Just wanted to let you guys know that I weighed the two boxes of removed items from my car and came out to:

First box: 33 lb
Second box: 19 lb

The airpump is also in the full box.

Granted, I added things back in the car like the aftermarket pullies, but I'd say this is worth a solid 45 lb.
I'd also like to add that this box includes the front crash sensors which together weigh about 7 lb total.

So far without even touching the interior trim I've made some pretty decent weight reduction gains:

Non-seq/emissions removal: 45 lb
Recaro SPGs: 50 lb (stock seats are 37 lb each, Recaro are 11 lb each)
A/C pump/condensor/lines + PS pump/lines + windshield washer reservoir: 52 lb
Spare tire/jack: ~30 lb
Airbag: 7 lb
Exhaust/downpipe: 40 lb
JUN chromoly flywheel: 10 lb
Various added to car (gauges/catch tank/etc): +10 lb

These weights are pretty accurate and I'd say not too conservative or liberal based on figures people have reported before and what I have actually weighed.

Based on the above,
A reduction of 224 lb

With an OEM weight of 2800 lb for an R1 model, we come down to:

2576 lb

Granted this is not race light, but it's still pretty decent. I'm happy with it.

 

nice write up

 

Very nice write up.

 

how about selling me those stock seats?

 

Haha I knew someone was going to ASK THAT.

I almost contemplated putting in at the end:

"No, the stock seats are not for sale."

 

Do you have any pictures of your Recaros in the car? I've been contemplating different seats for some time, but haven't really found one I like yet.

 

I would like to see pics too, as well as pricing info and fitment info.

I am currently looking for better seats for track use (ie, keep stock seats for daily driving and swap in race seat for track days) and so far I've found that Corbeau is the only company offering seats that come with FD-specific brackets. Their racing seats are FIA homologated and their street seats look very nice.

BTW, Clayne, are you making this a track car only? (removal of airbag and crash sensors, windshield reservoir)

 

Yes. Recaro SPGs.

In fact, these are about the only Recaros you'll be able to fit in the car. 395 mm is pretty much the limit. The PPs at 420 mm will not fit without extensive height spacing - I tried.

 

Wow! Awesome job posting this up.

 

O man, those RECARO SPG's look so good. How much did you have to pay for those?

 

and where's your 5pt sabelt?

 

looks damn good

 

You've got two different Recaro seats showing. which is which? I assume the ones that went in the car are the SPGs, but what's the other one?

Also, how tall are you and what do you weigh? When you refer to 395mm is that the width of the seat bottom? I've sat in quite a few seats without finding one that I thought was very comfortable. I can see why someone would just want to swap these in for track days.

 

jim,

The narrower ones are the SPGs.

Some people will not fit in SPGs, no joke about that. I'm on the taller skinnier end of the scale and it fits me quite well, but for some they'll want a more PP type fitment.

But the PP do not fit right in the car. I tried everything to get them to fit in right without having to be raised up to make the width clearance.

The end up sitting as high as stock seats.

395 mm is the width of the SPG bottom, yep.

430 mm is the width of the PP bottom (not 420).

Oh yea, for taller people the SPG is more recommended as the shoulder belt holes are higher. This is safer against spinal compression in a wreck.

 

Cool, I replaced the seats in my car as well, it is probably one of the biggest areas you can save weight that most don't even realize.

-Sean

 

I meant to ask how you liked the Recaros for daily use. Do they make it a pain to get in and out of the car at all (high side bolster, etc.)? How comfortable are they compared to the stock R1 seats? More head room? Less leg-to-steering wheel contact?

Also, what did you use for mounting brackets?

 

Damn Clayne, nice write up! I guess I'll be getting the SPG's too since 11 lbs is way lighter than I expected. So I guess if I can't find the stock '99 recaro's in carbon kevlar, I'll be getting SPG's.

 

Jim,

They definitely up the getting in and out of the car pain. You have to use the body of the car (where the build date stickers are) to support yourself getting in and out. It's not really that big a deal when you get used to it - but most whiners won't want it.

I also use a quick-release hub adaptor + extension and that makes it much easier getting in and out of the car. Smart Racing makes it and it is compatible with Sparco/Momo hub patterns (very common). They are very comfortable all around, in my opinion. The only area where you may feel things more is in the ***. There is less padding compared to an R1 seat and overall you feel the *car* more. I like this. Some people may not.

They definitely offer more headroom as you move closer to the floor compared to R1 seats. Side-bolstering is awesome of course. At first it takes a small amount getting used to. Once you're used to it you'll never want to go back to stock seats.

Leg to steering wheel is less of an issue with an aftermarket steering wheel (which I highly recommend). I use a 340 mm Mazdaspeed wheel with entirely manual steering and honestly I wouldn't mine a 320 mm at this point. I'm not even a big arm guy - it's just once you position your seat and wheel appropriately you have more bio-mechanical leverage. Stretched out arms with very little bending of the elbows is bad, you don't want that.






Check this page out:

http://e30m3performance.com/myths/Dr...g_position.htm

And for brackets I used JDM market adapters which have the proper funky bends for the FD mounting surface. The stock R1 seat uses a narrow mounting rail configuration which aftermarket seats are not compatible with. You cannot adapt the stock seat rails as you will end up with the aftermarket seats positioned too high off the ground. However, I greatly recommend hacking up some pre-existing rail kits or fabricating your own solution. The JDM brackets are like 150$ per side.

 

you want to sell your a/c condensor and a coupple lines? I need some parts to replace mine...

Michael

http://www.villagephotos.com/pubgallery.asp?id_=753595