weight loss
Removing un-sprung weight is always a good thing.
When searching for wheels, I ran into this problem, as the ones I wanted were quite heavy (25lbs a piece). I settled with Work Mesiter's & they weigh in at about 17lbs a piece. Enkei RPF1's are also a very good choice for weight, and they don't carry the hefty price tag like other quality wheels.
My car is also a weekend warrior/drag car. And like you, I want to keep it's stock appearance as realistic as possible. My best advice would be to do a single turbo, & don't look back. As others have mentioned, it seems you have removed the common items for regular weight reduction. However, nothing will create faster times like 200whp more
...
When searching for wheels, I ran into this problem, as the ones I wanted were quite heavy (25lbs a piece). I settled with Work Mesiter's & they weigh in at about 17lbs a piece. Enkei RPF1's are also a very good choice for weight, and they don't carry the hefty price tag like other quality wheels.
My car is also a weekend warrior/drag car. And like you, I want to keep it's stock appearance as realistic as possible. My best advice would be to do a single turbo, & don't look back. As others have mentioned, it seems you have removed the common items for regular weight reduction. However, nothing will create faster times like 200whp more
...
Thread Starter
Full Member
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 55
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From: new zealand
My car is also a weekend warrior/drag car. And like you, I want to keep it's stock appearance as realistic as possible. My best advice would be to do a single turbo, & don't look back. As others have mentioned, it seems you have removed the common items for regular weight reduction. However, nothing will create faster times like 200whp more ...
...
Alright I understand how it works on the street. I can notice a difference between my stock wheels and the chrome 18's I have in terms of driveability. I was just curious if this would make a difference on the actual Dyno. So theoretically if I make 400rwhp on the stock wheels and then switch them with the heavy chrome 18's I have it should duplicate the results (400rwhp) without any power loss. Obviously no run is exactly the same but just in terms of the subject were talking about.
The other one
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 263
Likes: 1
From: Cols., OH
Light wheels make a difference.....
Obviously stock wheels are heavy. I thought my Enkie Ultra Light Racing Wheels that I had years ago were pretty light (about 15lbs. lighter than stock) at about 32lbs.. I wanted to get some new rims years ago and I shopped around for almost 2 years before deciding on my custom Volk GTC's I had made in Japan (special size offsets to have the look I wanted without sacraficing driving/handling performance. They were shipped in a box, in a box, in a box, and the wheels were wrapped in black cloth bags that said VOLK on them (really cool). Anyway, when I opened the first box and went to pull the wheel out I lifted up on the wheel with both hands, lifted it up, and almost threw it up at the ceiling (only 18lbs. each) because I didnt think it would be that light. I love these wheels I tell you what.
Food for thought
Food for thought
I haven't weighed the two, but this one comes with cushioning to put under it, and no super heavy rubber backing. Plus, there's no holes so you can make the cuts as big as you need for sections covered by trim, dash, and center console.
I was huge into weight reduction in my WRX, had removed over 300 lbs from it. I'm currently doing the same with the RX7 since Colorado hail has it confined to the garage.
I factor in PnP shavings, though I can't actually weigh them. Every little bit counts in a car. Tiny changes can add up big time. A pretty fun one, if your car is down for a while, is the wiring harnesses. I'm up to about 15 or more lbs dropped from trimming the harnesses down from ancillary stuff. Connectors and wires, tape, etc. If you pull the ABS, you can almost eliminate the entire floor harness.
In one of the threads someone mentioned an electric water pump wouldn't drop that much weight. That's true if you just block off the water pump housing with a plate, but if you remove the entire housing and replace with a EnJ manifold or Pro-Jay one, you can remove a lot of aluminum.
There are always differences. You can remove a bunch of wires, but then add some weight back with quality 0 gauge wire from your repositioned battery to the starter, then up to the fuse box. Someone else said that often aftermarket stuff is heavier then OEM, and that's why finding other little things to remove or replace, or just relocate, can offset that weight. Nylon bolts and nuts are not a good idea in the engine bay, but to hold down trim pieces, perfectly fine. Titanium is very good for the engine bay - but incredibly expensive. I read somewhere that Magnesium is even lighter than Titanium, but good luck finding bolts. Plus, Magnesium is a lot weaker, and flammable (well, aluminum can be too, research Bradley Fighting Vehicle).
Another thing is location, like with the battery. It's not about just removing weight, if you have to keep weight but can move it lower, there is a benefit. Removing the A/C, switching to an Electric water pump and power steering pump, allowed me to low mount the alternator, that's an increase (drop) in center of gravity, which can fight body roll and help with steering/suspension work.
Lexan is amazing, but there's downsides to it. You can't roll it down - it's fixed in place. It's also not street legal. You know how side and rear windows shatter into a million small cubes - that's by design, so rescuers can enter and passengers can escape (wihtout getting sliced to ribbons, it's called tempered glass). With Lexan...you're kinda stuck inside, the stuff is crazy strong and your little rescue hammer won't do much to it. So if you're gonna do Lexan, just do the rear hatch, leave the sides for your life, and if you've gone that far you prob don't have A/C either so yeah, you'll roast.
Being that I have the EWP, and I'm going to do the coolant jacket fluting when I rebuild it, I'm thinking of downsizing the radiator. Depending of how effective the EWP is, it may be possible to downscale based on average temps - it's another method for weight, less radiator and less fluid, we'll see.
There's other things to consider. exhaust wrap and heat shields add weight, so finding lighter versions will do well, I've been wanting to find aerogel infused mat to use for that. Using a metal heat shield always confused me. "let's keep heat away by using the same substance that readily transfers heat". It'd be smarter to use good ducting to have outside air push the hot engine bay air down under the car I think, then again, that gets into balancing weight and stuff. The heat issues in these cars give an extra challenge. I took all the heat shields off on the WRX and it was a happy car....here idk.
Some people have mentioned rhino lining or line-x. That stuff is HEAVY.
I had an aluminum driveshaft on my WRX, that thing made a HUGE difference. It was about 13 lbs lighter than OEM, but it was also a rotating assembly, so that factor was multiplied. The engine was a lot happier, same with the lightweight crank pulley. There was a noticeable difference in performance with those two mods alone. Butt dyno, engine sound, response, everything, as if the engine breathed a sigh of relief when it was fired up with those.
The small screws that hold the rotor to the hub, only needed for assembly at factory, is an ounce or two X4 that can be removed from unsprung, rotating weight. Passenger airbag is heavy as hell, gut it and make it a storage area or ECU mount.
Sometimes just looking at a part and finding a new way to mount it can work. There are things that maybe a zip tie or two will more than suffice, but Mazda used a steel screw. Hell hook and pile tape (Velcro) can be used in some locations. Just takes some thinking and depends on how deep you wish to go. If you want to keep resell value - well you shouldn't have gone non-sequential or anything, but definitely don't want to remove major systems. If you're like me and this is your all time dream car and there's no way you'll sell it: make it yours, express yourself, test stuff out and share if it works, or doesn't work so we don't make the same error.
I was huge into weight reduction in my WRX, had removed over 300 lbs from it. I'm currently doing the same with the RX7 since Colorado hail has it confined to the garage.
I factor in PnP shavings, though I can't actually weigh them. Every little bit counts in a car. Tiny changes can add up big time. A pretty fun one, if your car is down for a while, is the wiring harnesses. I'm up to about 15 or more lbs dropped from trimming the harnesses down from ancillary stuff. Connectors and wires, tape, etc. If you pull the ABS, you can almost eliminate the entire floor harness.
In one of the threads someone mentioned an electric water pump wouldn't drop that much weight. That's true if you just block off the water pump housing with a plate, but if you remove the entire housing and replace with a EnJ manifold or Pro-Jay one, you can remove a lot of aluminum.
There are always differences. You can remove a bunch of wires, but then add some weight back with quality 0 gauge wire from your repositioned battery to the starter, then up to the fuse box. Someone else said that often aftermarket stuff is heavier then OEM, and that's why finding other little things to remove or replace, or just relocate, can offset that weight. Nylon bolts and nuts are not a good idea in the engine bay, but to hold down trim pieces, perfectly fine. Titanium is very good for the engine bay - but incredibly expensive. I read somewhere that Magnesium is even lighter than Titanium, but good luck finding bolts. Plus, Magnesium is a lot weaker, and flammable (well, aluminum can be too, research Bradley Fighting Vehicle).
Another thing is location, like with the battery. It's not about just removing weight, if you have to keep weight but can move it lower, there is a benefit. Removing the A/C, switching to an Electric water pump and power steering pump, allowed me to low mount the alternator, that's an increase (drop) in center of gravity, which can fight body roll and help with steering/suspension work.
Lexan is amazing, but there's downsides to it. You can't roll it down - it's fixed in place. It's also not street legal. You know how side and rear windows shatter into a million small cubes - that's by design, so rescuers can enter and passengers can escape (wihtout getting sliced to ribbons, it's called tempered glass). With Lexan...you're kinda stuck inside, the stuff is crazy strong and your little rescue hammer won't do much to it. So if you're gonna do Lexan, just do the rear hatch, leave the sides for your life, and if you've gone that far you prob don't have A/C either so yeah, you'll roast.
Being that I have the EWP, and I'm going to do the coolant jacket fluting when I rebuild it, I'm thinking of downsizing the radiator. Depending of how effective the EWP is, it may be possible to downscale based on average temps - it's another method for weight, less radiator and less fluid, we'll see.
There's other things to consider. exhaust wrap and heat shields add weight, so finding lighter versions will do well, I've been wanting to find aerogel infused mat to use for that. Using a metal heat shield always confused me. "let's keep heat away by using the same substance that readily transfers heat". It'd be smarter to use good ducting to have outside air push the hot engine bay air down under the car I think, then again, that gets into balancing weight and stuff. The heat issues in these cars give an extra challenge. I took all the heat shields off on the WRX and it was a happy car....here idk.
Some people have mentioned rhino lining or line-x. That stuff is HEAVY.
I had an aluminum driveshaft on my WRX, that thing made a HUGE difference. It was about 13 lbs lighter than OEM, but it was also a rotating assembly, so that factor was multiplied. The engine was a lot happier, same with the lightweight crank pulley. There was a noticeable difference in performance with those two mods alone. Butt dyno, engine sound, response, everything, as if the engine breathed a sigh of relief when it was fired up with those.
The small screws that hold the rotor to the hub, only needed for assembly at factory, is an ounce or two X4 that can be removed from unsprung, rotating weight. Passenger airbag is heavy as hell, gut it and make it a storage area or ECU mount.
Sometimes just looking at a part and finding a new way to mount it can work. There are things that maybe a zip tie or two will more than suffice, but Mazda used a steel screw. Hell hook and pile tape (Velcro) can be used in some locations. Just takes some thinking and depends on how deep you wish to go. If you want to keep resell value - well you shouldn't have gone non-sequential or anything, but definitely don't want to remove major systems. If you're like me and this is your all time dream car and there's no way you'll sell it: make it yours, express yourself, test stuff out and share if it works, or doesn't work so we don't make the same error.
Last edited by b3delta; Jul 31, 2019 at 12:10 PM.
Wheel speed sensors can go if you remove the ABS
Switching to more modern relays can save space and weight - especially solid state
Cruise control
IGN-1A ignition system, the OEM one is heavy as hell with that bracket and giant coils
Remove the brake booster - chase bays brake booster delete kit
2 or 3 disc clutch may be heavier but easier on the engine as they usually have less diameter to work on - feels lighter
rear wiper delete, front washer tank delete, use rear tank for front (same plug)
billet Al irons, lightened rotors---$$$$$
dont forget the center amp when removing the BOSE
CPUs 1 and 2 can go if you can figure out flashers and defrost timer - I'm using a PLC to do the job of both, not much of a weight difference unless you're cutting the wiring associated with door lock timer, alarm system etc..
Lithium ion batteries are even lighter than the PC680 and Miata ones, just remember it prob needs a tender every night - possibly a small solar panel to assist?
Carbon fiber interior panels, ABS is heavy AF compared to it.
Pulleys - only need half of the crank if switch to EWP and EPS, and a light one on the alt - frees up more HP, get a good alt to keep up with the increased elec load - 140A
Switching to more modern relays can save space and weight - especially solid state
Cruise control
IGN-1A ignition system, the OEM one is heavy as hell with that bracket and giant coils
Remove the brake booster - chase bays brake booster delete kit
2 or 3 disc clutch may be heavier but easier on the engine as they usually have less diameter to work on - feels lighter
rear wiper delete, front washer tank delete, use rear tank for front (same plug)
billet Al irons, lightened rotors---$$$$$
dont forget the center amp when removing the BOSE
CPUs 1 and 2 can go if you can figure out flashers and defrost timer - I'm using a PLC to do the job of both, not much of a weight difference unless you're cutting the wiring associated with door lock timer, alarm system etc..
Lithium ion batteries are even lighter than the PC680 and Miata ones, just remember it prob needs a tender every night - possibly a small solar panel to assist?
Carbon fiber interior panels, ABS is heavy AF compared to it.
Pulleys - only need half of the crank if switch to EWP and EPS, and a light one on the alt - frees up more HP, get a good alt to keep up with the increased elec load - 140A
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