The 370Z Weight Reduction Thread

[KaienZ34]

Originally Posted by ChrisSlicks

Solid mounts do weird things to cars (vibrations loosen parts, connectors etc), go with urethane unless your building a stripped out track car.

Urethane feels so nice.

[ZMan8]

Originally Posted by ChrisSlicks

Solid mounts do weird things to cars (vibrations loosen parts, connectors etc), go with urethane unless your building a stripped out track car.

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[Isamu]

who needs interior?

[cavemancan]

Originally Posted by wstar

No wind tunnel here though

You mean you didn't attach those shoe string looking things to your car then get a blow dryer to simulate a wind tunnel?! It works!

[cavemancan]

Originally Posted by Shamu

...you think? Lol! And to get that 53 47 you have to run full tank of gas and have spare. And then Nissan used boat anchor mufflers, heavy steel brackets, etc in rear.

Don't forget light weight fly wheel and clutch. That's huge. PPE long tube headers, Lots of weight with aluminum hat front rotors, lightweight pulleys, lose stock coolant over flow tank, nismo guys lose the yamaha chassis damper, replace steel nuts bolts with titanium and nylon, cut redundant structure out of hood, pull hood support rod, pull all plastic crappage out of engine compartment, move battery to back, pull AC , pull heater core , get race focused brake and clutch pedal set with cylinders located on pedal cluster, z1 motor mounts, make sure your intake system is made from lightweight materials, convert to lightweight coilover with aluminum body dampers and narrow diameter spring, pin your hood and lose locking system, gut head lamps to bare necessities, drill holes in brackets, replace front mounted braces with lighter aluminum or chrome moly pieces, lose wiper washer canister, motor and all tubing up to the sprayers, pull lighter alternator, lighter starter?, lots of weight if you crack the motor open and start going after crank, pistons/rods, heads.

Things we can wish for. 5 lbs carbon fiber nose piece, carbon fiber under tray,

It's strange coming from a 50/50 car but the need to go faster was too great...LOL!

Ok so the highlighted items above are what I am interested in. You mentioned you did most of this stuff already? Any additional input would be awesome. Like pics if its custom or places to buy if its vendor related and what weight savings? As far as the brakes and battery I am already going that route.

Thanks for the reply!

Edit: I will be happy with a 150 lbs (100 lbs is prob more realistic) ish drop spread evenly accross the front and back but preferably more from the front (unrealistic). I say this so I don't have to worry to much about corner balancing the car (YET!) as I don't have coilovers (YET!). My goal is to shed weight from the front and put a wider tire in front with added camber (in front). Well wider tires all around but make it so the car is closer to squared out...Front 265 and rear 285. The requirement is the car must stay functional as a daily driver (I.E. AC).

[wstar]

Well, the best gains in terms of cost effectiveness are still the basics. Shamu's list includes a lot of extreme measures that are going to cost a lot per lb saved (and no, I don't think he's done most of them).

The most cost-effective basics for dropping weight on a street machine:

1) Zero-cost stuff: Get rid of the windshield washer fluid reservoir system and its tubing/jets, get rid of the top engine plastic cover (if anything it traps heat).
2) Battery reloc + sub/spare removal. Remove heavy battery from front, remove heavy subwoofer and spare tire from rear, install light battery in trunk area. Net drop is 64lbs, 35 from the front and 29 from the rear. Cost is one Odyssey PC-680 battery, plus mounting and cabling hardware and some labor time. DIY: Battery Relo
3) Lightweight wheels+tires. I went with 18" Forgestars and Continental DW tires. There are lots of options, but it's rotating unsprung mass and it's worth way more than gutting sprung weight on the car.
4) Exhaust system. Look into options like Fast Intentions - good gains and a nice weight drop from the factory system. If you combine it with their long-tube headers it's even more weight drop, and more of it up-front.

Once you get those basics knocked out, then start evaluating the rest. Whatever level of interior stripping you can tolerate on the street, and lighter racing buckets are both reasonable options.

[cavemancan]

Originally Posted by wstar

2) Battery reloc + sub/spare removal. Remove heavy battery from front, remove heavy subwoofer and spare tire from rear, install light battery in trunk area. Net drop is 64lbs, 35 from the front and 29 from the rear. Cost is one Odyssey PC-680 battery, plus mounting and cabling hardware and some labor time. DIY: Battery Relo
3) Lightweight wheels+tires. I went with 18" Forgestars and Continental DW tires. There are lots of options, but it's rotating unsprung mass and it's worth way more than gutting sprung weight on the car.
4) Exhaust system. Look into options like Fast Intentions - good gains and a nice weight drop from the factory system. If you combine it with their long-tube headers it's even more weight drop, and more of it up-front.

Once you get those basics knocked out, then start evaluating the rest. Whatever level of interior stripping you can tolerate on the street, and lighter racing buckets are both reasonable options.

Basically what I was thinking minus the windshield washer hardware. I'd rather not get rid of that yet.

Prob what I will do is not relocate the battery but I may get the Odyssey and place it in the stock location. I'll remove the spare before every race but leave it mounted as a precaution. I used to have the Forgestars on the Rx8...fantastic rim which will net us about 3 to 4 lbs of weight savings each wheel but I am not sure I want forgestars on the Z...I need to see it in person (Still looking). As far as exhaust I am not sure the savings in weight in this location is worth it or not due to the difference in HP with lets say the Stillen exhaust. Not to mention I don't want to make the weight distribution any worse lol but the headers are a definate.

Has anyone tried out a lighter flywheel?

[theDreamer]

Caveman, almost all top quality exhausts will net the same HP gains (especially after a tune). The only thing after that is weight & sound really or if you have future plans and are building for that.
A lot of people have a lightweight flywheel, I do not currently but I am sure others can chime in on good/bad.

[cavemancan]

Originally Posted by theDreamer

Caveman, almost all top quality exhausts will net the same HP gains (especially after a tune). The only thing after that is weight & sound really or if you have future plans and are building for that.
A lot of people have a lightweight flywheel, I do not currently but I am sure others can chime in on good/bad.

I am not saying you are incorrect but only repeating what I have seen thus far. Typically there is a difference of 6 hp as compared to the Stillen. If I were to guess the average HP is about 12 wHP. Ironically I think peak HP may not be what I should be looking at anyway. I may decide on the exhaust based on torque and weight of the total system.

[theDreamer]

Originally Posted by cavemancan

I am not saying you are incorrect but only repeating what I have seen thus far. Typically there is a difference of 6 hp as compared to the Stillen. If I were to guess the average HP is about 12 wHP. Ironically I think peak HP may not be what I should be looking at anyway. I may decide on the exhaust based on torque and weight of the total system.

Remember though, dyno numbers can be made to look however they want for a company. Not saying anything about any company, but I would focus on weight, quality, overall curve of power.

[cavemancan]

Originally Posted by theDreamer

Remember though, dyno numbers can be made to look however they want for a company. Not saying anything about any company, but I would focus on weight, quality, overall curve of power.

Agreed...I am thinking about the Ark exhaust but not sure what the weight of the system is and truth be told I am less concerned with the weight of the ehaust itself (since its in the back of the car) and more concerned with the header weight. Balance is my goal not overall weight savings.

[KaienZ34]

I had the stillen and now have the FI exhaust. The FI weighs far less and with way less bends/restrictions it does flow more freely.

[wstar]

^ What he said. I also did Stillen then FI. The FI is built better, fits better, obviously has a smoother flowing shape, and weighs less than stock (Stillen weighs more). None of the decent exhausts on this car differ appreciably in performance, and if anything FI's catback is one of the best-performing ones out there. However, Dynos will be Dynos, and all the gains are within the margin of error as far as internet comparisons go.

[kcquinn49]

Lots of money, but how about the Litespeed titanium exhaust? At $3K it is advertised at 14 pounds, and also +14 hp over the nismo exhaust. I never knew if that meant it was only tested on a nismo, or on a coupe with first the nismo exhaust and then the Litespeed exhaust.

[kcquinn49]

Question for WSTAR: How much does the plastic engine cover weigh? Does it serve any purpose other than cosmetic?