Power to weight ratio

pyrrhus17 · 01-12-2012, 07:31 AM

So I was wonder if there were some easy mods (light weight battery ) that we as Z owners could use to improve our power to weight ratio .I have a DD myself and I was just wondering if it would be posssible to have a livable/drivable car and shave weight down to say 3000LBs or less could it be done ?

Masa · 01-12-2012, 08:24 AM

First thing that comes to mind is removing spare tire and replacing the factory seats for lighter ones. Hood, doors, and hatch are already aluminum so switching to CF would show little to no difference.

UNKNOWN_370 · 01-12-2012, 08:26 AM

3100 should be doable without ripping out the interior or possibly stripping the car down to its chassis to find things to pull off to reduce weight.
Basically removing the spare, silicone hoses, plastic glass, lightweight brake rotors, intake, exhaust, hfc,removing radio, carbon fiber hood, trunk and fenders, removing engine covers, rugs, and lightweight racing seats all should drop you down close to 200lbs. Adding things like better brake lines, pads, oil cooler, power steering cooler will add some weight back though. So maybe 170ish lbs?

senseiturtle · 01-12-2012, 08:58 AM

There's easy, then there's effective. Even dropping weight has a "cost", whether it's convenience or monetary. First off - Do you plan to drive the car everyday? Do you want it completely stripped out? Want to keep Air conditioning, radio, passenger seat ?

After you've established your goals, here we go: First, just take as much crap as possible out of your car. Second, prioritize UN-SPRUNG weight.

#1 in terms of bang-for-buck will likely be wheels. The sport wheels aren't terrible, but dropping to the smallest and lightest wheel, with the lightest (and stickiest) tire will make a huge difference. The michelin pilot Super Sport is not only one of the best all-round tires on the road, it's substantially lighter than one might expect. The "effect" of a single pound of UN-SPRUNG weight loss is arbitrarily considered to be 5-6 lbs of SPRUNG weight.

After that, go with the midset that 100lbs is worth about 0.1-0.2 seconds in a quarter mile. Determine what you can sacrifice, and go from there.

CBRich · 01-12-2012, 10:00 AM

Yank that heavy flywheel outta there while you're at. BIG bang for the buck.

Mt Tam I am · 01-12-2012, 10:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by senseiturtle

There's easy, then there's effective. Even dropping weight has a "cost", whether it's convenience or monetary. First off - Do you plan to drive the car everyday? Do you want it completely stripped out? Want to keep Air conditioning, radio, passenger seat ?

After you've established your goals, here we go: First, just take as much crap as possible out of your car. Second, prioritize UN-SPRUNG weight.

#1 in terms of bang-for-buck will likely be wheels. The sport wheels aren't terrible, but dropping to the smallest and lightest wheel, with the lightest (and stickiest) tire will make a huge difference. The michelin pilot Super Sport is not only one of the best all-round tires on the road, it's substantially lighter than one might expect. The "effect" of a single pound of UN-SPRUNG weight loss is arbitrarily considered to be 5-6 lbs of SPRUNG weight.

After that, go with the midset that 100lbs is worth about 0.1-0.2 seconds in a quarter mile. Determine what you can sacrifice, and go from there.

Unbelievably good tires. I can't say enough about them.

cossie1600 · 01-12-2012, 10:24 AM

Buy a turbo kit amd slicks, way cheAper

wstar · 01-12-2012, 11:36 AM

The best bang-for-the-buck weight mod is definitely light wheels/tires, and there's no real "tradeoff" there, it's all win. Going right along with that would be lightweight (2pc) brake rotors, but they're a little pricey for what you get, and probably mostly only worth it on the front pair. Light seats are obvious. Pricey, but also hold you in better.

A good cheap one for dropping front weight is to ditch the whole windshield-washer-sprayer system. Or you could just empty out the tank completely dry to get most of the same benefit without permanently removing anything.

You can drop a pretty decent chunk of static weight from the car by doing the combo of emptying out the trunk (subwoofer, spare, foam, plastics, etc), removing the big heavy battery up front, and relocating to a smaller battery like the PC680 mounted in the newly-empty trunk area. I list this as one big combo-upgrade, because if you just empty out the trunk and don't do the battery work as well, you're shifting the car's weight balance in the "bad" direction.

If you do both, the weight balance is basically unaffected (if anything, it goes barely in the "good" direction), and you get a significant net weight drop. Going off an estimate from one of my own old posts, you'd get just under 70lbs of weight drop from this, with a slight bias towards front weight drop.

(EDIT: the old numbers I came up with were 35 from the front and 29 from the rear, but that didn't include plastics/foam/etc from the trunk, just the big ticket items: spare, subwoofer, and battery swap)

kenchan · 01-12-2012, 11:48 AM

definely remove the engine. that thing is heavy.

mults · 01-12-2012, 12:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pyrrhus17

So I was wonder if there were some easy mods (light weight battery ) that we as Z owners could use to improve our power to weight ratio .I have a DD myself and I was just wondering if it would be posssible to have a livable/drivable car and shave weight down to say 3000LBs or less could it be done ?

How much do you weigh?

Just kidding. It may be easier to add more HP to get the same P/W ratio.

NickBaragona · 01-12-2012, 12:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wstar

The best bang-for-the-buck weight mod is definitely light wheels/tires, and there's no real "tradeoff" there, it's all win. Going right along with that would be lightweight (2pc) brake rotors, but they're a little pricey for what you get, and probably mostly only worth it on the front pair. Light seats are obvious. Pricey, but also hold you in better.

A good cheap one for dropping front weight is to ditch the whole windshield-washer-sprayer system. Or you could just empty out the tank completely dry to get most of the same benefit without permanently removing anything.

You can drop a pretty decent chunk of static weight from the car by doing the combo of emptying out the trunk (subwoofer, spare, foam, plastics, etc), removing the big heavy battery up front, and relocating to a smaller battery like the PC680 mounted in the newly-empty trunk area. I list this as one big combo-upgrade, because if you just empty out the trunk and don't do the battery work as well, you're shifting the car's weight balance in the "bad" direction.

If you do both, the weight balance is basically unaffected (if anything, it goes barely in the "good" direction), and you get a significant net weight drop. Going off an estimate from one of my own old posts, you'd get just under 70lbs of weight drop from this, with a slight bias towards front weight drop.

(EDIT: the old numbers I came up with were 35 from the front and 29 from the rear, but that didn't include plastics/foam/etc from the trunk, just the big ticket items: spare, subwoofer, and battery swap)

What if I've installed a 10" zenclosure with a sub and an amp. Will that make it ok to remove the spare, tools, and Bose sub?

ChipsWithDips · 01-12-2012, 12:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wstar

The best bang-for-the-buck weight mod is definitely light wheels/tires, and there's no real "tradeoff" there, it's all win. Going right along with that would be lightweight (2pc) brake rotors, but they're a little pricey for what you get, and probably mostly only worth it on the front pair. Light seats are obvious. Pricey, but also hold you in better.

A good cheap one for dropping front weight is to ditch the whole windshield-washer-sprayer system. Or you could just empty out the tank completely dry to get most of the same benefit without permanently removing anything.

You can drop a pretty decent chunk of static weight from the car by doing the combo of emptying out the trunk (subwoofer, spare, foam, plastics, etc), removing the big heavy battery up front, and relocating to a smaller battery like the PC680 mounted in the newly-empty trunk area. I list this as one big combo-upgrade, because if you just empty out the trunk and don't do the battery work as well, you're shifting the car's weight balance in the "bad" direction.

If you do both, the weight balance is basically unaffected (if anything, it goes barely in the "good" direction), and you get a significant net weight drop. Going off an estimate from one of my own old posts, you'd get just under 70lbs of weight drop from this, with a slight bias towards front weight drop.

(EDIT: the old numbers I came up with were 35 from the front and 29 from the rear, but that didn't include plastics/foam/etc from the trunk, just the big ticket items: spare, subwoofer, and battery swap)

Lightweight wheels and tires are nice, but seriously "best bang for the buck" weight reduction? What are you smoking? How much did you pay for all 4 wheels and tires?

Best bang for the buck is removing uneccesary **** from the trunk etc. That's FREE.

After that pretty sure best bang for buck is a lightweight battery. Then maybe flywheel(~16lbs less rotational mass), lightweight underdrive pulleys(not much static weight saving, but losing rotational mass is nice).
Keep in mind the flywheel will make the car a bit less streetable, more difficult to smoothly go from a stop. Depends how tolerant you are of things like that.

If you get other power adding mods, keep in mind that some of these options often can save a bit of weight too, win/win situation.
Deleting cats by switching to longtubes or test pipes saves quite a bit of weight. I just got my longtubes installed, and when I get around to getting a catback, I plan on probably getting a single exit exhaust, to save a few extra pounds.

All the CF hoods I have seen actually WEIGH MORE THAN STOCK. Don't get that garbage with weight reduction in mind.

Anyways there's a whole weight reduction thread over here

theDreamer · 01-12-2012, 12:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChipsWithDips

Lightweight wheels and tires are nice, but seriously "best bang for the buck" weight reduction? What are you smoking? How much did you pay for all 4 wheels and tires?

Best bang for the buck is removing uneccesary **** from the trunk etc. That's FREE.

After that pretty sure best bang for buck is a lightweight battery. Then maybe flywheel(~16lbs less rotational mass), lightweight underdrive pulleys(not much static weight saving, but losing rotational mass is nice).
Keep in mind the flywheel will make the car a bit less streetable, more difficult to smoothly go from a stop. Depends how tolerant you are of things like that.

If you get other power adding mods, keep in mind that some of these options often can save a bit of weight too, win/win situation.
Deleting cats by switching to longtubes or test pipes saves quite a bit of weight. I just got my longtubes installed, and when I get around to getting a catback, I plan on probably getting a single exit exhaust, to save a few extra pounds.

All the CF hoods I have seen actually WEIGH MORE THAN STOCK. Don't get that garbage with weight reduction in mind.

Anyways there's a whole weight reduction thread over here

Wheel/tire are best bang for the buck (remember you do not have to spend 4k on Volk/Advan to get less weight), but also wheel/tire combo do more than just weight. Balance, better grip, etc.

wstar · 01-12-2012, 01:33 PM

The wheels/tires are best bang for the buck because they're *rotating*, *unsprung* weight (and as above, better handling). They count for a lot more than dropping static weight elsewhere on the car. And like Dreamer said, you can get them cheap. I spent about $1,200 on a set of cheap light Forgestar rims in 18x10 + 18x11 (these days, I wish I had gone 18x10 square though), and ~$1,000 flat on a nice set of Conti DW to match.

Stripping the trunk is free, but like I said, it's actually bad for the car unless you shift some weight to the rear to compensate with the battery job. The trunk+battery work is still cheaper than wheels+tires, and might be comparable if you leave out grip/handling updates, but it's also not an all-win proposition. Some people just aren't going to be happy with no subwoofer and a bunch of extra noise and/or ugliness and/or unsupported trunk floor from the stripped rear. That and it's a pretty labor-intensive job.

dAvenue · 01-12-2012, 01:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mt Tam I am

Unbelievably good tires. I can't say enough about them.

Why is it that every Porsche owner hates the Michelin PS2? I shouldn't say "every" because I was sifting through reviews on TireRack for this particular tire. It received a lot of bad reviews and mostly from Porsche owners.

01-12-2012, 07:31 AM	#1 (permalink)
pyrrhus17 Base Member Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: colorado Posts: 90 Drives: xterra Rep Power: 14	Power to weight ratio So I was wonder if there were some easy mods (light weight battery ) that we as Z owners could use to improve our power to weight ratio .I have a DD myself and I was just wondering if it would be posssible to have a livable/drivable car and shave weight down to say 3000LBs or less could it be done ?

01-12-2012, 08:24 AM	#2 (permalink)
Masa A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Annapolis, MD Posts: 2,237 Drives: Family Cars Rep Power: 21	First thing that comes to mind is removing spare tire and replacing the factory seats for lighter ones. Hood, doors, and hatch are already aluminum so switching to CF would show little to no difference. __________________ BMW 340i Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk

01-12-2012, 11:36 AM	#8 (permalink)
wstar A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Houston, TX Posts: 4,024 Drives: too slow Rep Power: 3595	The best bang-for-the-buck weight mod is definitely light wheels/tires, and there's no real "tradeoff" there, it's all win. Going right along with that would be lightweight (2pc) brake rotors, but they're a little pricey for what you get, and probably mostly only worth it on the front pair. Light seats are obvious. Pricey, but also hold you in better. A good cheap one for dropping front weight is to ditch the whole windshield-washer-sprayer system. Or you could just empty out the tank completely dry to get most of the same benefit without permanently removing anything. You can drop a pretty decent chunk of static weight from the car by doing the combo of emptying out the trunk (subwoofer, spare, foam, plastics, etc), removing the big heavy battery up front, and relocating to a smaller battery like the PC680 mounted in the newly-empty trunk area. I list this as one big combo-upgrade, because if you just empty out the trunk and don't do the battery work as well, you're shifting the car's weight balance in the "bad" direction. If you do both, the weight balance is basically unaffected (if anything, it goes barely in the "good" direction), and you get a significant net weight drop. Going off an estimate from one of my own old posts, you'd get just under 70lbs of weight drop from this, with a slight bias towards front weight drop. (EDIT: the old numbers I came up with were 35 from the front and 29 from the rear, but that didn't include plastics/foam/etc from the trunk, just the big ticket items: spare, subwoofer, and battery swap) __________________ 7AT Track Car! Journal thread / Car setup details Last edited by wstar; 01-12-2012 at 11:40 AM.

01-12-2012, 01:33 PM	#14 (permalink)
wstar A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Houston, TX Posts: 4,024 Drives: too slow Rep Power: 3595	The wheels/tires are best bang for the buck because they're rotating, unsprung weight (and as above, better handling). They count for a lot more than dropping static weight elsewhere on the car. And like Dreamer said, you can get them cheap. I spent about $1,200 on a set of cheap light Forgestar rims in 18x10 + 18x11 (these days, I wish I had gone 18x10 square though), and ~$1,000 flat on a nice set of Conti DW to match. Stripping the trunk is free, but like I said, it's actually bad for the car unless you shift some weight to the rear to compensate with the battery job. The trunk+battery work is still cheaper than wheels+tires, and might be comparable if you leave out grip/handling updates, but it's also not an all-win proposition. Some people just aren't going to be happy with no subwoofer and a bunch of extra noise and/or ugliness and/or unsupported trunk floor from the stripped rear. That and it's a pretty labor-intensive job. __________________ 7AT Track Car! Journal thread / Car setup details Last edited by wstar; 01-12-2012 at 01:39 PM.

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01-12-2012, 08:26 AM	#3 (permalink)
UNKNOWN_370 A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: ny'r livn in tx Posts: 8,687 Drives: well over 130m.p.h. Rep Power: 14858	3100 should be doable without ripping out the interior or possibly stripping the car down to its chassis to find things to pull off to reduce weight. Basically removing the spare, silicone hoses, plastic glass, lightweight brake rotors, intake, exhaust, hfc,removing radio, carbon fiber hood, trunk and fenders, removing engine covers, rugs, and lightweight racing seats all should drop you down close to 200lbs. Adding things like better brake lines, pads, oil cooler, power steering cooler will add some weight back though. So maybe 170ish lbs?

01-12-2012, 08:58 AM	#4 (permalink)
senseiturtle Base Member Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: South Carolina Posts: 22 Drives: 2011 370Z T/S Rep Power: 14	There's easy, then there's effective. Even dropping weight has a "cost", whether it's convenience or monetary. First off - Do you plan to drive the car everyday? Do you want it completely stripped out? Want to keep Air conditioning, radio, passenger seat ? After you've established your goals, here we go: First, just take as much crap as possible out of your car. Second, prioritize UN-SPRUNG weight. #1 in terms of bang-for-buck will likely be wheels. The sport wheels aren't terrible, but dropping to the smallest and lightest wheel, with the lightest (and stickiest) tire will make a huge difference. The michelin pilot Super Sport is not only one of the best all-round tires on the road, it's substantially lighter than one might expect. The "effect" of a single pound of UN-SPRUNG weight loss is arbitrarily considered to be 5-6 lbs of SPRUNG weight. After that, go with the midset that 100lbs is worth about 0.1-0.2 seconds in a quarter mile. Determine what you can sacrifice, and go from there.

01-12-2012, 10:00 AM	#5 (permalink)
CBRich A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: SC Posts: 2,464 Drives: 370Z Rep Power: 545	Yank that heavy flywheel outta there while you're at. BIG bang for the buck.

01-12-2012, 10:24 AM	#7 (permalink)
cossie1600 A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: californee way Posts: 5,380 Drives: 370, Leaf Rep Power: 30	Buy a turbo kit amd slicks, way cheAper

01-12-2012, 11:48 AM	#9 (permalink)
kenchan A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: N/A Posts: 76,801 Drives: N/A Rep Power: 141521	definely remove the engine. that thing is heavy.