your thoughts on this ?

I got chatting to someone (highly respected on the forum) at santa pod a while back about weight reduction to a Jap sup. He says one quick way to reduce a lot of weight is to remove the heavy impact bars from the front and back of the car under the bumper. its very straight forward just remove the bumper take a few bolts out and the come off easily. They weigh about 18 kgs each.

I did question that surely Mr T put them there for a reason, he replies with "you want to live for ever" as if to indicate no you're not suposed to take them off but hey. He goes on to say they are only on the Jap cars as an added saftey feature and not on the UK spec.

Is it worth doing, with it 36 kgs lighter will it be noticably different ? will the car be seriously weaker without it ?

I don't plan on doing this but just thought i'd start a debate...

There are cars running low 9's in full street trim/weight, I wouldnt worry about it for what you're likely to be running

you must know who i was talking about. he owned a lovely orange sup

but what i was interested in was the comment he made about the uk model not having the heavy impact bars ? do they have something else instead ? or are the safety laws here more relaxed than in Japan ?

I have no idea... if we're talking about Leon well then I'd take his word for it.. (other orange Supra owners are a bit dodgy eh Col )

Wouldnt know about the laws, I always understood we in Europe had pretty much the strictest regulations.. and also the US when it came to pedestrian impacts etc... maybe we in the UK dont get them as we have the larger brakes so theres no need for impact bars as we'd stop in time

Hehe, seriously though, I dont know m8 although any weight reduction like that will help performance, like removing the stock exhaust system

my front one has been removed for the do-luck and the massive intercooler..

and there is NO way they are 18 KG each! more like 5 .. Its just an aluminium hollow brace..

There's no way the impact bar at the front weights 18kg. It's only aluminium IIRC.

EDIT:Aha, beaten to it!

There's no way the impact bar at the front weights 18kg. It's only aluminium IIRC.

 

EDIT:Aha, beaten to it!

is it really worth it, surely its your safety first?

is it really worth it, surely its your safety first?

Couldn't agree more, also the safety of any passengers and anyone you could unfortunately could crash into.

I had to remove such a 'bumper re-enforcement' from the Calibra, or else I couldn't fit my large FMIC.

I didn't feel like the car was more flexible than before, but I have to admit that it was always in the back of my mind that I got rid of such a structure. Apart from the safety issue, it may also be part of the whole structural integrity of the chassis.

If I had to do it again I wouldn't lose it.

Is it worth doing, with it 36 kgs lighter will it be noticably different ?

36kgs is around 5.6 stone, imagine a child of that weight sat in the passenger seat would you notice much of a performance difference if you kicked them out and made them walk?

Digsy did this spread sheet to calculate effect of reducing weight.

EDIT: - See [thread=34414]HERE[/thread] to download original file.

If the front one from the Supra is a part of the structural integrity of the chassis we're all in a lot of trouble! It's just a hollow bit of aluminium that the bumper bolts to. There's no way it's going to reinforce anything where it is. It probably acts as a crumple zone to absorb impact and stop the radiator being punctured in low speed impacts.

Anyone confirm that the UK spec doesn't have these then?

36kgs is around 5.6 stone, imagine a child of that weight sat in the passenger seat would you notice much of a performance difference if you kicked them out and made them walk?

 

Digsy did this spread sheet to calculate effect of reducing weight.

I can't open it ! what format is it ?

as i said i won't be removing anything but just interested in what he said and yes it was Leon - nice chap. i might have miss heard about the weight of it ?!?! but the main point was how much something like that would affect the car?

Just out of interest how much would a full tank of petrol weigh ? this would probably make the biggest difference ?

.xls it's an Excel file.

Just checked and the file is corrupted for me too, see original file attachment on [thread=34414]THIS THREAD[/thread]

I had to remove such a 'bumper re-enforcement' from the Calibra, or else I couldn't fit my large FMIC.

I didn't feel like the car was more flexible than before, but I have to admit that it was always in the back of my mind that I got rid of such a structure. Apart from the safety issue, it may also be part of the whole structural integrity of the chassis.

 

If I had to do it again I wouldn't lose it.

i bumped into the back of a car with a towbar at no more that 5mph but bent my Calibra front bumper out of shape. I was getting ready to exchange it for a BMW at a dealer at the time so i quicky went home and smacked the shite out of it with a hammer untill it was straight again - tough bit of metal that was !

NB; if it was a private sale i would of mentioned it but kept quiet to the dealer.

Just checked and the file is corrupted for me too, see original file attachment on [thread=34414]THIS THREAD[/thread]

bloody hell so the weight loss thing has been discuss in FULL detail then.

Should answer any queries i have cheers.

bloody hell so the weight loss thing has been discuss in FULL detail then.

 

Should answer any queries i have cheers.

Pretty much everything Supra related has been discussed at some point over the last few years, that's why the Search Button is so useful.

UK's do have these, ali on the front and what looks like steel on the rear?

Paul

Having been rear ended in my old one (lady travelling at 40mph) I wouldnt want to lose the back one. Her car was writted off but was barely a scratch on mine!

....It's just a hollow bit of aluminium that the bumper bolts to. There's no way it's going to reinforce anything where it is.....

Box-type sections rely on parts that looks 'flimsy' on their own, but put together as a group they can be a very stiff assembly. It could be that this is just a bumper re-enforcement, just part of a crumple zone, or just something else --- but these are usually all-in-one. Without good understanding of how these things fit together I wouldn't take liberties.

A couple of months ago someone here mentioned the service bulletin at Ford to stop people from jacking the Focus (I think) just on the right side because the windscreens crack. Now would you expect the windscreen to be playing such an important role in overall body stiffness? Well it does, so an aluminium brace could be even more important. I think it's worth investingating further, that's all...

The front one is no biggie as It wont do much in a major colision, Its just there to HELP save the rad and other engine parts that are first in the firing line..

I still have my rear one.

It does not serve ANY structural benefit as its not welded on just bolted.

Dont hold me to these comment just my 2pence