Droppin some weight
 

Let me start by saying I've seen "lightweightmiata.com".

I've cut my A/C, PS, Trunk setup, I've gone to 14 lb racing seats and some other small things along the way. Heres my question....

Has anyone swiss cheesed their miata for weight reduction? If you have ever seen the Opera race cars, they basically drill the hell out of their cars (namely their prized s2k) for gigantic weight savings.

I removed my ac and spare tire to reduce weight. lightweightmiata.com is a cool site, but there is no way I'll "swiss cheese" my ride to save a few pounds.

From an article on the Opera s2k:

"The S2000 started life as a 2976 pound beast, after Opera's full treatment, weight is cut down to a mear 2167 pounds."

When I decide to get another miata I might swiss cheese mine but not until I have another chasis sitting here. Thats alittle to extreme for a street miata imo. Also I won't scarifice certain creature comforts for weight savings when you can just up the power. :)

I've removed :
-the stereo system and speakers
-charcoal canister
-pass seat, waiting for lightweight drivers side.
-sound deading on rear deck
-braces and brackets in the engine bay
-5mph crash bumper
-everything from the trunk (except battery)

But I've added things like a turbo system, 1.8 motor, 1.8 driveshaft and axles, rx7 diff...Man shes gonna be heavy again..

I got a chance to drive a pretty darn lightweight miata (stripped the interior/AC/PS/etc...AND cut out the bottom of the trunk, removed bumper supports, cut out door supports). Basically, they stripped all non-essential parts as this was going to be a track car. The guy never got around to weighing it, and later rolled the car (yes, he had a rollbar and walked away from the accident) so we'll never know the exact weight, BUT...

I will say that the handling, feel, and acceleration NA was nothing short of amazing. I wasn't there, but reportedly, he kept up normally aspirated 1.8L vs. a Greddy at 6 psi without any problems. If I had a track only car that was trailered, I wouldn't hesitate to do the same, but keep in mind his car looked like it was vandalized as the interior was completely stripped of passenger seat, trim, carpet, dash, etc. Pretty easy to add power, pretty hard to add lightness (beyond a certain point that is).

I will replace the body panels with cardboard... thats some weight reduction :)

Removing the heater controls and all heater core and blower motor junk would save some weight too I would imagine.

Actually I've been considering that, since REALLY the only control you are required to have "by law" is a defroster! :)

^^Really? Hmm didn't know that one. But ya I would imagine theres some weight to all that ducting, wiring, the blower, the heater core itself, the coolant lines ect.

I've done nothing buy add weight to my miata.

Rollbar - 50lbs.
Hardtop - 50lbs.
Turbo - 18lbs.
Intercooler - 10lbs.
Piping - 5-10lbs.
Fuel Pump - 5lbs.
My Fat Ass - 190lbs.

Removed, the few nuts and bolts that I couldn't find a home for.

i've gutted mine quite a bit, engine, wiring, dash and a cobra seat, NOTHING else pertaining to the interior or sound deadening

I've added a cage though. I plan on cutting the floor pan and doubling up on the fenders from my other chassis to do what Opera did.

I might pop holes in the spare floor plan and chamfer them upwards. That and some custom made fram rail braces (shipping is killer to the cayman islands).

You mean this car:
http://www.inoneear.com/miata/crash/...lipped_015.jpg

More Pics:
http://www.inoneear.com/miata/crash/index.php

My old roommate's car (that's my garage in the pics). Paul's lightweight car was very, very fast indeed. Just as fast as my 1.6 at 6-8psi (not GReddy, GT28R). Naturally aspirated, his 1.8 was faster in 4th than my 1.6 in 3rd (and I believe he had a 3.90 torsen at the time). And his engine had over 220xxx miles, still running great in another car of his. You can see in the pics how bare the interior is, etc.

Oh, he drove the car home after flipping it, about 15miles.

Cutting out the trunk with a plasma cutter only netted 5lbs though, not worth the time and noxious fumes of burning undercoating.

He is building another gutted Red '94...

^^Don't like the lights much, actually I love the barn doors.

at some point you've taken out all of the comforts and conveniences of the car just to save a few pounds, i suggest just go out and buy a bike. Any newer supersport is going to be around ~400 lbs. and have 100+ horsepower. that 2100 lb s2000 would have to have 500+ hp just to have the save power/weight ratio as a $4000 used 600. And getting the bike on the track is nothing more than wire-tieing certain things, taping up all plastics and glass, and race tires.

Yup, that's the one I am talking about. After driving it, gave me the lightness bug. I don't think I'd go that far, but seriously, driving that thing really changes your mind about gutting your car. I don't know whether I was more impressed by the acceleration or the handling. I only wished that he'd slapped the SC on before he rolled it. It was awesome NA, so I can only imagine how much fun a light car would be with a little extra oomph.

In South Carolina, the only legal thing I could find on the books was that you had to have wipers (which I don't have). I wasn't really worried about being legal while building this car.

BTW, when I got pulled for doing 85 in a 55 (was actually 114MPH but he didn't see me doing that), I thought the cop would say something about the stripped interior, all the computer stuff (g-tech, laptop for link ecu, etc) and start poking his nose around for stuff to give me a ticket on. I think he took it easy on me ($400 ticket).

#1: carbon fiber doors, fenders, everything

#2: Gym membership :D

hmm cf fenders.....1.5lbs/pc compared to 6lbs stock.

Much more weight in the doors than in the fenders so I would start there.

The Gym method saved me about 20 pounds:

http://www.lightweightmiata.com/ultimate/ultimate.htm


BTW, I gained it all back and then some in the following year....

wow 141 thats as much as i weigh. and im 20:ugh2:


i graduated high school in 2004 at 118 and i was 5'7":sad2: