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removing weight from the supra


grahamc
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ok, well since I more than likely have a couple more months of the supra being off the road... I am going to try and remove some extra weight from the car.

 

Been reading this:

http://suprahardtopregistry.com/

 

really like some of the stuff on here. With regards to removing door cards, glove boxes, centre glove boxes etc, what can be used to cover the sharp protruding metal pieces??

 

has anyone moved the battery into the cockpit of the car? what other batteries are options to use?

 

is it worthwhile looking at moving water bottles into the car as well?? especially if I am looking at water/methanol injection??

 

Really dont like cars sitting around, I tend to get bored with them....... :eyebrows:

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is there any weight savings to be had with the following items??

 

standard suspesion -> coilovers

uk spec brakes -> ??

standard rear diff -> trd diff

 

What is lighter out of the following? standard VS fibreglass VS carbon?

 

bonnet

front fenders

doors

boot lid

 

:D

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carbon fibre is the lightest material but depends on layers and manufacturing

 

don't think coilovers would make a "weight saving" or brakes.

 

Any Major weight saving will cost a arm and a leg. but changing the glass for plastic will save a lot of weight, but it does seem the list on the site covers everything you can do!!!!

 

Bar removing the Rear Spoiler ;)

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carbon fibre is the lightest material but depends on layers and manufacturing

 

don't think coilovers would make a "weight saving" or brakes.

 

Any Major weight saving will cost a arm and a leg. but changing the glass for plastic will save a lot of weight, but it does seem the list on the site covers everything you can do!!!!

 

Bar removing the Rear Spoiler ;)

 

Was worth a try!

 

I have a carbon rear spoiler... :D

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Lower glove box i belive you will find some metal plates that weigh a fair amount and can be removed :D

 

I have seen that on the link above, its on my list of things to do! :D

 

I was thinking about removing the whole glove box, but need something to put back to cover the gap! :blink:

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The stock suspension is already coil-over so there is little to no weight loss to be made there.

 

The major weights are the interior trim, sound deadening, glass, body panels and wheels. The running gear is obviously heavy, but you need serious money to lighten that.

 

The biggest easy weight loss you can put your car on is to strip the interior and remove much of the wiring harness (Most of it is redundant on a race car).

Be careful to keep the weight balance, if you strip a lot behind the driver seat then you should relocate some thing to the boot (Battery for one).

 

If you're a fat bugger then a diet wouldn't hurt either :D

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The stock suspension is already coil-over so there is little to no weight loss to be made there.

 

The major weights are the interior trim, sound deadening, glass, body panels and wheels. The running gear is obviously heavy, but you need serious money to lighten that.

 

The biggest easy weight loss you can put your car on is to strip the interior and remove much of the wiring harness (Most of it is redundant on a race car).

Be careful to keep the weight balance, if you strip a lot behind the driver seat then you should relocate some thing to the boot (Battery for one).

 

If you're a fat bugger then a diet wouldn't hurt either :D

 

I want to get as much done without going completely over board! :D

 

I am looking at battery (yellow top?) and water bottles (including water/methanol bottle for water injection) to behind front seats or even further back!!

 

Pity about the suspension, didnt know that, so learnt something new... ;)

 

Interior and dash is where I am trying to get quite a bit of weight down as well.

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I think most good quality aftermarket coilovers are lighter than stock, my d2s definately are because of the alloy mounts on them.

 

might be worthwhile then, considering they were already on the list.

 

what about a carbon fibre driveshaft? saw a thread about this the other day...

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The best way to put your car on a diet is to reverse engineer everything. By that I mean take it completely apart (the easy bit), look at what each part does and seperate them into four categories:

 

1) Not performance/safety critical component, and not required to be fitted - Bin it!!

 

2) Not performance/safety critical component, but required to be fitted - Alternative component available in lighter materials.

 

3) Performance/safety critical component - Alternatives available on the market in lighter materials and tested to perform as, or better than the original.

 

4) Performance/safety critical component - No alternatives available.

 

Doing 1) will cost you nothing, so go ahead, bin as much as you can.

2) and 3) will cost more, much more!

And you're basically stuck with items in category 4).

 

Once you've been through all this then stick it back together and hope you've got it all right!

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well I am not going to go as far as rebuilding the engine with light weight components...

 

but willing to go for bonnet fenders, etc... gone for front bucket seats and removal of rear seats.

 

I like the categories :D however there is a problem, ME!!! :blink: if I was to take that many parts off, the car would not work again! ;)

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I think most good quality aftermarket coilovers are lighter than stock, my d2s definately are because of the alloy mounts on them.

 

Do you have any fact to back that up? All the info I have shows extremely marginal differences. :rolleyes:

 

The glovebox itself doesnt weigh very much, its the 5 kilo bar behind it ;)

 

Yep, it's heavy but would not want to lose that as it's a major structural component! Remove it and god help you in a side/qtr smash!

 

 

 

K14 SUP's post is bang on the money though. Those are the thought processes you should go through before making any changes.

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what about a single conversion? Just remembered Greg showing me my old turbos :D they seemed quite heavy?

 

Is there a decent weight savings to be had there??

 

 

Yes, the conversion itself will removed a large amount of weight. However, many forget the extra weight of the other components that need to be installed such as big clutch/TC packs, rads, oil coolers, FMIC's etc. It probably works out about even.

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Red Top 40, or even a 30, behind the front seats, on the floor, will save a lot of weight. I can do them at excellent prices. Not good for running stereos though ;)

 

Bin all the air con, strip the doors out completely, including side impact bars. Light flywheel and clutch. All lectric none essentials and wiring. Tailgate is heavy, doors themselves v heavy. Most carbon bonnets are heavier than the stock one. Nothing worth saving with front wings. Bumper crash bars can go. Stock seats are v heavy. Stock exhaust is v heavy. Loads of stuff to attack :)

 

TRD is just an LSD to go in stock diff. It's heavier than an open stock diff, but essential, IMO.

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As far as bodywork goes, I have just had CF bonnet, boot lid, doors & door cards fitted on my Supe and I would say there is quite a saving on the doors & boot lid.

 

I've also had new alloys fitted so I'm planning to bob down to the nearest weighbridge when I get chance and see if there is a noticeable drop in weight. I'll post up the results when I get them.

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