Weight reduction

[m1tch]

Hi all,

Just a quick question on this, wondered if anyone had any details regarding weight saving on the car, aware that the facelift models had extra bracing meaning that they are slightly heavier (but the extra bracing makes sense).

Just wondering about the weight saving on certain parts of the car to see where I might be able to shave down some weight on the project car (will be getting the car fairly soon), has anyone weight different parts of the OEM setup to see where the best 'bang for the buck' comes from?

Just thinking about:

Stock seat weight
Tool kit/spare wheel
Plastic trims
Door cards
Stock exhaust system
Weight difference between soft top and hard top (if only running 1)
Etc

Thanks in advance!

[JoeCool]

If you find conan motorsports on Facebook, he's done a huge amount to lighten his car for sprinting. Lexan windows, all interior out, some lighter bits, but mainly stripping. He got his car down to 910Kg raceweight.

The soft top removed at the hinges (leaving the cross bar behind) is 20Kg dead on. About the same as the hard top I believe.

Most wheels are heavier than stock, especially if you go up a size.

The seats are heavy, but you need something like alloy buckets to replace them with. Probably 20+Kg can be saved there, but you may need harnesses and a roll cage to make them safe!

Personally, I find cars become almost uninhabitable at the point you remove trim and carpets. Fine for racing or pure track car, not so hot for using on the road. The rally cars I've been on are horrible places!

[m1tch]

If you find conan motorsports on Facebook, he's done a huge amount to lighten his car for sprinting. Lexan windows, all interior out, some lighter bits, but mainly stripping. He got his car down to 910Kg raceweight.

The soft top removed at the hinges (leaving the cross bar behind) is 20Kg dead on. About the same as the hard top I believe.

Most wheels are heavier than stock, especially if you go up a size.

The seats are heavy, but you need something like alloy buckets to replace them with. Probably 20+Kg can be saved there, but you may need harnesses and a roll cage to make them safe!

Personally, I find cars become almost uninhabitable at the point you remove trim and carpets. Fine for racing or pure track car, not so hot for using on the road. The rally cars I've been on are horrible places!

Thanks for that, the plan for the project car is in stages, initially I will be running the 1ZZ with a few bolt ons and then lightening the car to improve the power to weight, will then be looking to do a 2ZZ conversion and then onto a turbo/supercharger. I know that the car is already very light so I figured that there might not be that many items that would make a huge difference - might look to retain the softtop and add in a roll hoop for safety, will mean I can run a harness bar to safely run harnesses and certain bucket seats. Although the car will be a road car so using the stock seatbelts with a supporting seat would be preferable.

[StuC]

start here   s:D s:D    s:D s:D    s:D s:D    s:D s:D

[m1tch]

start here   s:D s:D    s:D s:D    s:D s:D    s:D s:D

You sir are a gent  s:D s:D  I thought a list like this would exist somewhere!

[wilko59]

swap the battery for a lithium pack and save probably 5 or 6 kgs maybe?

[StuC]

start here   s:D s:D    s:D s:D    s:D s:D    s:D s:D

You sir are a gent  s:D s:D  I thought a list like this would exist somewhere!

No probs, it's what we do here.  s:-D :-D s:-D

[Treboeth]

start here   s:D s:D    s:D s:D    s:D s:D    s:D s:D

You sir are a gent  s:D s:D  I thought a list like this would exist somewhere!

No probs, it's what we do here.  s:-D :-D s:-D

Wonder if you can help with my weight reduction as well?












There`s a fat bloke keeps sitting in my drivers seat   s:cry: :cry: s:cry:

[StuC]

When did this thread start reading like goldilocks?  s;-) ;-) s;-)

[m1tch]

Anyone weighed some of the aftermarket exhaust systems yet? I know that some of the aftermarket setups that are heavier than stock so actually counteract the performance gain from the exhaust 'upgrade' due to the added weight.

[1979scotte]

Anyone weighed some of the aftermarket exhaust systems yet? I know that some of the aftermarket setups that are heavier than stock so actually counteract the performance gain from the exhaust 'upgrade' due to the added weight.

I would be surprised if any of the MR2 exhausts weigh more than stock.
It really is quite heavy.

[M.R.]

Just a quick question on this, wondered if anyone had any details regarding weight saving on the car

I might have some...

Swap lightweight lithium battery. My lithium battery weights ~850g, so about 12kg weight saving there. It was even cheaper than my previous Odyssey PC545 lead battery (5.2kg). Stock muffler and cat weights about 20kg, so you can easily shave 10-15kg from there depending how much you want to spend. Stock PFL wheels vs 15" Enkei RPF1 = ~9kg difference in rotating and unsprung mass. Stock seats are about 15kg each. I´m changing seats to sparco rev:s in near future and I´m expecting about 10-15kg weight saving. But I probably need to add roll bar because seats and harness, so I might end where I started. Hard top weights 22.4kg. Door cards are 2.4kg each. Spare tyre ~11kg. There is literally more than ton of smaller stuff that won´t do much by alone, but all ads up. So far I have removed/replaced about 60kg worth of stuff. It doesn´t even look like stripped, only thing you can see missing is stereo system, antenna and cup holder/ashtray thing.

[frootloops]

like people have said the exhaust is big weight but if you're doing a 2zz swap i would do the exhaust with that so that it doesn't limit you to a swap manifold. the seats are another good saving but that involves compromise as mine are no longer on sliders as doing so makes them sit too high so if more than one person drives the car yo may still need adjustability? celica seats are even heavier yet people seem to love swapping those in for some reason!

[jonty]

Swap lightweight lithium battery. My lithium battery weights ~850g, so about 12kg weight saving there

What battery do you use? Interested to use one on my track car as well as mr2 if you can share some info please!

[m1tch]

Just a quick question on this, wondered if anyone had any details regarding weight saving on the car

I might have some...

Swap lightweight lithium battery. My lithium battery weights ~850g, so about 12kg weight saving there. It was even cheaper than my previous Odyssey PC545 lead battery (5.2kg). Stock muffler and cat weights about 20kg, so you can easily shave 10-15kg from there depending how much you want to spend. Stock PFL wheels vs 15" Enkei RPF1 = ~9kg difference in rotating and unsprung mass. Stock seats are about 15kg each. I´m changing seats to sparco rev:s in near future and I´m expecting about 10-15kg weight saving. But I probably need to add roll bar because seats and harness, so I might end where I started. Hard top weights 22.4kg. Door cards are 2.4kg each. Spare tyre ~11kg. There is literally more than ton of smaller stuff that won´t do much by alone, but all ads up. So far I have removed/replaced about 60kg worth of stuff. It doesn´t even look like stripped, only thing you can see missing is stereo system, antenna and cup holder/ashtray thing.

Thanks for this info, I will look into some of the lighter batteries such as the Braille batteries etc as I can see how this will give a fairly good weight saving, I will also be focusing on the wheels and tyres as I know you can shave weight off there - especially as its unsprung weight. With regards to the exhaust I will be removing the pre-cats if they havn't been removed already and will probably look to swap out the backbox with something lighter but initially retain the rest of the OEM system when I do then swap over to the 2ZZ. Regarding seats etc I will see what they are like, I am avoiding the heavier leather seats anyway but will look into options to lighten the seats but still retain the OEM seatbelt initially as its a road car rather than 100% track.

Do you have any photos of your car? I have seen a few photos of a reduced weight MR2 which retains the dash and door cars but the carpets and sound deadening have been removed - looks fairly stock due to the dash still being in place.

[tommyzoom99]

Hi M1tch

if you have a look at my roadster build thread we have got our car down to 946kg and its not fully stripped out inside. lots has been removed all over the car saving about 50kg

cheers tommy

[m1tch]

Hi M1tch

if you have a look at my roadster build thread we have got our car down to 946kg and its not fully stripped out inside. lots has been removed all over the car saving about 50kg

cheers tommy

Just had a read of the whole thread, you seem to have done exactly what I would have done, will be looking to do a 2ZZ conversion on my project though only due to the power levels I am looking at - exhaust system does look more compact than OEM.

[M.R.]

Swap lightweight lithium battery. My lithium battery weights ~850g, so about 12kg weight saving there

What battery do you use? Interested to use one on my track car as well as mr2 if you can share some info please!

Euroglobe ELTX12 LiFePO4 battery. Only 3.5Ah so it´s not for everyone... But car starts with it and thats enough for me.

[M.R.]

Do you have any photos of your car? I have seen a few photos of a reduced weight MR2 which retains the dash and door cars but the carpets and sound deadening have been removed - looks fairly stock due to the dash still being in place.

Here is pretty recent picture. Right side mirror and door panels are missing in picture. I´m replacing mirrors so door panels are off while I´m trying to make decent mirror adapters. Haven´t got any interior pictures. Incar video is only thing that I have that shows little bit interior.
https://youtu.be/xiihiMScTGU Censorship in video is because there is tablet running racechrono and our trackday rules forbid any racing and lap timing.  s:mrgreen: :mrgreen: s:mrgreen:  



Oh, and got those sparco rev:s today. Apparently listed weight was without padding. Only expecting ~10kg or little less weight savings from seats now...  s:| :| s:|

[jonty]

Thanks for the battery info! Car looks lovely BTW  s:) s:)