I am currently the owner of a my98 pre-facelift impreza sport (yea under powered i know...but i'm 21...so the turbo aint a viable option quite yet) and i'm looking to reduce the weight as much as possible.

I have only thus far thought about: stripping out the interior, replacing the ridiculously heavy bonnet with one off a turbo, perspex windows, removing elec windows....

but the question is what else can be done without any major under body part replacement? and on the other hand what else can be lightened under body?
I am also looking at getting as much weight off the crank as possible, lighened pullies etc... What else can be done on that front ?

sorry for all the questions, bit of a newbie when it comes to anyhting major

any help would be apreciated

regards

pete

 

Alloy bonnet and doors off an STi. Could even consider a carbon bonnet, but that might be more than you want to spend. The alloys could be changed for lighter ones.

 

Change all the seats for turbo / JDM's. Sports seats have metal plating cos they can fold.

That will save you quite a few kg's form the rear (and its a good excuse for buckets up front!!! )

Doing mine this alvo at work!!!

 

Was thinking of removing the rear seats completely... this wise or not ? Been looking at turbo seats as well, the stardards are shagged.. really rough on long drives.
Does it matter whether its an import for the doors/bonnet?? they ne difference in weight to uk spec??


pete

 

No rear seats, just means no rear passengers.

Does mean permanant harnesses are possible though

 

and that is never going to be a bad thing

 

Yeah it does, some of the imports had alloy panels.

 

my old thread. it may help. all on my 93 wrx tho not a sport.

http://bbs.scoobynet.co.uk/showthrea...ir+con+removal

stew

 

lots of ideas much apreciated
will post updates/pics when done

pete

 

so hows it going so far?

 

Eh??

 

That's what i was thinking...............

 

I suppose if it was a 2door car and you fitted the front doors from a 4/5 door you'd save some weight!!! LOL!

 

 

surely it would be just as cost effective to pay the extra insurance on a turbo as spending out on lighter panels/components etc? you would also have a turbo then too!

 

i would love to get a turbo, but 1500 3rd party + increased fuel costs make it too pricey

lokoing at posts is making me think that panels are getting a bit ott.... wht abt 4door wrx doors, they lighter?

pete

 

won't make it lighter but will help the handling.

I believe the Sport has no rear anti roll bar.. one from a turbo with drop links etc should bolt striaght on.. check under the back to see if it has one

Simon

 

that had never even crossed my mind, will have to check that out, cos it does roll too much on cornering and send the front end in any direction than where i want it to go......has been a lil scary in the wet.... not helped my heavily worn front tyres but even when new it was slippy.
slightly off topic, but does any1 know the power distribution ? is is 50:50 or 60:40 to the rear? and is there anyway of altering it?

pete

 

to fit a rear anti roll bar to the sport you need to get the rear hubs from a turbo too

 

what a pain in the ****!

 

well thats handy cos i'm supposed to be getting the rear disks n calipers off an sti inc hubs mite have to look into the anti roll bar

 

well it's either that or get the Whiteline kit which just fits a rear ARB, due to it being a fully kit for the sport

 

Not too sure why you need rear hubs to fit the rear ARB. The lower rearmost arms might be needed with the brackets to take the drop links.
Perhaps I will learn some other new things today though!
Graham

 

yep the hubs aren't needed

just the rear control arms with the droplink mountings on

 

are the rear control arms the same on the sport as opposed to the turbo? are they the same length..mounting points etc...?

pete

 

That is the point we are making. For lower manufacturing cost, Subaru may have left the brackets off the Sport arms as there is no ARB.
If you look at the pic I've posted, you will see the drop link bolted to the bracket we are refering to.
If yours does not have the bracket then simply buy some secondhand UK turbo/Jap import arms. When changing the arms over, the suspension must be accuratly re-aligned.

Graham.

 

pretty much as mr 911 said above.

turbo and sport control arms are the same length etc etc, however the rearmost arms don't have the mounting brackets and the front (closest to the centre of the car, not the actual front arms) are horrible pressed and folded sheet ones, not the solid bars of the turbo. so yes you can use the control arms from a turbo, but it's worth getting the whole rear setup, not just the arms with the brackets. proper alignment is a must though


whiteline actually do a kit that is specific for sports that does away with the need for the control arms. think the code is bsr13x and it cost approx £100 for the entire kit including bar, brackets, droplinks, bolts etc etc.
I used to have it on my car and it works great, only changed it when i fitted the rear discs and calipers.

when i get time i'll post some pics and discuss some more on this thread as i've doen pretty much what you are planning at the moment

good luck with it anyway

btw, check out www.imprezasport.net for loads more stuff on the n/a impreza

 

anyone know of somewhere i can get the whiteline kits from? i've only found them on US sites...

pete

 

got mine from demon tweeks

it's actually sat under my bench at work collecting dust , someone was meant to have it off me but for various reasons the sale fell through.

i'll get in contact with him in the next day or so to see if he still wants it, if not then you're welcome to first dibs if you're interested

 

well if its not wanted then i'm sure i could give it a gd home, let me know how much u want 4 it if it gets too lonley

pete

ps just reading on demon tweeks...whats all the whooohar n wotsits abt OE swaybars / blade type / full kit/replacement ???