[Unknown User]

Lots of messages here about HP and how to get more. Has anyone out there thought to go the other route to making their Z faster by lightening it? With the early GTI and Scirocco, losing about 7lbs is akin to gainig 1hp. How light can you make a street 280Z?

As I strip my Z, I'm thinking lots of the stuff I'm taking off will not be re installed. Bumpers, various trim pieces, straps, the sh*t on the floors that looks like tar in pre-cut pieces, speakers, power antenna, stereo and amp. And the nuts and bolt and washers etc.

That should maybe take 150lbs off the car, what else should I be looking at? The spare drivers door that I have is %[email protected][email protected] heavy! Is the door off a 240Z any lighter? Hood? Hatch?

If someone has gone this route before, I'd be interested to hear how much weight you've lost off your Z. Thanks!

 

[Doug Dawson]

> Lots of messages here about HP and how to
> get more. Has anyone out there thought to go
> the other route to making their Z faster by
> lightening it?

I have, on my '83...

> With the early GTI and
> Scirocco, losing about 7lbs is akin to
> gainig 1hp. How light can you make a street
> 280Z?

... which weighs around 2800lb, roughly the same as the 280Z, according to the published specs.

> As I strip my Z, I'm thinking lots of the
> stuff I'm taking off will not be re
> installed. Bumpers, various trim pieces,
> straps, the sh*t on the floors that looks
> like tar in pre-cut pieces, speakers, power
> antenna, stereo and amp. And the nuts and
> bolt and washers etc.

> That should maybe take 150lbs off the car,
> what else should I be looking at? The spare
> drivers door that I have is %[email protected][email protected] heavy!
> Is the door off a 240Z any lighter? Hood?
> Hatch?

> If someone has gone this route before, I'd
> be interested to hear how much weight you've
> lost off your Z. Thanks!

The proper way to lighten the car is to completely strip it down to the bare unibody, take everything off, and then only put back what is absolutely needed. You can, I'm sure, lose an amazing amount of weight this way. ( This includes replacing any components that you _do_ need, with lighter equivalents, such as fiberglass, aluminum, composites, etc. )

I think I once calculated that with just removing raw weight off the car, without totally stripping it, I might save around 200 pounds. Then I stopped to think, hey, wouldn't it be much more FUN, and the car much more liveable, if I just concentrated my attention on increasing the power of the motor. This is Central Texas, and I need the air conditioning, and d*mn anyone who says otherwise ( just to take an isolated example. ) An increase of 10 percent in power would more than compensate for losing less than 10 percent of the weight of the vehicle ( that would in the process make my life miserable for most of the year. )

I suggest you concentrate on increasing the power of your car, and only once you've found some weight that reduces your effectiveness _in_competition_, start pulling stuff off here and there.

Doug Dawson
[email protected]

Just say, In the meantime lets go on a diet _ourselves_, heh heh. Etc.

 

[Lestat]

> I have, on my '83...

> ... which weighs around 2800lb, roughly the
> same as the 280Z, according to the published
> specs.

> The proper way to lighten the car is to
> completely strip it down to the bare
> unibody, take everything off, and then only
> put back what is absolutely needed. You can,
> I'm sure, lose an amazing amount of weight
> this way. ( This includes replacing any
> components that you _do_ need, with lighter
> equivalents, such as fiberglass, aluminum,
> composites, etc. )

> I think I once calculated that with just
> removing raw weight off the car, without
> totally stripping it, I might save around
> 200 pounds. Then I stopped to think, hey,
> wouldn't it be much more FUN, and the car
> much more liveable, if I just concentrated
> my attention on increasing the power of the
> motor. This is Central Texas, and I need the
> air conditioning, and d*mn anyone who says
> otherwise ( just to take an isolated
> example. ) An increase of 10 percent in
> power would more than compensate for losing
> less than 10 percent of the weight of the
> vehicle ( that would in the process make my
> life miserable for most of the year. )

> I suggest you concentrate on increasing the
> power of your car, and only once you've
> found some weight that reduces your
> effectiveness _in_competition_, start
> pulling stuff off here and there.

> Doug Dawson
> [email protected]

> Just say, In the meantime lets go on a diet
> _ourselves_, heh heh. Etc.

I know texas It hot and sticky there u need air there I know I use to live out side of houton. Spring tx and the heat was ouches and sticky

 

[ed]

You could always just stick with the basic weight reduction. hood, fenders, rear hatch. just replacing the rear hatch with one of fiberglass is what? 60 lbs. right there. then there's that heavy @ss hood =) then make everything even better by increasing the engines power. sqeeze if you have to =) you could also try some light weight aluminum or alloy rims. as for the spare... well, if its a daily driver i wouldnt recommend leaving that at home. in fact theres alot of light weight aftermarket parts that you could replace the originals with... but stipping down the car to the bare frame and only putting back what you absalutely must does sound like the best suggestion yet..