Weight Loss- 150Kg Possible?

RoadWarrior

So i've been looking through the weight loss thread, seems that you can drop 65Kg's relatively easily;

Fixed back seats, CBE, HFCs, race battery, remove spare wheel, tools, sub, mats

That lot should cost around £1650 (~$2 - $3 K)

Has anyone managed to drop significantly more weight than this without doing anything too drastic? I'm thinking a 150KG drop would change the 370 from a fast GT into a real sports car.

Rear hatch, anyone know the weight? Plexiglass rear and rear-side windows, savings?

Where is the weight hiding in this car, its a 2-seat sports car yet weighs 1500KGs, there must be plenty to loose somewhere!

Any ideas?

CBRich

Forged Performance: Project 370Z Race Car Build!!

Great thread where Forged Performance starts tossing stuff from the car.

shabarivas

Why are you trying to loose the weight? What are you after? There is almost no reason to loose an extra 75Kg - whats that .1 seconds in a quarter mile?

Unless you are tracking your car hardcore and dont really DD it - its not going to be worth it

spearfish25

When did the 370 become a GT and not a sportscar? And when did being 75kg lighter suddenly make a car a sportscar when it wasn't before?

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ChrisSlicks

75kg makes a difference but only when you're driving at the very limit. Loose 150kg then you will really start to notice it, but you'll have to go fairly hard core like Alan did.

RoadWarrior

I'm used to reasonably light cars, my current car the Mr2 Turbo and whilst the power to weight of the 370z is a fair bit more than the MR2 even as standard it weighs ~120kgs more, this along with the FR rather than MR layout makes the Z feel a lot less nimble through the turns- I really love the look of the Z and i'm really keen on getting one but i'd want to drop some weight to get the most from it.
Just interested to hear what others have done for weight reduction, not flaming on the car!

theDreamer

Not flaming, but the issue is safety regulations are so high now that they are required to add so much extra weight to meet these standards. To really get weight loss you will need to start ripping out all the sound dampening components, A/C, radio, etc.

~Windshield washer fluid container - remove front bumper and it is on the left
~Rear hatch materials
~Lighter seats
~Remove radio/speakers
~New battery & aftermarket (performance and lighter body panels)
If you are not wanting to remove sound dampening materials you can invest into carbon fiber pieces, new wheels, but that is really about it. You mention it does not feel as "nimble," a nice fix to that would be sways & coilover upgrade.

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Spec Jay

im not sure how much lighter you can get for body panels than the stock aluminum pieces.

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Modshack

You don't even own one yet and you're making assumptions that these changes will make it a lot better. You may be surprised that the car needs very little. Stripping it to save a few pounds and sacrifice its day to day livability is a compromise few here would make. Buy it, Own it for awhile, and then make some decisions depending on what direction you want to go with the car..

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RoadWarrior

Quite- some people may take the fact that i'm not currently an owner the wrong way, I always mod my cars in some way to make them more suitable for myself, I work in the automotive design sector and i like trying things out on my own cars. Also i always spend ages researching a car before I buy and reading on the forums to decide if the car i'm looking at fits my needs.

Interesting what you said about loosing the day to day livability of the car by stripping it- this is EXACTLY what i want to avoid.. I'm not building a race car here, in many ways that would be easier, as the compromises are much more clear cut... whilst I always want to reduce the weight of cars I work on I dont want to make too many sacrifices to the day to day useage (even though i would like to go all out ala Forged performance, its just not practical for a street car). Example; my car had a complex active stereo system; double din HU, front speakers, rear speakers, subs, amplifiers and tweeters. Removed all that and replaced it with just a 1-din HU, fronts and tweeters and it sounds miles better and i've probably saved ~10Kg.

This is the kinda thing i'm talking about, areas that can be improved over the standard design where the OEM used something that wasnt optimal or was simply trying to hit a price point with a component.

Rear hatch- i wonder how much that glass weighs, I wonder if a plexiglass replacement could be used, if so you'd save the weight high up in the car.

Seats/Radio/speakers/battery I've covered

Wheels- looking at the quoted weights of the standard wheels, you'd have to downside in an aftermarket wheel to save any weight (and hence tyre weight) even with something like CE28s those sport wheels are damm light!

Coilovers would certainly be on the cards, i'm currently running KW V3s on my car and I was very happy with them (They need a rebuild after 2 years though unfortunately as 2 have developed a knocking) However even with the best coilovers in the world you're still managing the same weight transfer.

Once again I'm not knocking the car, just interested to hear what weight saving things people have done as I know you guys in the US have had the car a fair bit longer than the UK.

theDreamer

Only two people have replaced the glass so far, Travis and Forged Performance, both are doing full tear downs of the Z and replacing the glass. I am not sure if they have done weight to see how much the glass will save.
Forged Performance: Project 370Z Race Car Build!!
TravisJB Journal

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SpawnAeroJohn

Carbon fiber battery (not cheap though)
Polycarbonate windows (I Think that’s the material and that’s how its spelled)
Lighter seats
Lighter rims
Loose your a/c and unneeded luxuries like speakers, center console, etc...
If you are using it for racing might as well lose the power steering if you don’t mind a little arm but I don’t know if many people do that I don't know too much about that.
Aftermarket fans and radiator if they exist
Engine internals
Carbon fiber composite brake pads and rotors if they exist and if you want to spend that much.

Kyle@STILLEN

DO NOT MAKE MODIFICATIONS TO YOUR POWER STEERING IF YOU ARE BUILDING A RACE CAR!!!

There are dozens of reasons why that is a bad idea...

There are many things to consider when removing weight but the priority should be, why do you want to remove weight? Are you planning on converting your Z into a race-car? Or, will it be street only and you just plan on removing some weight so that you have a lighter car?

wishihadnav

"Interesting what you said about loosing the day to day livability of the car by stripping it- this is EXACTLY what i want to avoid.. I'm not building a race car here

Rear hatch- i wonder how much that glass weighs, I wonder if a plexiglass replacement could be used, if so you'd save the weight high up in the car..."


LOLZ??

shabarivas

lol... ok --- also removing the weight out of the back is going to make it seem far less balanced in the turns - the car already has more weight up front...