Shaving Weight...
05-22-2008, 08:18 AM
#1
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Shaving Weight...
What can possibly be removed from a miata that would cut down on weight? My car weights 2350lbs after I removed the a/c and the cat. What else can I do to lighten it up?
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05-22-2008, 08:26 AM
#3
Spare tire/ jack. What are those wheels? They look heavy.
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05-22-2008, 09:42 AM
#4
my car is 2060 and I still have a rollbar. I removed my AC, PS, interior trim, and carpet. I also replaced both seats with lighter ones, lighter steering wheel, cut dash some, no speakers and radio. The list goes on and on. I also did lighter wheels. Lightweight batteries can also shed weight
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05-22-2008, 10:01 AM
#5
Get rid of the big ticket items to start (Seats/Airbag/steering wheel/etc)... then if your really picky you can start cutting supports in the trunk and whatnot. From your small *** avatar... I see wheels, and dual exhaust.. Weight.
(PS - Where in schuykill? I'm from Reading)
(PS - Where in schuykill? I'm from Reading)
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05-22-2008, 09:45 PM
#8
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Remember that you get more bang for your buck by removing unsprung weight. If you can remove 1 pound from each corner that is like removing 40 pounds of regular weight.
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05-23-2008, 04:47 AM
#13
I removed it last week with all the frame and it weights 40lbs. The better way to cut some weight is to cut your fat if you have too much. For me there is nothing to cut as I weight only 118 lbs 
But as other said lighter seat (stock ones are damn heavy, I'm pretty sure it's near 35-40 lbs) a/c, p/s.
As for the jack and spare tire, it's sure pretty heavy but i make 90% of my driving on a highway and I have not portable phone so it's not a pretty good idea to remove them...
But as other said lighter seat (stock ones are damn heavy, I'm pretty sure it's near 35-40 lbs) a/c, p/s.As for the jack and spare tire, it's sure pretty heavy but i make 90% of my driving on a highway and I have not portable phone so it's not a pretty good idea to remove them...
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05-23-2008, 01:49 PM
#14
Lot's of ways to remove weight as seen at the lighweightmiata site. The big question is how comfortable you want to keep it. Is it a daily driver? Track car?
If you still want some comfort get rid of the spare and jack, delete the power steering, delete Cruise control if you have it, lighter seats and definetely get some lighter wheels! If it's a track car then start looking at gutting sound deadening material, scaping off undercoating, etc. Losing that stuff makes it pretty loud and uncomfortable to drive on the road though.
If you still want some comfort get rid of the spare and jack, delete the power steering, delete Cruise control if you have it, lighter seats and definetely get some lighter wheels! If it's a track car then start looking at gutting sound deadening material, scaping off undercoating, etc. Losing that stuff makes it pretty loud and uncomfortable to drive on the road though.
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05-23-2008, 02:03 PM
#16
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I knew i wasnt crazy. Although, looking at the source, who knows?
http://hondaswap.com/general-tech-ar...art-2-a-29058/
The use of light-weight alloys in wheels reduces rotational mass. This means that less energy will be required to accelerate the wheel. Given that each pound of rotational mass lost provides an equivalent performance gain as a 10 pound reduction in vehicle weight, the benefits of light alloy wheels on vehicle performance cannot be overlooked.
For example:
A reduction in the weight of the rim/tire assembly of 5lbs x 4 (all around the car) is equivalent to a 200lb weight reduction in vehicle weight (thats worth 0.200 in the 1/4 mile)
http://hondaswap.com/general-tech-ar...art-2-a-29058/
The use of light-weight alloys in wheels reduces rotational mass. This means that less energy will be required to accelerate the wheel. Given that each pound of rotational mass lost provides an equivalent performance gain as a 10 pound reduction in vehicle weight, the benefits of light alloy wheels on vehicle performance cannot be overlooked.
For example:
A reduction in the weight of the rim/tire assembly of 5lbs x 4 (all around the car) is equivalent to a 200lb weight reduction in vehicle weight (thats worth 0.200 in the 1/4 mile)
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05-23-2008, 03:05 PM
#17
I have heard the 1LB turning mass = 10 LB dead weight for years. Back in the day, when I worked on a few late model stock cars, we would do every thing we could to reduce turning weight in the engine, and drive line. We would even gut the transmission, leaving only 3rd 4th and reverse gears.
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05-23-2008, 03:26 PM
#19
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I dont want to go into who removing weight at the corners or removing unsprung weight helps/hurts ride quality (yes, hurts due to damping effects) but this should be a good article.
http://www.mazda6tech.com/index.php?...d=16&Itemid=50
http://www.mazda6tech.com/index.php?...d=16&Itemid=50
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05-23-2008, 08:27 PM
#20
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An easy way to prove/disprove the above statement is to swap the lighter wheels onto the car and then throw 200lbs in the passenger seat and compare 1/4 mile times.
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