Andrew Dent Posted November 19, 2000 Share Posted November 19, 2000 Weighed my wheel and tyre today. It comes in at 13kg per corner. So there is something to come off there. How much does an ACB10 weigh. I know it is a sad question, but so what. There is also the exhaust which certainly on my SLR weighs in at a fair old weight. Who does a replacement carbon silencer? Does 110kg driver come under the Super Light catagory? Andrew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveK Posted November 27, 2000 Share Posted November 27, 2000 Attention to detail when building any car can pay dividends- at last weight check 487kg for vauxhall 16v race car-all its takes is time to think about where weight can be taken from-however i must warn any budding anorexic caterham owners that it gets very expensive - last course of weight reduction has to be an alloy block - needs must i suppose in search of 500bhp per tonne with driver dave k Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Perry Posted November 28, 2000 Share Posted November 28, 2000 Dave, Why not give us your top ten tips for saving weight in a seven. I have been trying to get the weight lower on my car for years ever since someone pointed out that each 3KG saved is worth about 1 BHP in terms of power to weight ratio. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chelspeed Posted November 28, 2000 Share Posted November 28, 2000 I got my road going Caterham in at 496kg at the Emerald day a couple of months ago. Without any quantitive evidence my top ten weight-saving tips would be: JPE Aeroscreen (saves screen, wipers, washer, hood, sidesceens) 1996 Vauxhall race roll hoop rather than FIA bar Fuel surge pot so you can run the main tank empty SLR500 wheels, ACB10's and no spare Ally bellhousing Red top battery Ally case gearbox Carbon silencer can Race brakes Attention to detail to take off everything unnecessary everywhere I've also got some contact lenses for next year which will be lighter than the specs. Fanatical? Yep. The only thing that's bothering me now is the damn lager, just can't seem to give it up.... As for alloy blocks? Just don't get me started. It doesn't matter how light the car is if it never gets out of the garage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pierre Gillet Posted November 28, 2000 Share Posted November 28, 2000 Red top battery question.gif Chelspeed can you elaborate a little bit smile.gif Pierre Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Dent Posted November 28, 2000 Share Posted November 28, 2000 And where did the carbon silencer can come from? Andrew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chelspeed Posted November 30, 2000 Share Posted November 30, 2000 > Red top battery > can you elaborate a little bit I used a red top 30 battery made by DMS technology, aka Varley, these are a racing battery that can be installed on their side, upside down or anywhere without leaking. It came from Demon Tweeks, cost a fair bit more than a standard battery but it only weighs 9kg (see page 168 of the new DT catalogue). This is more than enough to start my big high-CR Vauxhall engine. I am planning to try a red top 25 (save 3kg!!) next year for sprinting with the 30 acting as a jump battery in the paddock and swop them for road use between sprints. You can also get them cheap from race technology, contact them on http://www.race-technology.com/WebPage/Main.html > And where did the carbon silencer can come from? It came from SBD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Bees Posted November 30, 2000 Share Posted November 30, 2000 I've used a Red Top 25 all year with no probs. Not done many road miles, but I suspect that trailering the car to a sprint every other weekend where it gets lots of starts and only a few minutes running is probably harder on the battery than road use. It's never needed any extra-curricular charging. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chelspeed Posted November 30, 2000 Share Posted November 30, 2000 Interesting! Perhaps I should try a red top 20 then.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pierre Gillet Posted November 30, 2000 Share Posted November 30, 2000 Thanks Chelspeed. I was envisaging to use a Red Top 40 as its capacity is 35Ah, identical to the one of the standard Caterham battery. So "hawker" and "red top" are the same except that hawker are for some time for sale at half the price. A Red Top 30 is 26Ah, significantly lower though than the capacity of a 40. I am concerned that the Rover Immobiliser dries it up quickly. I charge my standard caterham battery every week for one hour or so to be safe. I wonder how many kg I would spare by moving from a standard caterham battery to a Red Top 30. Is there any need to replace the leads? Pierre Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveK Posted December 1, 2000 Share Posted December 1, 2000 Top tips for saving weight!!!!!!!!this only applies to race cars as some may not be practical on a road car Make your own wiring loom using circuit breakers - this removes all the fuse box and switches. Use AN spec bolts of exact length on all suspension points - as well as being lighter they have a greater shear strength for less weight Front suspension wishbones - make your own using lighter section tube, i used oval section tube for additional aerodynamic effect !!!! , also this lets you use rod end bearings so you can alter caster/camber easily. penske alloy bodied shocks - any weight advantage however is negated by the remote reservoirs swindon vauxhall magnesium cam cover - saves 2.5kg over standard. swindon dry sump system -work of art saves 2kg over standard type dry sump work out electrical current draw -red top 25 is minimum that will start a high compression engine ,however you also need to consider current draw of fuel pumps ,ecu instuments,wipers etc. if you want to use a red top 20 consider using a jump battery to start car and the on board to start on if necessary.red top 40 if possibly a bit overkill in a seven alloy gearcase - saves 4kg over standard iron case ,4 speed quaife dog box is approx 12 kg lighter than a 5/6 speed box at 32 kg rear drive shafts - remake in f1 spec gundrilled steel tube with using lightweight cv joints on inner diff side using sierra bolt on type output shafts - shafts save over half the weight over standard- this is a future plan to do to my car use alloy bolts an any non structural parts - rear wings etc , remake rear wings in lightweight fibreglass r500 wheels - unpainted as the black cromate looks ok fuel/oil dry sump system all in ultra lightweight braided hose,dry sump tank small enough to carry 4.5 ltr oil in total tubular roll bars - 1/2 weight of standard bars I think thats all for know cheers dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Russell Posted December 1, 2000 Share Posted December 1, 2000 Dave, Nice to hear some pearls of wisdom from you. Have you or are you returning to the Seven fold personally or do you still have the Vision? Not seen or heard of you for a while. Best wishes, Andrew. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Bees Posted December 1, 2000 Share Posted December 1, 2000 Dave - "4 speed quaife dog box is approx 12 kg lighter than a 5/6 speed box at 32 kg" - 6 speed box is lighter still, 29.5kg with some (not much) oil in it. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHRIS CLARK Posted December 1, 2000 Share Posted December 1, 2000 Mike. question.gifI read that as the 4 speed being 12 Kg's LIGHTER than the 5/6 speed at 32 Kg's ie. it weighs 20Kg's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveK Posted December 1, 2000 Share Posted December 1, 2000 Mike 4 speed dog box weighs in at 20 kg less oil - as i dont need absolute top speed for hillclimbing this is ideal - race ratios are close enough to keep engine in rev range of 5500 to 9000 and with a 4.4 diff this gives max speed of 129 at 8500.Engine gives 186 lb ft of torque so 6 speed ratios not really necessary.i did look at the quaife sequential box with 5 speed ratios with 1.1 5th which would have let me use a 3.92 diff with a good spread of ratios ,i however felt strength of the dog box and speed of change would be better suited. andrew - new caterham built to replace vision which i still have in garage less engine which now resides in caterham.I decided that a caterham was more fun to drive as i didn,t have to worry about wing settings,what gear ratios to run etc cheers dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Russell Posted December 4, 2000 Share Posted December 4, 2000 Dave, If it's as nice as your other vehicles I'll look forward to seeing it. Merry Christmas!! Andrew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Bees Posted December 4, 2000 Share Posted December 4, 2000 Ah - I read that as the dog box being 'at 32kg'. Ho hum. Mike Edited by - Mike Bees on 4 Dec 2000 09:23:02 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chelspeed Posted December 4, 2000 Share Posted December 4, 2000 > 4 speed dog box weighs in at 20 kg less oil And the alloy case saves another 3.7kg, so 16.3kg which makes the 6 speed (which has an alloy case already) look positively lardy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Bees Posted December 4, 2000 Share Posted December 4, 2000 ...but isn't your new box going to be somewhat lardier still? Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chelspeed Posted December 4, 2000 Share Posted December 4, 2000 Hmmm, that's where my argument falls to the ground, Quaife would only say heavier than the dog box... It's going to be alloy case again. I'll weigh it when it arrives and will of course spill the beans. Rest assured no efforts will be spared in reducing the weight of everything else to compensate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Bees Posted December 5, 2000 Share Posted December 5, 2000 40kg according to this: http://www.se7ens.net/archive/sevens.w3archive/200002/msg00185.html Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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