Geoff Johnson Posted July 19, 2001 Share Posted July 19, 2001 A question for those who have worked on lightening their cars, any idea's what weight you can get a VX HPC down to & what have you had to throw away/replace (& at what cost) to do it? Geoff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenny. Posted July 19, 2001 Share Posted July 19, 2001 Geoff, The answer to this question depends on what car will be used for. I tried to shed as much weight as poss. on my HPC to run it in sprints for roadgoing kits and spaceframe over 1700cc. Main saving was to replace the leather seats with shells....I needed to have 2 and have them trimmed to suit the regs. I bought Caterham lightweight 13" wheels, and took out heater, washer bottle. I was toying with c/fibre wings etc...but the weight saving would have been cancelled out by the need to fit an FIA bar. I had to keep windscreen and glass for roadgoing class so that was another blow. I think the biggest weight saver I made was to take my own fuel to track, and run with bare minimum. It would be interesting to know what the old Vauxhall racecars weighed in at....that would be a good reference. If money and rules were no object.........I'd like an alloy after market block (that bloody lump of ours is a monster weight), alloy g/box casing, state of the art light weight calipers/ dampers, all carbon fibre body parts, magnesium wheels, deflector,2 gallon bag tank,etc.......we'd have seriously light and quick cars then Geoff....but they'd cost more than an R500,and probably still be heavier!!. Good luck anyway.....hope you have more success than I did. Kenny HPC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TorAtle Posted July 19, 2001 Share Posted July 19, 2001 Arnie would be the man to talk to...IIRC his car weighs a tad under 500kg, which I think is quite an achievement. My K car is a couple of kg heavier and it's stripped down to a bare minimum without tossing silly money at it for trick parts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Carmichael Posted July 19, 2001 Share Posted July 19, 2001 Chelspeed (Graham Ford) managed a very creditable 496kg at a weigh in late last year. My anorexic 250bhp k-series was 495kg and lightest on the day. My car had a third of a tank of fuel; Graham had a pint in the surge pot. I had a full FIA bar; Graham had the VX race style rollover bar. (saves about 8 kg). There are probably ways of getting some more weight off, but since that day I have put on 15 kg myself which tells me where more effort should be applied. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Johnson Posted July 19, 2001 Author Share Posted July 19, 2001 I am looking to keep the car as a mainly road car, but a bit more performance whilst keeping the costs down (new house & first child on it's way) & looking for the best way to do it. Any idea what the old leather seats weigh? Geoff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave H Posted July 19, 2001 Share Posted July 19, 2001 For most of us (myself included) the heaviest item, and one component that can afford to loose most weight is the driver...cool.gif Dave H Edited by - Dave H on 19 Jul 2001 14:53:06 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurence Wilson Posted July 19, 2001 Share Posted July 19, 2001 Well I'm just glad I'm an anorexic little **** then! 8 bloody stone and I can't seem to put anything on, however much I eat/drink! Jus' wish I'd got the 7 to plonk my arse in, gotta finish learning to drive first though! ho-hum! Cheers! :op Laurence Samuel Wilson Edited by - Peardrop on 19 Jul 2001 19:31:39 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EFA Posted July 19, 2001 Share Posted July 19, 2001 Geoff, Mines down to about 490kgs +/- 5 dry weight. Cost - £££££££ Many very bespoke parts! Arnie Webb So fat the chassis snapped....wink.gif See Fat Arnies 2 piece Seven here See the Le Mans Trip Website here See the Lotus Seven Club North Kent Website here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHRIS CLARK Posted July 19, 2001 Share Posted July 19, 2001 Lightweight V/X. Contradiction in terms ain't it! Arnie uses a paper mache chassis (so won't go out in the wet).This is a clear indication of the lengths he'll go to! Is that why it's in trouble now Arn? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murph7355 Posted July 20, 2001 Share Posted July 20, 2001 Laurence - if you want to spend a week following me around I'll show you how to put weight on! Beer and pizza are key ingredients. I think I was born 8st! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AMMO Posted July 20, 2001 Share Posted July 20, 2001 Geoff The old type leather seats weigh approx. 9.5 kilos each including runners and mounts. I have a bench seat I'm thinking of fitting. This weighs 9 kilos but has no head rests. I've recently had some motorcycle design work done by Factory Design in London. The have recently re-designed the whole interior of Concorde. In their reception is the old type Concorde seat. The base and back is 1 mm aluminium sheet full of 25 mm holes with back and seat pads velcroed on. Very light indeed. I reckon I could make something based on this for my car and come in at around 2.5 to 3 kilos each seat. AMMO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Biddle Posted July 20, 2001 Share Posted July 20, 2001 Geoff, Assuming your car is bog standard, as was mine when I got bought it, It may be better to look at the situation in terms of overall benefit, not just weight saving. Heres my list. 1. Without doubt the first thing to look at is wheels/tyres. I had a set of split rim wheels made by image and shod them with ACB 10's. This would reduce the weight of each wheel by 5 to 6KG depending on tyre size, and assuming you carry a spare, there's 25 to 30 KG off plus it transforms the handling. cost around 1,300 2. You don't mention whether your car is on carbs or injection, mine was injection. I junked the standard cast manifold/stainlessexhaust and replaced it with a 4-2-1 manifolds/exhaust and carbon can. I have not weighed the original, but it is heavy, with cat and and two stainless silencers. I reckon around 15 KG saved, with a performance gain. Cost around 750, but can,t comment on legality in the UK. 3. Windsreen, junk it if you can do without the hood, irrelevant here, but a major factor there. I don't know how much it weighs, maybe 7 to 10 KG, but performance is better at higher speeds, and turbulence without sidscreens is improved to the point where it's bearable for long journeys. Fit a JPE screen or aero screens. Cost 250-350? 4. Heater and washer bottle can be removed virtually for free, but don't save much weight. 5. Lightweight flywheel and clutch, the standard items can weigh up to 13KG There are two types of flywheel, one is a little lighter) Mine is now 4.2 KG, plus a little extra for the central slave cylinder, say 5.2 KG. Big improvement on acceleration, plus around 9.8 KG lighter. Cost 1,250 (Needs special starter) I kept the seats because I like them, and any significantly lighter items are likely to be bone jarringly uncomfortable. After the above any weight savings are going to be progressivly smaller and more expensive per KG. A rough calculation comes out at 65 KG saved at approx 55 per KG. Mike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Carmichael Posted July 20, 2001 Share Posted July 20, 2001 The old Carbon Component Company's seats came in at a bit over a kilo each (or two with brackets). A saving of 16kg for ~£1000. £62.5 per kilo. Not uncomfortable if you fit (ask Arnie "so fat I sold the company" Webb). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I reply to every thread Posted July 20, 2001 Share Posted July 20, 2001 Arnie obviously had an early night yesterday! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V7 SLR Posted July 20, 2001 Share Posted July 20, 2001 Isn't this title an oxymoron? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EFA Posted July 20, 2001 Share Posted July 20, 2001 Damn, Peter steals my thunder again....... Actually its Arnie "so strong even a fat bloke like me couldn't break them" Webb Only now do I wonder if they head the front and rear of my car together...... BTW if you use a totally undrivable 5.5inch clutch and a QED flywheel to suit these have a total weight of only 5.2 kilo's. A Doug Kiddie touring car spec crank (£2300's worth) is 11 kilo's lighter than the std VX Turbo crank. Arnie Webb So fat the chassis snapped....wink.gif See Fat Arnies 2 piece Seven here See the Le Mans Trip Website here See the Lotus Seven Club North Kent Website here Edited by - fat arnie on 20 Jul 2001 18:32:16 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marius Posted July 21, 2001 Share Posted July 21, 2001 I recently did a flat-floor-setup on my Vauxhall and it weighed 562kg, filled up with petrol, water & oil. If I´d dump the big cage that would be 10kg less. The easiest and cheapest way is definitly wheels & tires. I also fitted some Image-alloys with ACB10, incredible difference in handling and weight. Should be no problem to get the car further down to around 540kg (have currently 2 fuel-pumps, catch-tank, standard-battery, etc.). Winter time, roll on !!!! Start with the wheels, windscreen and seats. Marius Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marius Posted July 21, 2001 Share Posted July 21, 2001 Ups, hey Mike, how are you ? Still hunting camels in the sand with your sequential toy ??? Marius Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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