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Weight Reduction.

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isaiddurazoo

10+ Year Contributor
77
0
Dec 14, 2011
Tucson, Arizona
Anyone in here have any experience with removing the carpets and road noise? I'm not exactly sure how much these cars weigh, I drive a 98 gst spyder. I do know that its too heavy and I don't like the understeer.

I will be stripping the trunk, extra donut tire, plastics, that awfully placed reservoir. Any other suggestions? I know I could buy carbon fiber parts etc but personally I'm not a big fan of them.

My goal is to run anything below a 13.5 with a stock turbo pushing 14psi. So how significant is the amount of weight I would have to lose? And by curiousity does anyone on here know the amount of g-force this car produces? And or have diagrams for downforce?
 
Losing the carpet and interior hatch area plastic trim will net very little weight loss [maybe 10-15lbs] and a significant increase in road noise/ exhaust drone. Not worth it imho for a street driven daily driver (plus it looks kinda stupid on a close to stock performing car).
Also, bad choice on losing the spare unless you have a friend with you or some other backup for emergency situations.
Your best bet is to ditch the stock turbo and upgrade to even a 14b or 16g (with other supporting goodies). That, along with some seat time at the track will do you more good than the weight loss route (it's an expensive and long route).
 

Thank you, great help.

Losing the carpet and interior hatch area plastic trim will net very little weight loss [maybe 10-15lbs] and a significant increase in road noise/ exhaust drone. Not worth it imho for a street driven daily driver (plus it looks kinda stupid on a close to stock performing car).
Also, bad choice on losing the spare unless you have a friend with you or some other backup for emergency situations.
Your best bet is to ditch the stock turbo and upgrade to even a 14b or 16g (with other supporting goodies). That, along with some seat time at the track will do you more good than the weight loss route (it's an expensive and long route).

I have an aftermarket air intake, greddy bov, 550cc fuel injectors, bigger front-mount intercooler. The goal is to keep the stock turbo. I would enjoy the cfm as much as they next guy but I like to drive down mountains often and enjoy my turbo spooling at lower RPM, thanks for the suggestions.

The spare tire serves me no good, my car is low and i believe it will just rub. Worst comes to worst I'll make my girlfriend bring me one or something.

As far as the carpets go I'll take your word for it, I was under the impression that they weighed in at more than that.
 
Just so you know here is a preview of what it will look like after what you describe...

It's not THAT much louder but it is noticable. And to really lose the most weight you want to take out the antenae motor and the rear wiper resevoir as well as the tire and jack and all that stuff. That is what weighs the most. If weight is the biggest concern then that is what I would remove.

Here is a link to some pics of mine: http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/hangout/437225-so-my-plan-take-out-back-seat.html

Oh and be prepared to clean back there for about an hour. Mine was utterly disgusting under all the panels, seats and carpet...
 
Anything you dont want or need speaker brackets fluid containers extra stuff, sound deadening i took all mine out and some things i dont need.
 
buy lighter wheels, and remember alluminum and steel are heavier than rubber
you may love big rims and skinny tires but light weight 14-maybe16" rims are lighter,
if you have money carbon fiber hood and hatch and put in that specific glass for the rear window
 
...Lexan and CF? $$$ Cha-ching! $$$

Hope you have deep pockets or know how to to fiberglass... I do fiberglass work myself, and I still can't afford to even make a CF hood and hatch. Just the material alone is extremely expensive. Fiberglass may not look as cool, but it is lighter, and a lot cheaper. That's where I would start. Besides, most "Carbon fiber" hoods are fiberglass covered with a single layer of CF cloth anyhow. Not worth the extra $300 in my opinion.
 
he has a spyder so no lexan and cf. personally i would leave the carpet and sound deadened in the car. if your that desperate to run a certain time run more than 14psi or boost. gutting a car your going to daily drive is silly and makes the car look like ass. all the interior plastics,carpet, sound deadner, speakers and trunk plastic might save you 30-45 pounds. 1 psi of boost will off set the weight savings.
 
I agree... Just make a little more power. I have a friend that gutted a 240SX for weight, and it is his DD. It looked dumb as hell and no one wanted to ride in it. He wound up putting most of the interior back in because he was tired of the jokes and it was just plain uncomfortable. That's a lot of work to just go back to what you had in the first place. The furthest I personally would go on the interior would be removal of the rear seat and the unecessary brackets, plus the rear washer tank. I would carpet over and put dynomat over the rear seat area though. It is a LOT noisier if that area is bare metal. In a Spyder though, I don't think you can go too crazy removing things without it looking really messed up. I think you'd need the rear seat to prevent turning your trunk into a big metal parachute too.
 
Take the spare out of the back and all the parts that go with it. Thats a pretty good start. Not very good if you get a flat. : / I'm working on the same thing as you are. I got a carbon fiber hood to help, but I'm not willing to tear out the inside to cut weight. Its a pretty tough spot.
 
Removing carpet and dampening will make the car louder. This is the trade-off of being light weight.
 
You mentioned understeer. Keep in mind that nothing you mentioned is going to help your understeer; in fact, nearly everything you mentioned is taking weight out of the back half of the car and will therefore increase it.

13.5 is pretty conservative - I wouldn't gut the car at this number, especially if you daily it.

This would be my suggestion to make the car substantially more "spirited" without breaking the bank and keeping it drivable:
-Ported 14B. I run one in my car - really doesn't spool much slower than the T25 from what I recall but pulls WAY harder and can be had for dirt cheap. Plus it is a pretty simple swap.
-Mo' boost. ~18psi.
-Rear sway bar.

That should do it. If you want to improve things further you can do a CF hood, move the battery to the trunk, or coil-overs, but these are going to be more costly and/or affect the usability of the car.
 
Thank you all for your suggestions, I'll take them all into consideration. Just in case any of you are wondering what I will probably do is still remove the tire out of the back and and gut the trunk. I can't see it anyhow and the plastics bug the crap out of me constantly. As far as the rug I'm definitely keeping it. I'm getting a check from college soon so I'll probably be investing it into a 14b turbo.
 
Just my 2 cents- skip the 14b idea and find a small 16g. The spool is right there with a 14b yet you could still make over 300hp. The price isn't too far ahead either and install is exactly the same.
 
If your out to beat everybody on the streets everything counts! I have a DD that I haul my kids in every once in a while and it's completely gutted. it's a lot of work but totally worth it. 20 lbs may be the difference! If you want the win then dedication is key! DSM FTW!
 
If your out to beat everybody on the streets everything counts! I have a DD that I haul my kids in every once in a while and it's completely gutted. it's a lot of work but totally worth it. 20 lbs may be the difference! If you want the win then dedication is key! DSM FTW!

It depends on what your goals are. I doubt he picked up a Spyder to "beat everyone on the streets".

Curios - how do you haul your kids in a completely gutted car? Still have the rear seats?
 
I just got my second 1G and the back was gutted, the guy planned on just running the track. For my part, the crazy excess noise for me using this as a pleasure ride doesn't justify the poundage lost. So the interior is getting worked back in. Of course, I'm old and getting grey hair and just want me and the lil woman to go out and relive some of our youth.

But if I was 21 again with my first DSM, Ya I would take out everything I could to just to eeek out a win :)
 
I just got my second 1G and the back was gutted, the guy planned on just running the track. For my part, the crazy excess noise for me using this as a pleasure ride doesn't justify the poundage lost. So the interior is getting worked back in. Of course, I'm old and getting grey hair and just want me and the lil woman to go out and relive some of our youth.

But if I was 21 again with my first DSM, Ya I would take out everything I could to just to eeek out a win :)

I agree, a gutted interior typically equals a lot of road noise. Does it save weight, yes. Would I want this done to my daily driver...probably not.

But in the end it is up to the OP, let us know what you decide.:rocks:
 
In my opinion your are better off trying to lose 10 lbs of body fat and keeping everything in your car. I don't think you are losing enough weight on the car to make it worth it. Just dont eat a burger before you race and youll win :thumb:
 
I have removed the following:

Cruise Control
Replaced OEM battery with Honda Half size battery
Battery tray & bracket
Replaced OEM hood with CF hood
Front & Rear Bumper Crash Beams
Misc. brackets & bolts (insert pic)
Glove Box steel plate (insert pic)
Spare tire & jack
Passenger side Airbag

If you look at my gallery, most of that you wouldn't have guessed. It makes a difference. I would say anywhere from 150 to 200 lbs can be saved.

I still have functioning A/C, but I believe my heater core is clogged. So I blocked it off.
 

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