It's no secret the 2002 WRX is a heavy beast, and even though I have my chassis sorted, and power on the way, you can really feel the weight on track.

Having experienced the spec C. I. am looking at how I can reduce the weight in the car sensibly, bearing in mind it is still my everyday car ()

Other than breaking into ProDrive one night and stealing all of their carbon panels, anybody know where the most weight is to be saved?

I was intending to remove the air-conditioning, but after this last week there is no way I could consider that.

My current list is as follows:

Carbon bonnet
no spare wheel
lightweight coilovers
carbon / kevlar race seats

Any other sensible suggestions?

Anybody know just how heavy the front seats are? I know a lot of people on here have changed their interior, so somebody must have a good idea how heavy they are? If I can save 40kg from changing the front seats I would be very happy...

 

I'm beginning to wonder if you've won the lottery Ed ????
By the way like the spoiler looks cool
I had found another pic on here a while back same as your by the look of it ??

Simon

 

Simon - god I wish that were true!

No, I'm just another sad addict who keeps putting off buying a house and getting married as long as he can get away with it and a wallet full of credit cards

Yeah thats the fella...what a top no. plate

 

Doesn't a 2002 wrx have an alloy bonnet as is? I've had an STi7 and STi8 and the bonnets weighed nothing compared to my MY00 Turbos one, how much weight saving in a carbon one compared to alloy is there really?

 

you'd be surprised. My bonnet still needs a good hand to lift, whereas the bonnet on tsl's 22b is featherlight and can literally be opened with a finger.

 

I think that to save weight you are going to compromise the comfort or spend tons of dosh.

Not a Scoob but I removed rear seats completly, replace front recaros, with Sparcos, a 3rd of the weight, light weight Manifold and exhaust system, lighter Brake calipers, carbon fibre door panels, removed unessary boot trim, removed rear speakers............

I would weigh every mod you want to put on an get a lighter than OEM version

 

Or sell and get a Spec C!

But if you don't - the Evo has a lot of spare wire loom that can take a hell of a lot of weight out if you want to go to the hassle (there must be equal amounts in the Scoob - just an idea to check out).

On the other hand - lighter alloys (will cost) / full titanium exhaust (again will cost - lots!).

 

I just got a smaller battery, a 028 series from Daewo (sp?) matiz and/or 1990 Diahatsu fourtrack 2.0. It's about 2/5 the size of the standard one, and must save about 9kg, starting was been fine, and unless you want a big ICE setup, should be fine. It uses normal terminals and cost £40 from halfords. It does need some effort to fit it, a new clamp bracket and maybe a something at the base too, also needs a slightly longer +ve lead depending on where you mount it. Cheap saving though at £40.

Paul

 

edcase love ya car mate, defo the best lookin wrx 01/02 i've seen. the spoiler makes it

 

When Lotus were developing the Elise (Project M111S) they were overweight by quite some margin and looked at using ceramic brakes. Each disc weighed in at 2kg, compared to 10kg+ for steel. Added benefit was they ran at just 200'c, 500'c cooler than steel so there was no fade as the fluid couldn't boil. Have a look at Tarox .

 

i like the sound of this b interesting to find out wot u end up doin!

 

What about sound deadening, electric windows, and replace the glass with perspex? Oh, and no burgers for you mate!

 

On the burger idea, I've just shead 80kg in 6 weeks on the Atkins diet. How's that for a cheap way to lighten your car ?

 

I think I weigh about 80kg! Well done mate.

 

Oops, divided instead of multiplied. Actually 16.2kg . Don't feel so chuffed now, I'm off to McD's.

 

Easy answer to this one. Dump the porky bodyshell and rebuild all the bits into a Classic. Not only will you make it lighter, you'll also transform its looks!

 

I was at RAF alconbury on a 1/4 mile day (in my old 3-door cossie.) I was running mid 14s but I couldnt get ant faster. Me and Paul Palmer ended up stripping the entire interior out and doing a run with the whole lot crammed into his little puma.
The result? first run out was a solid 13.7 secs.
astraboy.

 

LOL!

Leave the boy alone.

He bought the UGLY BUG .

Let him mod it as he pleases.

Remove the fuel tank. It saves lots of Kilos and causes less embarassment.

,Cos You can't make it to those Scooby Meets/ Trackdays?

P.S. I've had a drink.

And I'm a FOOL.

 

Some top ideas there peeps (and some not so top ones )

Frank - I'm doing trackdays pretty much every week at the moment, and although I have considered getting something for the track, I just love the scoob

Plus I dont have the space or money for a second car.

I have seriously toyed with the idea of the Spec C. but taking into account the type and cost of modifications I have made so far, what is left to do, depreciation etc. it is actually more cost-effective by some margin to stick with what I'm doing.

Thanks again for some interesting ideas.

 

Am I correct in thinking that all the New Age cars have aluminium bonnets (and fairly thin ones at that)?

If so, weight saving from swapping to carbon may not be worth the cost...

 

You have spent loads of money on your car. Could have spent that money on an earlier classic and use that for a trackday. Just stripping it out will make it good fun on the trackday

Trackdays every week?? Your mad!

 

Clickys

http://www.motordrive.com/acatalog/I..._Interior.html

http://www.pasmag.com/news/get.asp?I...onkey=features

http://www.superstreetonline.com/fea.../130_0304_zig/

 

M8 - just a different spin on this.

I cant see the point in shaving the odd kilo off the car. Surely the most price effective thing to do is make it handle better, go faster and break harder to make up for these deficiencies in the pie eating department.

I bet if you work out how much weight you save, then look at how much power you could gain for the same $$$$'s, the bhp/tonne will improve with the power figure more than the weight?

My only other bit of advice - why not buy a cheap old shape car as they weight 100kgs+ less?

Jza

 

Seats = 20-30kg
Bonnet = 20kg
Battery = 10kg
Wheels = 6kg
Decat exhaust = 6-10kg
Induction kit/resonator removal = 3kg
Charcoal purge cylinder = 1kg
Spare wheel = 6kg (space saver i think)
Jack = 3kg


So it's relatively easy to strip out 50kg from the car, which is hardly insignificant. With work, you ought to be able to shave 80-90kg off.

Paul

 

Frank - I wanted a 'new' car though, and if I were to buy a classic it would be a P1 or 22B which would automatically negate any price savings

Besides, you would probably be surprised just how little I have spent on my car. Proper little bargain hunter me

Greasemonkey - yes it does have an aluminium bonnet, however, I have parked my card next to TSLs 22b and compared the weight with their carbon bonnet, and it is considerable.

JZA - I already have pretty much every chassis modification - 7kg wheels, suspension, 330mm brakes, antiroll, drop links, quick rack, front and rear upper strut braces etc. don't get me wrong, the car handles fantastically, but it cannot disguise the weight it is lugging around particularly when chasing a Lotus Exige through a 180 degree hairpin

Stripping out up to 100 kg is the equivalent to over 15 BHP, not to mention the increased steering / chassis response, less understeer, more adjustability under throttle etc. Best of all, it costs nothing but time

Paul - yes, and even then some of those are conservative estimates. Space Saver is at least 15 kg and I actually struggle to get it in and out of the car. Also its position in the car at the very rear doesn't help when the rear end brakes away and inertia/gravity take effect

Definitely going to look into the battery idea.

 

Edcase,

My point is - you can get 15kg's by decatting it.. or buy a PPP which is worth 40+bhp. Or go the Ekutech route and get more...

Isnt power cheaper than reducing weight?

Jza

 

Agreed - decat downpipe / headers / tek3 on the way

I've always been more into handling than raw power tho, hence doing my chassis mods first, and now looking into weight saving.

 

Power is generally cheaper that weight reduction.

EG:

save 30kg on pair of seats (maybe 40kg with airbag seats). New seats and rails for £500, sell old ones for £250. So 30kg saved for £250.

I think car is 1380kg, and with 280hp (modded) that means about 191hp/ton with driver.

Saving 30kg means 195hp/ton, or equavelent to another 5hp.

This may not seem like much, but if you have already done all the normal bolt on mods, and the next step is bigger turbo, uprated clutch, gearsets etc etc then it starts to get VERY expensive (trust me I know). In which case the weight saving is a nice option.

The way to approach it is save the cheapest wieght first, then start looking at whether more power is a cheaper option.

Obviously less weight will also help handling, assuming you don't read the GTR forums too much....

Paul

 

Paul - that is exactly where I am coming from.

Basically, I have done the handling mods, I am now about to do the (sensible) power mods, where I am basically going to max out the standard turbo, decat, equal length headers, APS tmic, fuel pump, TEK 3.

After then stripping out some weight I plan to just enjoy the car for a while. When the clutch goes, it and the flywheel will be a rated.

When the engine goes, then I will look at some serious power. 2.2 block, cossie pistons, FMIC etc.

Hopefully that won't be for quite a while, by which point I would then strip the car down entirely and used it purely for track days / hill climbs / sprints / TOTB ()

 

Ed Mate....... Nobody has said that magic word N.O.S. yet !!
Go on you know you wanna !!!!!
Simon