The Gross vehicle weight of my FC is 3595lb, its 2700 on my 93 Miata. The Miata's curb weight is 2070lb, and the FC is about 2600lb depending on options such as A/C, PS, PW, and others. I have been wanting to convert mine to manual steering because its lighter and has a quicker ratio. As for the FC being way bigger than the MX-5, It really isnt. The 5 is 156.3" long and the FC is 168.9" (S4) the S5 is about an inch longer. As far as width, there about the same.

 

also for the fact that the fb wasn't necessarily intended to become a hit. when they where building it, they threw n any radome part to make it work, thats why why was light.

 

yea crash standards really put a damper on cars these days in my opinion. those huge bumpers look retarded. i think people just need to realize that riding around in fast moving metal is dangerous and big fat bumpers wont save you if you are an idiot and change lanes without looking. I think those fatass bumpers are a ploy to make people feel better about buying SUVs, as they now looker less gigantic by comparison to the 2008 model sedans.

 

And in addition to what everyone is saying, the HUGE rear hatch. That thing is hefty.

 

tar is easy to remove all you need is a couple bags of dry ice ,a hammer and maybe a chisel.

 

^You also forgot lots of time.

 

the doors are pretty heavy, but probably mostly b/c of the glass..

my S4 TII weighed 2800 lbs even with no weight reduction beside AC removal, with a mostly full tank of gas. and it was even a little rear biased. I suppose the 51/49 front/rear bias rating you always see is with empty gas tank

 

Im riding light. No A/C Gutted Interior and Dry Iced out the sound deadening material.

Even when I get the Roll cage in, and swap over to a fuel cell, I bet Im roughly @ 2400-2500 lbs.

 

I can swing my FD's front subframe over my head with one arm

 

YOU THAR, DONT BE SHOWOFF WITH YOUR FANCY SHMANCY CAR

...boy is that thing gorgeous.

 

Hood 60 lbs
engine emissions crap (air pump)??? Estimated 10lbs
power windows 5lbs each (heavier than non power)
sunroof 22lbs (high up, bad for cg)
power seat belts 15lbs each
powersteering 25 lbs
dash 35lbs heavier than S4 dash
rear hatch 100lbs+ or so
twin exhaust (cats, emissions again); conservative 25lbs
assorted sound deadning 15lbs total

lets do the math, that's close to 302lbs and we have not went bare bone; no A/C, Heater core, radio...

Me personaly I just compensate by making more power (for a street car) I want to be comfortable if I had a track car that would be something else all together

To each his own I am sure there is some happy median for good power to weight

 

so lets say you remove the hood and rear hatch.... then what do you use to maintain the car's aero profile? Im not sure you can just subtract that weight quite so easily.

 

WRONG......

I just read the other day in a tuner mag I have at work that an AWD STI curb weight is 3350-ish lbs.

As I said i my earlier post up there ^ our 2nd gens are around 2600-2800 lbs in stock form.

 

All this comparison to the Miata doesn't make a whole lot of sense. The Miata is a much smaller roadster, the FC is a larger sports coupe. Things like a roof, a few feet more body and a rear hatch glass tend to add weight.

Also the FC is a well made car. Subframes are very thick (Maybe that's why we can put down 500+ HP and not worry about tearing things up?), body panels are thick and structural, etc. The car could have been made lighter but it would not meet crash standards (and anyone who has been in a serious accident in an FC knows how well they stand up).

The FC is simply a well made car. How many other Japanese sports cars from the '80s are around and not rust buckets these days?

Still, it's not like the car is heavy by any means. There will always be a lighter car. Every car on this forum is a pig compared to my 1800 LB Insight, but it doesn't mean they are heavy.

If you want a heavy RX-7, look at the S5 vert or the early SAs (with 200+ LBs of thermal reactor exhaust).

 

Amen Aaron!

Our cars are tough. As for the comparison to the FB. A guy i know hit a lady who pulled out in front of him. H was doing like 55mph, and without the full roll cage, he might have lost his feet. They're just not as tough.

True. But i know a lot of people who have s13's that they drift. The car might be lighter, but i've drifted s13s and FCs and i'll tell you what, FCs are just way more solid.

 

GC WRX, not the GD WRX which is what the American spec STI's are. The GC does not have the bug-eyed headlights.

 

One correction from what mazda.junkie said, the manual steering has a slower ratio, not faster.

 

heh,heh!..You forgot to Mention all that Military Training there GoodFella!..Tossing Privates and Corporals all over the place can give you Muscles in no time flat!..and now for some Thread info:the steel FC hood is 56 lbs,and the aluminum I believe is 23 or 28.!

 

s13 coupes are about 50 pounds lighter, if that. fastbacks are at least 50 pounds heavier.

 

the FC is heavy because the mazda engineers in charge of the FC project could not remove anymore weight without compromising the integrity and driveability of the car.

I think the final project was called "ounce per head" where every mazda engineers disassembled a complete FC and were told to remove 1 oz. each from anywhere in the car.

And comparing an FC rear end with a 240 rear end is like comparing J-Lo's *** with Paris Hilton's ***.

 

lol, there's something to that

one is DEFINITELY more refined than the other...

 

MKIII supra weighs around 3600-3800lb. So I dont know why are you guys are complaining

 

well most people focus on weight and use it as a crutch while others are happy with good POWER TO WEIGHT RATIO.

 

unless your car is track only dont worry about it. The car is not that heavy, however if you must I do feel there are a few things here and there that can be done to trim the fat with out to many compromises

 

at your avatar!!

Kinda like the single vs. dual argument using the weight difference as a deciding factor. Useless unless you plan on making a dedicated track car.