Verts are even heavier with all of the added reinforcements and massive box construction on the crossmembers. But if you ever compared the driving experience of an rx7 Vert to say, for example, a Sebring vert or Camaro, the difference is night and day. Those sons o' bitches rattle, twist, and shake like a mofo. I'll keep my "heavy 7" and keep the Subies in the rear view mirror thank you! ;)

Bingo. Compare the sub frame on the FC to an economy car and you'll instantly see a difference. The FC was designed to take abuse and provide reliable service doing so.

Though I certainly would not describe a ~2500 LB car as "heavy".

the driver. :bigthumb:

The FC isnt that heavy. Hell my daily driver tips the scales at 3629 and still manages to get to 60 in 6.5 seconds. Just nevermind it handles like I'm driving an arm chair while blind folded.

yeah, they're pretty light.

They're heavy compared to, say, a miata... but even then, they aren't that much heavier (what, like 400lb?) And they're twice as big.

compared to a miata theyre not even that much heavier. maybe 200 pounds. my car weighs in at about 2500 pounds due to a little removal here and there but looks to be stock inside. most sedans weigh about 3400 pounds and coupes like the 300zx weigh around 3200. "muscle" cars like mustangs and camaros weigh close to 3600. a police car weighs around 4300. trucks and SUVs weigh like 5000.

heavy! i weighed my car at the track with myself and a half tank of gas 2748lbs. thats heavy compared to a mini cooper i guess.

I believe one reason is the chassis.

A TII is heavier than an FD - which overall is not much smaller dimension wise. Heavy (and similar in weight) drivetrains, sound deadening, etc. leaves little reason for its lower weight. I don't know the names of them, but I believe the chassis style was switched to a lighter and stronger type.

Heavy? Compared to a motorcycle maybe.

Our FC's ARE heavy

the GC WRX STi for example

is lighter than the FC AND FD... and it's a bloody awd 4 door saloon car!





i dropped the Rear subframe on my FC..

that THING IS MADE OF RECYCLED ANVILS...

rear sub complete with diff axles and brakes..

it takes 3 ppl to carry the damn thing.. and it still takes a ton of effort...


it was sooooo much heavier than my friends S13 rear end...


mine became impossible to put back on... I had to put the car on a Lift.. and Lower it onto the Subframe.. rather than raising the subframe on to the car..


it's rediculous


I wonder what you could get an FC's weight down to if u used CF hood, fenders, doors, and all lexan windows completely gutted.. one non recling bucket.. sheet metal Dashboard..

not much u can do about the underlying stuff tho..

The minimum weight for an EP class racecar is 2350lbs (with driver, weight as raced). I do believe that some people do make that weight.

steel body, not fiberglass right?, like all the fenders and stuff?

i would love to have custom fiberglass body work done to first of all lighten it, and make it look just a little more like the concept drawings which look so bad ass

but then again im broke

is it easy to remove sound deadening things ? what are they even?

Material under the carpets to keep road noise down.

It's absolutly retarded to remove it on a street car.

It will only save you a couple of dozen pounds (which is nothing on a 2600+ pound car) in exchange for a much louder cabin. It's also not easy to remove since the carpets need to come out and the sound deadening material is glued to the chassis.

IMHO anything under 3000lbs and classified a sports car is "light"

Dream on. A 1990 Miata (closest year to your car) weighs under 2100. With "a little removal here and there" can be under 2000. Both the Miatas and RX-7s got heavier as the years passed, due to extra equipment and increasing crash standards, but a 7 is substantially heavier. That's fair enough because they're also substantially bigger.

So why are the FB's so much lighter, besides being somewhat smaller with a couple less extras? I mean, the FC was 2800-2900lbs. before they added all that aluminum to combat the extra bulk. And the FB is, what, 2200lbs.?

It's this pad of tar-ish stuff. PITA to remove unless you have an air chisel.


How much exactly does the rear hatch weigh? One of my struts blew out + I went to lift it. Holy shit that thing is heavier than I though. I bet w some lexan you could lighten that thing up alot. Or if you do the good 'ol truck back end mod hahahah

my seven is heavy because i choose to keep the luxury on my car.. even though its a n/a... its nice and comfy. except for the solid motor and tranny mounts.

i guess i can always buy a 1990 miata... and cut the firewall for a t2 motor :).. if im that rich.. which im not. lol

anyway. i am looking to get a 1988 honduh crx for dd... mad lightness yo.

If you have a s4 turbo TII get rid of the stock rims, swap on s5 GTU aluminums, you WILL instantly notice a differnce.

and to the guy with the rx8 rims, that look is sweet :bigthumb: , i have been working on getting that same look on my black s4 TII. so far its just been all swaped to s5 exterior parts minus tail lights and mirrors (I like the TII mirrors). it looks like you have the CS bumper caps, i dont know what kindof side skirts are they s5 turbo OE? and i was wondering about the look and fitment of rx8 18" wheels on a fc3s, did you have any fitment issues? PM me please and thank you.

In a word, crash standards. Well, 2 words....