Exotic Posted October 24, 2011 Share Posted October 24, 2011 Hi I've managed to search and follow a few weight saving tips already, mainly I've lost weight with a new (Milltek) exhaust and Berk HFCs so there's at least some significant weight reduction there. I've also ditched the spare wheel and tools, next on the list is definitely alloys as I have 18" OEMs which are relatively heavy, but after that I am a bit lost as to where I can save some more weight. I know the battery could be the next area, but after that I'm clutching at straws - what else have you guys done to save some pounds? I was thinking about seats too but I love my orange leathers too much! Any advice welcome, I have a non-GT Zed! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lexx Posted October 24, 2011 Share Posted October 24, 2011 What do you want to do with the car? If you are weight saving for a track car, then you can remove door cards, rear trim, stereo, etc etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrLizard Posted October 24, 2011 Share Posted October 24, 2011 the 18" rays are actually quite light, in my experience the doors weigh the most, get rid of those Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Exotic Posted October 24, 2011 Author Share Posted October 24, 2011 It's not for the track, this is my everyday car. I've always considered any weight reduction a big plus as it will give you benefits that a handful of horses can never give, such as handling and cornering advantages, better fuel consumption. Are there lighter doors you can really install, are they colour matched? I don't have Rays, just the OEM alloys which I read on another thread is significantly heavier and extra unsprung weight. cheers for the feedback Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slimjim Posted October 24, 2011 Share Posted October 24, 2011 If you have ever replaced your boot struts, you will know how INSANELY heavy the boot and boot glass are. Simple/free option is to take the boot weight out.... Complex/expensive option is to go for a plastic window/boot setup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wasso Posted October 24, 2011 Share Posted October 24, 2011 But you'd need to replace the doors with something can't just leave an open space. Carbon boot is a massive saving, front strut bar changed for lighter after market. Believe it or not, but I saved 1kg just by changing my wheel nuts. Lighter clutch, lighter rotars, carbon doors l, wings etc. Just changing your oem brake hoses and brackets to braided hoses will save you another 1kg. Small amounts but they all add up. I've lost 66kg and probably more now that I've lost weight also! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coldel Posted October 24, 2011 Share Posted October 24, 2011 Less chips more celery Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slimjim Posted October 24, 2011 Share Posted October 24, 2011 Less chips more celery Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrumbMC Posted October 24, 2011 Share Posted October 24, 2011 you see the biggest weight saving by not brimming the fuel tank. probably the easiest and least intrusive weight saving mod you can do Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wasso Posted October 24, 2011 Share Posted October 24, 2011 Have a look through this thread as it's quite interesting where some useless weight is, like the steering wheel It's where I was inspired to lose weight http://my350z.com/forum/exterior-and-in ... res-3.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrLizard Posted October 24, 2011 Share Posted October 24, 2011 you can get cf doors which weigh significantly less but not colour matched and in my experience the more you take out from the inside of the car the more intrusive the noise is.... which may or may not be a problem to you. i think the more celery rule is probably good too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M13KYF Posted October 24, 2011 Share Posted October 24, 2011 Less chips more celery celery gives you kidney stones, the most excruciating pain apparently Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glrnet Posted October 24, 2011 Share Posted October 24, 2011 Celery..............The food of the devil IMHO Less chips more celery Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jumping350 Posted October 24, 2011 Share Posted October 24, 2011 Less chips more celery celery gives you kidney stones, the most excruciating pain apparently stones would surely add more weight Id say carbon doors,and boot although not sure you want to loose weight on the backend if i were you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozz Posted October 24, 2011 Share Posted October 24, 2011 I wonder how much you'd be upsetting the balance of the car. For me the zed handles brilliantly and I've had quite a few RWD cars so I'm not sure how much I'd want to alter that. You could strip out all the carpets, but she'll be noisy. roof lining? Plastic trim? Bonnet lining (can't remember if the zed has one), remove air con? take head unit out? replace glass with perspex? Lose weigh yourself? Interestingly I've gone from 17stone2 to 15stone5 in the last 3 months and the fuel consumption in the zed is the same. I have better performance though, especially up stairs. Sounds like too much effort and cost and no real advantage unless tracking and going for a bare strip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtbiscuit Posted October 24, 2011 Share Posted October 24, 2011 without being rude, the amount you'll spend making the zed lighter, would be better invested in a faster car? also the more you take out the less of an every day car it becomes. just out of interest what do you do if you need to take the wheel off in an emergency by the side of the road? AA membership i suppose. if you want a super light car buy an elise. or a VX220 if you want the zed to performer better, get some driving tuition from a race specialist. most people can;t get the best out of the zed because they don't actually know how to drive it to its full potential. most poeple think you need more power to do better. but actually learning how to get the most out of the car makes a bigger difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted October 24, 2011 Share Posted October 24, 2011 ^^^ What he said. If you want to go quicker, then go buy the best brakes you can afford. A set of Rays will also make a huge difference as you're losing unsprung mass, which is the best place to lose it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keyser Posted October 24, 2011 Share Posted October 24, 2011 ^^^ What he said. If you want to go quicker, then go buy the best brakes you can afford. A set of Rays will also make a huge difference as you're losing unsprung mass, which is the best place to lose it. + 1 on the brakes I see the OP's point about weight in corners etc but as RT says - buy a lighter car. Seats are heavy and an easy swap. Air Con - apart from weight the opinion is no big advantage - I track mine and I'm keeping it as I like to stay cool on the drive to and from IMHO - better brakes and suspension will make you quicker round a track than weight loss from losing a spare wheel and some tools - NOS if you just want to do it in a straight line (you still gota stop though!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Exotic Posted October 24, 2011 Author Share Posted October 24, 2011 I have installed a fair amount of kit into my car and like my creature comforts so I definitely need stuff like AC and leather seats, I just wondered if there was anything else that I could easily do to shed some weight. I don't see the point of the spare wheel as I don't think you can fit the spare wheel on the Zed anyway, so it's basically dead weight (and yes a breakdown service is insurance). Being a technical person I think every little helps so while it seems pointless I think all these small things could at least make something more than you think. I don't plan on changing the Zed as I love the car way too much, I've had her since May last year but I have driven fast cars for a long time thanks to my dad and count myself as a experienced and natural driver. I have EBC yellow stuff which is at least better than my old brakes. I used to have a celica mk7 before the Zed and while not much grunt, you could certainly fling it round corners at silly speeds with no need for traction or other gizmos, the Zed is good around corners too but shedding more weight could make it better. I did think about the balance of the car and upsetting it by taking it all out from the wrong place, maybe the battery is the only area in the front where I can shed a bit more weight. I would love to weigh my Zed just to see where I am at! :lol:Thanks for the honest opinions! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtbiscuit Posted October 24, 2011 Share Posted October 24, 2011 the only area where your weight reduction will make a difference to an everyday car is the wheels. get a set on enkei RPF01's as they weigh bog all. and aren't horrendously expensive. other named branded light weight wheels are available of course but alot of wheels which are forged etc are very expensive. i just happen to know that the rpf01s are lighter than the rays. at 18" size. add a set of light weight wheel nuts. and some light brake discs (cost a fortune) and your on your way to a lighter performing car. but unless you are removing the doors and the boot lid. the rest of the changes will make as much difference as remembering to go for a poo before you drive it. I don't see the point of the spare wheel as I don't think you can fit the spare wheel on the Zed anyway its there for when you get a puncture so you can get home. and yes it does fit. but you can use a can of tyre weld although personally i'm not a fan of the stuff. Being a technical person I think every little helps so while it seems pointless I think all these small things could at least make something more than you think. but your doing it to a road car not a track car, these small weight savings won;t be noticable unless you're pushing the car on the very edge of its ability. like on a track. there is no way the car will be anywhere near that on the road. I have driven fast cars for a long time thanks to my dad and count myself as a experienced and natural driver. i'm not slurring ability or experience here, but proper track day tuition will greatly improve any driver regardless of what they have grown up with or their experience. which can then be transferred to the road. yellow stuff is good but if you want mega stopping power you need to look at PF or DBA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted October 24, 2011 Share Posted October 24, 2011 When I said do the brakes, I meant properly. Discs and pads as a minimum, callipers too if you really want the huge differences. Get the car fully braced up as well, along with putting some decent rubber on it (what are you running right now?) and I can guarantee you will have a much more responsive and adjustable car than dropping a few kilos will ever hope to achieve. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrLizard Posted October 24, 2011 Share Posted October 24, 2011 Brakes were the first thing i did, good mod but not cheap! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Exotic Posted October 30, 2011 Author Share Posted October 30, 2011 Thanks RTBiscuit and Ekona for the tips, and everyone else who has contributed to the thread! I agree the wheels are the best place to lose weight and upgrading the brake system. I still think, for me at least, that ditching the spare wheel is worth it as I have never had a flat tyre in ten years of driving (so as a risk assessment it's not worth lugging it around) and I only drive locally now most of the time. The other benefit of this is that after removing the spare wheel, I now have more boot space! I will get some pics to illustrate this, it is much deeper now. I think people might get my wrong, in that I am not planning to tear up the roads, just wanted to get rid of as much dead weight as possible. I applaud Wasso and others who has substantially loss weight in their Zeds. I agree it's not something you might notice but every little does count. At the moment I am running Falken FK452s and I can't fault them, they may be cheaper than other brands but I honestly think they are just as good as my previous Pirelli P Zeros I had. I don't like the look of the Enkie RPF01's too much, and I wanted to eventually get 19s, I had my eye on the Rota GTRs Now I know you will say well 19s will be almost as heavy as my 18s but I have noticed I tend to wheel spin sometimes on slippery days so the extra width of rubber is all good. Plus the lower profile tyre should in theory allow better handling, albeit at the expense of a little ride comfort. Do any of you guys have the Rota GT-Rs, what do you think of them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mega Posted October 30, 2011 Share Posted October 30, 2011 Hi I've managed to search and follow a few weight saving tips already, mainly I've lost weight with a new (Milltek) exhaust and Berk HFCs so there's at least some significant weight reduction there. I've also ditched the spare wheel and tools, next on the list is definitely alloys as I have 18" OEMs which are relatively heavy, but after that I am a bit lost as to where I can save some more weight. I know the battery could be the next area, but after that I'm clutching at straws - what else have you guys done to save some pounds? I was thinking about seats too but I love my orange leathers too much! Any advice welcome, I have a non-GT Zed! Eat less pies? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dblock Posted October 31, 2011 Share Posted October 31, 2011 Thanks RTBiscuit and Ekona for the tips, and everyone else who has contributed to the thread! I agree the wheels are the best place to lose weight and upgrading the brake system. I still think, for me at least, that ditching the spare wheel is worth it as I have never had a flat tyre in ten years of driving (so as a risk assessment it's not worth lugging it around) and I only drive locally now most of the time. The other benefit of this is that after removing the spare wheel, I now have more boot space! I will get some pics to illustrate this, it is much deeper now. I think people might get my wrong, in that I am not planning to tear up the roads, just wanted to get rid of as much dead weight as possible. I applaud Wasso and others who has substantially loss weight in their Zeds. I agree it's not something you might notice but every little does count. At the moment I am running Falken FK452s and I can't fault them, they may be cheaper than other brands but I honestly think they are just as good as my previous Pirelli P Zeros I had. I don't like the look of the Enkie RPF01's too much, and I wanted to eventually get 19s, I had my eye on the Rota GTRs Now I know you will say well 19s will be almost as heavy as my 18s but I have noticed I tend to wheel spin sometimes on slippery days so the extra width of rubber is all good. Plus the lower profile tyre should in theory allow better handling, albeit at the expense of a little ride comfort. Do any of you guys have the Rota GT-Rs, what do you think of them? Rota's are light compared to alot of stuff but 19's are going to be much heavier unless forged then your talking big money usually. You could remove all the stuff you want but heavier wheels will usually make more a difference. Doesnt sound like you want to strip your car but if you do. Carbon boot, carbon bonnet. Take out stereo and speakers. Remove all sound deadening. seats weight a ton. all plastics and odds and sods. then you will be left with a car you probably dont want to drive and it will still be heavy as hell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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