Weight Reduction

victorofhavoc

If you do end up cutting out I'm really curious what the difference is! I'm in the process of making a carbon splitter right now, so more carbon work might be in my future... I know I'm going to try my own headlight panels, but I may try a hood or door, too eventually.

I've known quite a few mechanics who recommend pulling the interior reinforcement once you have a full cage. In fact, pulling the a pillar supports gives more room for the cage and those pillars are actually pretty heavy on most cars.

If you look at your door cage, I bet it could take at least twice the abuse the little bent sheet metal in the factory door could.

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Had a 2010 WRX- boy was it quick in a straight line, got a 2014 Z- man is she grippy in the corners-- then left the Z and later got a GTI, now back in an 09 racecar Z!

03threefiftyz

I'm not sure he is still actively making 350/370z parts, but...
https://www.exact-performance.com/exact-performance

He has his hands full being the official McLaren Body Repair guy for the Chicago area. Though that should give you some level of indication to the quality of his carbon work.

Mn23

Hey guys, I know stripping the interior pieces (all side and rear panels and mats) reduce mostly the weight in the rear only, but will corner balance after fixes the weight distribution problem? I want to lighten the track car but at the same time keeping front dash panels. Any thoughts?

victorofhavoc

Corner balancing only really effects tree car left to right. Front to rear balance change with ride height is impractical.

Any less weight is good weight. There are other things to balance the front to rear rotation besides just weight. Aero sure helps, but you can also go softer on rear or remove rear bar, etc. Many factors to consider.

__________________
Had a 2010 WRX- boy was it quick in a straight line, got a 2014 Z- man is she grippy in the corners-- then left the Z and later got a GTI, now back in an 09 racecar Z!

Wigjiggy

I had to remove the dash and carve it up in order to fit around the new cage. What surprised me is how light it actually is. Just a big piece of covered foam, so I decided to keep it and look for weight reduction elsewhere. Once you’re behind it, you can easily remove all of the HVAC ducting to save some weight (assuming you’ve already deleted the HVAC systems).

Note on removing the dash: there is a plastic bracket in the front near the windshield that I could not figure out how to remove, and was the only thing hanging up the removal, so I did what any good grassroots driver would do, and just jerked it out, breaking the bracket. Oh well - don’t need it anyway.

Mn23

Thanks guys, I'm just planning to remove all the interiors but leave the front dash as is, like Ryan@Forged mentioned in an old post and got about 300lbs including seats. So I guess adding back my racing seats should still net me around 200lbs saving? Is this worth it? I was surprise to see this much savings just from removing basic interior pieces. I want to keep the AC and HVAC for now...

victorofhavoc

A 330hp car weighing 3000lbs is the same power to weight as a 363hp car that weighs 3300. Beyond that the lighter car has to be going faster to generate the same kind of forces on the tire at the limit. You get a car that's faster through corners and faster down the straight; any weight down is worth it.

__________________
Had a 2010 WRX- boy was it quick in a straight line, got a 2014 Z- man is she grippy in the corners-- then left the Z and later got a GTI, now back in an 09 racecar Z!

Mn23

Is there really 200 lbs savings just by removing all basic interiors (all minus front dash) like Ryan@forged posted? Have been reading up on youtube and ppl get around 50lbs for the rear panels, will the carpets, side door panels and roof liners all add up a lot more?

Wigjiggy

Just removed my windshield and rear hatch glass, and installed 1/4 inch poly from Shields Windshields as replacement. 2013 370Z. Here are weight results

OEM windshield 23.8 lbs
Poly windshield 16.0 lbs
7.8 lb savings

OEM rear hatch 17.8 lbs
Poly rear hatch 10.4 lbs
7.4 lb savings

Full disclosure on weighing technique: I weighed myself on a good bathroom scale, then weighed again holding the glass and subtracted to get the difference. Not too scientific, but should be close enough.

justin_boy

wow thanks for the info

Wigjiggy

A few more weights from my 2013 370Z:

OEM Hood (with trackspeck vent) 28.5lbs
HVAC blower fan (behind glovebox) 5.4lbs
Blower unit / heater core (behind radio/HVAC controls) 12.6lbs
Dash and driver-facing bezel 10.2lbs