I've been taking stuff off of my car for a few years a little bit at a time. Just now have I started to get a little more serious about taking out some more weight. My car is not my daily driver anymore, just a weekend toy/autocrosser/HPDE(soon), so I wanted to get rid of some useless stuff. But being that it is still a street car for now and that I'm not sure I want the inside of my car to look like a complete stripper I took a slightly different approach. I'm trying to keep the inside looking fairly civilized, keeping most of the plastics. Altogether, this should add up to a better accelerating, handling, braking, and more simplistic car.
I've removed things in a few steps. Unfortunately I don't have pictures of some parts that have been removed or replaced. I'm going to name a few things that have been gone for a while just to help give a list of things to remove if you need any ideas.
-Balance shafts
-Cruise control
-Entire A/C system
-A/C / driver side fan
-EVAP system - charcoal canister
-ACT flywheel
-Foglights and brackets
-Brake dust shields
-License plate bracket
-Shifter weight cut off
-Cat replaced with test pipe
-Rear wiper assembly and motor
-Battery tray (offset by wiring)
-Somewhat lighter Optima battery
First, some necessary weight reduction as a side effect.
I needed new wheels. I ended up getting the OZ Ultraleggeras in 17x8. I decided on these because they look good to me, are fairly light, and have the +40 backspacing I was after. These wheels weight 17lbs compared to the stock 25lb wheels. That's a 32lb saving overall; and it's rotating, unsprung weight.
Also by necessity I have trimmed my front crash beam to make room for my FMIC. This is something you can lighten up whether you have a front mount or not. I wouldn't suggest removing it completely though as it could help save the intercooler in a light front end bump and it also acts as a support for the bumper cover.
Let's get started...
I stripped the inside of the door panels slightly. This is what the inside looked like.
I trimmed out what I could of the panel and removed a big chunk of styrofoam from each panel as well as the side window vent piece and another chunk of useless plastic.
This is what the inside of the panel looks like afterwards.
I'm also removing my stereo so I took out the speakers and their enclosures while the panels were off.
Before
After
Here are all the parts removed from the doors.
After doing the doors I moved onto the side panels in the back seat and hatch area. I removed the rear speakers and scraped off the sound deadener on the wheel wells. Supposedly the best way to get the sound deadener off is to use dry ice. I didn't try that technique but I did have a ton of office air dusters that I used to freeze the stuff. Most of it just chipped right off. You can also use a heat gun and scrape it up.
I've removed things in a few steps. Unfortunately I don't have pictures of some parts that have been removed or replaced. I'm going to name a few things that have been gone for a while just to help give a list of things to remove if you need any ideas.
-Balance shafts
-Cruise control
-Entire A/C system
-A/C / driver side fan
-EVAP system - charcoal canister
-ACT flywheel
-Foglights and brackets
-Brake dust shields
-License plate bracket
-Shifter weight cut off
-Cat replaced with test pipe
-Rear wiper assembly and motor
-Battery tray (offset by wiring)
-Somewhat lighter Optima battery
First, some necessary weight reduction as a side effect.
I needed new wheels. I ended up getting the OZ Ultraleggeras in 17x8. I decided on these because they look good to me, are fairly light, and have the +40 backspacing I was after. These wheels weight 17lbs compared to the stock 25lb wheels. That's a 32lb saving overall; and it's rotating, unsprung weight.
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Also by necessity I have trimmed my front crash beam to make room for my FMIC. This is something you can lighten up whether you have a front mount or not. I wouldn't suggest removing it completely though as it could help save the intercooler in a light front end bump and it also acts as a support for the bumper cover.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
Let's get started...
I stripped the inside of the door panels slightly. This is what the inside looked like.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
I trimmed out what I could of the panel and removed a big chunk of styrofoam from each panel as well as the side window vent piece and another chunk of useless plastic.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
This is what the inside of the panel looks like afterwards.
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I'm also removing my stereo so I took out the speakers and their enclosures while the panels were off.
Before
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After
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Here are all the parts removed from the doors.
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After doing the doors I moved onto the side panels in the back seat and hatch area. I removed the rear speakers and scraped off the sound deadener on the wheel wells. Supposedly the best way to get the sound deadener off is to use dry ice. I didn't try that technique but I did have a ton of office air dusters that I used to freeze the stuff. Most of it just chipped right off. You can also use a heat gun and scrape it up.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
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