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The mkiv Supra Owners Club

Losing Weight


Nic
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I was thinking today about how you could reduce the weight of a Supra. The usual/simplist way would be to strip out any unneccessary parts such as rear seats, air con, carpet, sound proofing, trim, spare wheel, ICE, heater etc. Yes this could lose you quite a bit of weight and would be fine if using the car for nothing else other than track days or drag racing but it doesn't really appeal to me on a road car, it's too big a compromise; weight vs comfort.

 

This lead me to thinking about the various materials used to construct a Supra and what materials/parts you could change to reduce weight. For example I have a full titanium exhaust system on my car which is a fraction of the weight of a regular SS exhaust.

 

So the theoretical question is if you wanted to keep the creature comforts of a road going Supra, what parts could 'practically' be swapped for lighter alternatives and how much weight could this save?

 

Thought I'd start a list of parts and the weight that could be saved. Add to the list any other ideas that could be swapped/removed without compromising comfort/performance/looks. The parts I have included are those that are already available, it might be that there are other parts that could be changed that aren't currently available.

 

Parts/Weight Saving:

1. Titanium Exhaust System/weight saving?

2. Magnesium Wheels/weight saving?

3. Carbon Fibre Bonnet/weight saving?

4. Carbon Fibre Rear Door/weight saving?

5. Carbon Fibre Doors/weight saving?

6. ...

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Only fill the fuel tank half full ;)

 

That is probably THE best way of weight saving. Whats the capacity of the fuel tank 80L? Must be a fair bit of weight, can't say I've noticed any difference though in performance driving with the tank full or empty. I guess a full tank must help a fair bit with traction. Will make mental note when I fill up next time.

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Guest Terry S

Nic you are removing weight from the wrong place then ( need it over the rear axle, depending on what you are doing).

 

Seriously:

Turbo kit ( just for you Nic)

Bonnet

Stock wings weigh nothing

Nosecone

Aluminium Bar Behind nose cone

Battery in the boot or a lighter one in the front

Change driver seat ( very heavy)

Lightweight wheels

Lightweight suspension.

 

Try those for a start

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Nic you are removing weight from the wrong place then ( need it over the rear axle, depending on what you are doing).

 

Seriously:

Turbo kit ( just for you Nic)

Bonnet

Stock wings weigh nothing

Nosecone

Aluminium Bar Behind nose cone

Battery in the boot or a lighter one in the front

Change driver seat ( very heavy)

Lightweight wheels

Lightweight suspension.

 

Try those for a start

 

I understand the reasoning behind keeping the weight over the rear wheels for traction, but isn't weight distribution also important for overall handling?

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Single kit, about a 13kg saving ;)

 

Terry your starting on the same line as Paul E getting plugs in threads :)

 

Replace brakes with Brembo, carbon drive shaft, JIC coilovers, that bar behind the bumper, empty out glove box :) flywheel, engine pullies.

 

I would say keep the SMIC but when i replace mine with a front mount there what's a huge differenece may be 1-3kg.

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Guest Terry S

Sorry mate it was not meant to be a blatant plug. People often forget the singles represent a weight saving..now where did I put that link to our website ;)

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Is stainless steel back box system much heavier than titanium?Does it worth getting it replaced? Now carbon drive shaft,was thinking about it but dont think makes much difference..too expensive as well

 

Yes a SS system is quite a lot heavier, I couldn't believe how light my ARC exhaust was when I took it off for the first time, it looks heavy but then you pick it up and it just feels too light.

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