Saving weight

[-Michael-]

Hey hey

Just wondering where I can save weight if possible in my car without losing the back seat/ac/dash etc

Cheers
Michael

[Jesterarts]

What are you trying to acheive?

Spare, sound deadening, bodykit could all go... then some lite weight rims...

But depends what you're after... if you are after a racing shell... then the sky is the limit... but if you're wanting to keep back seats, ac, etc then I'm not sure what you want to acheive...

[ratz26]

1st things first if u have a rear spoiler ..lose it, its just cosmetic and dead weight, they do nothhing for the car unless ur doing over 130 km/h (or is it 180??i dont remember) which if u value ur licence your not going to do anyway.

[-Michael-]

Just trying to acheive a better power to weight ratio.

As I cant do much in the way of performance until money allows, I thought I could take some parts out that dont really do anything and could be shed..

All I could think of was spare tyre at the moment

[nick3110]

^^^^ lol.. a spare tyre.. ur car is 1400-1500kg, a wheel would be 5-10kgs... not worth the trouble at all.. cause if u get a flat, or even pop ur tyre when u take a roundabout too quickly or when u lose control when ur using that "power"..

[-Michael-]

a wheel being 5-10 kgs!?!?!

its a shitload more than that bud and no need to be a smartarse either

[Philthy]

Stereo and sound deadening all add up to a fair bit

[nick3110]

a wheel being 5-10 kgs!?!?!

its a shitload more than that bud and no need to be a smartarse either

lol.. 20kg then? i dunno, maybe i'm buffer than i thought :P haha.. all i'm saying its not much to the whole weight of the car lol.. cause yeh driving on a flat isn't fun..

p.s. being a smart arse is what i do ..

[BOGANV8]

Be careful what you remove as you need your seats in to be roadworthy, Also your spolier needs to be on if it has a high level brake light in it. or if you remove it you will have to put one in the rear window to be legal...

As far as the spolier goes that 1-3kgs you save will make a world of difference NOT!!!!!!!! The amount of time it would take to remove all the sound deadner for the benefits your get would not be worth it

Better to just save your coin up for the mods to help it go better..

[nick3110]

^^^ well said bogan..

[VjamesY]

p.s. being a smart arse is what i do ..

its instinct haha

not much really, the most significant and easy one would be spare wheel, but really not worth it.

[vlv8vic]

Hey hey

Just wondering where I can save weight if possible in my car without losing the back seat/ac/dash etc

Cheers
Michael

what do you weigh mate? any chance you could lose a few kgs? I mean a 10kg spare wheel is **** all but if you have a spare 20 you could run off then we're getting somewhere.
other ideas to make a street registered car lighter:
-Wear sandals instead of skate shoes.
-take the floor mats out.
-take the winding mechanisms out of the doors
-don't wear a cap (300grams saved)
-clear the coins out of the ashtray. in fact take the ashtray out.
-a full tank of fuel could be 80kg. run on empty as much as you can.
-valve caps on your wheels are good for a few grams.
-don't race after lunch (even worse after a steak dinner).
-if you are only doing a short run drain a couple of litres of coolant out.
-likewise for engine oil.
-get clear side indicators. the colour adds weight.

Or get a good tune or air filter or something that will give you the same gains. to make lightening worthwhile you'd have to do some serious work.

[Philthy]

Diff gears, roller rockers, tune and a good suspension setup will make your car more fun to drive and keep it p-plate legal (well except for the rockers but who's gunna know?)

EDIT: Oops, turns out you are after free gains, not p-plate legalness. Good luck...

[jazza15]

what do you weigh mate? any chance you could lose a few kgs? I mean a 10kg spare wheel is **** all but if you have a spare 20 you could run off then we're getting somewhere.
other ideas to make a street registered car lighter:
-Wear sandals instead of skate shoes.
-take the floor mats out.
-take the winding mechanisms out of the doors
-don't wear a cap (300grams saved)
-clear the coins out of the ashtray. in fact take the ashtray out.
-a full tank of fuel could be 80kg. run on empty as much as you can.
-valve caps on your wheels are good for a few grams.
-don't race after lunch (even worse after a steak dinner).
-if you are only doing a short run drain a couple of litres of coolant out.
-likewise for engine oil.
-get clear side indicators. the colour adds weight.

Or get a good tune or air filter or something that will give you the same gains. to make lightening worthwhile you'd have to do some serious work.

Hahaha. funny as

Yeah i agree with everyone else.

IMO if you aren't willing to take out the back seats etc. to reduce weight then you are wasting your time. Plus with a big heavy car like a commodore this sort of 'taking things out that i don't need' weight reduction is pretty pointless considering how heavy the car is compared to 'ricier' cars.

[alien]

If your after more power, if you bypass the a/c condensor (especially when it's not needed in winter) by getting a new belt, you'll get up to 20% more useable power! Even when the a/c is not on it still drains some of that generated power!

As for weight, there's really not that much, so dont worry about it.

Also, ratz26, got any details on what the spoiler actually does? And how much it actually helps at those speeds!? Had my VY up at like 200km/h and just over and it gripped and handled a lot better, not sure if the spoiler had anything to do with it LOL

[greenacc]

A 15inch steel wheel and tyre weighs 19kg !! The tyre weighs about half of that.
You would be stupid to do it, but if you take out the tyre you can also take out the jack...
Other things like engine cover, boot carpet, speakers , glove box, maccas wrappers, only half fill your wiper washer bottle, buy a smaller battery , ash trays as someone said, and that plastic splash gaurd under the radiator. Then get you angle grinder out and start cutting off bolts that stick out beyond the nut.

[Vt_vic]

no bonnet and boot bout 100kg's

[MikesCalais]

Personally, I wouldnt take anything out... too much effort for little to no gain, and all you'll be left with is a car that weighs a couple kg less (making no noticable difference) and a car thats less refined and nicely finished (taking out carpets etc.) especially seeing as its not for racing etc

just my view anyway

[-Michael-]

Diff gears, roller rockers, tune and a good suspension setup will make your car more fun to drive and keep it p-plate legal (well except for the rockers but who's gunna know?)

EDIT: Oops, turns out you are after free gains, not p-plate legalness. Good luck...

Already have full exhaust (pacemaker extractors, new Y piece, 2.5" from there on), MACE CAI, 1.98 rockers, using 98 fuel etc...

Seems as though half of you's are turds and half of you can actually help..

[-Michael-]

what do you weigh mate? any chance you could lose a few kgs? I mean a 10kg spare wheel is **** all but if you have a spare 20 you could run off then we're getting somewhere.

Or get a good tune or air filter or something that will give you the same gains. to make lightening worthwhile you'd have to do some serious work.

As above, already started modding it. And also i weigh all of 50 kgs so no losing weight for me.

[ryno_vrx]

i'll say to you the same thing i told my mate who wanted to get a better power to weight ratio ......" eat less"

[Philthy]

Looking at your "my ride thread" this is what you can afford to lose:

ICE:
- JVC DV4406 DVD source unit
- Flip out 7" monitor
- Clarion splits up front
- Clarion XM 1500 series 600w 15" subwoofer
-Clarion 400w RMS monoblock amp
Blue footwell neons
Red underbody neons
S-pac bodykit and spoiler

On the plus side I see you have already taken off the badges - every bit counts!

[stocky]

damn theres a few morons in this thread. VTs are one of the heaviest commodores, so why shouldnt he be able to ask how to lose weight from it? mortons car probably weighed similar to a VT, yet he got his down to 1400kg, losing over 100kg from it. have a read of his thread for a few good ideas

[greenfoam]

Damm straight, loose 100kgs (entirely possible and most of use with budget VN/P/Qs have) it makes a big difference over another car with the same power. In handling, weight transfer acceleration, braking etc everything.

Body deadner is at least 30kgs prolly 40 in a VT. Spare wheel is 19-22. Air conditioner is at least 40 kgs

[-Michael-]

Cheers guys, good to hear that i'm not the only one who thinks some of the people in this thread are useless