cr0fty

As you might have guessed from elsewhere in these forums, I have gone down the weight removal route due to what seems an awful lack of reliable info on power gains from aftermarket components.

I'm proposing to start a list of parts you can remove alongwith weights (I weigh them as I remove them). I will list a equivalent bhp gain (vs a 260bhp car with 1495kg kerb weight) - this is the bhp of a standard car with equivalent power to weight ratio. Hope this helps anyone looking to do some weight reduction.

Back Cushions - 4.55kg - 0.8bhp gain
Back Rests - 9.1kg - 1.6bhp gain
Spare Wheel - 9.1kg - 1.6bhp gain

This 1st stage was the result of 10 minutes work on the car. All of this is fully reversible should I ever need to sell it.

Thoughts appreciated!

TI7OJO

You would definately loose a chunk of weight if you swapped to 2 front seats with light weight buckets. Standard alloys are fairly heavy too. The cd player, speakers and electric windows would save weight if removed and Im sure you could save weight on swapping the exhaust system to a nice straight through jobbie.

TI7OJO

Oh yeah an ecutek remap weighs nothing at all and would give you a great improvement.

Varboy

aircon weighs a comparitive tonne (almost 40kg AFAIK)

why not reduce some of the unsprung weight ie wheels, disks, calipers control arms etc this will be expensive but will get you on your way

whilst I totally agree with your sentiments, I don't honestly think you will save a huge amount of weight by shedding things like interior etc and TBH who wants a car with nothing but a shell and a driver's seat. You would probably benefit far more by increasing power by the tried and tested routes.

Your weight saving initiative will then be the icing on the cake

ClintUK

After market headers weigh much less than OEM cast iron ones.

Oh and with a good after market exhaust as TI70JO said, not only would you be saving weight off the cat (you need to keep 1 for MOT) you'd also gain 35 - 40bhp.

"an awful lack of reliable info on power gains from aftermarket components" - I'm not having a go, but seriously, have you looked on this Scoobynet thing ?

How much power do you want ?
or
How much money do you have ?

Roughly speaking:-
Exhaust including manifolds and up pipe
Turbo
Intercooler (depending on turbo choice)
Remap
£2500ish
350bhp

Less expensive if you DIY and eBay and Scoobynet sales etc...

cr0fty

This is just the first weight saving stuff. I never use the back seats anyway, but at present I still use it as a road car so would miss the CD player.

I will be doing front seats tomorrow - I'm told they weigh 26kg each???
Plan is to replace them with lightweight racing seats.

Reference lack of information on upgrades, I'm just not convinced that many dealers know enough technical information about what they sell. Much information on here conflicts - i.e. will I see any power difference installing an aftermarket air filter in place of my sti one?

I think I will go down the weight reduction route first, then add power mods as needed!

Cash at the moment is in the region of £1000 to spend on stuff. As I said, would prefer to do the weight reduction first - my aim is to rally this car in a couple of years time, and its far too heavy at the moment!