Vehicle weight?

rccardude04 · Post by **rccardude04** » November 20th, 2007, 2:34 am

Factory spec says 2582lbs curb weight with the MT for the GS. In my "project" MX-3, I'm going to be removing things such as the a/c, headliner, back set, back interior, and hopefully the sound deadening. I have no idea how much this stuff weighs but would like to get an idea as to what I'm dealing with. Anybody weighed their cars after this type of modification?
I plan on leaving most of the front seat interior, but may remove it later on to get more of a "race car" feel and make it corner a little better.
I also have realized that I'm removing mostly stuff from the rear of the car. I assume it's better to have more weight on the front wheels since these things are FWD. Is there a limit where you can actually go too far? I plan on using it mainly for Autocross and just a general fun car (no street racing, not my thing), plus it's going to be my first attempt at modifying anything on a fullsize vehicle and should be fun...

Anyway, I guess I'm asking, has anybody weighed their cars after removing majority of interior as well as extremely unnecessary components like the A/C?
-Eric

Whisper · Post by **Whisper** » November 20th, 2007, 2:45 am

I remember someone stripped their MX-3 and did all the weight reduction mods they could come up with, and shaved off like 400 lbs.

If you're not going all the way, you're probably looking at 200-300 lbs of weight reduction.

I mean, all you really have to do is weigh the junk you take out, and that'll tell you exactly how much lighter your car has become.

hgallegos915 · Post by **hgallegos915** » November 20th, 2007, 3:06 am

boost it and weight wont be much of a factor. really. lol.

i had gutted mine out.. to the point where its to uncomfortable.. i can hear the road.. it sucks.. i wish i had afull interior.. it rotted outside in the sun and rain.. bohoo!

if u gut yours... sell me the back seat assembly and hatch plastic liner thingy

Whisper · Post by **Whisper** » November 20th, 2007, 3:48 am

hgallegos915 wrote:boost it and weight wont be much of a factor. really. lol.

Yeah, if all you do is drag, but weight matters when it comes to cornering.

rccardude04 · Post by **rccardude04** » November 20th, 2007, 11:19 am

Yeah I really don't care about road noise or very much about comfort. This car is going to be mainly for cornering. I'd honestly leave the K8 in there if it didn't have water damage (my brother is an idiot). I'm picking up a KLDE with MX3 flywheel, ECU, transmission, accessories, etc. with mostly newer components (timing belt, O2 sensors, etc.) for 500 bucks. It's cheaper than fixing what damage my brother did.
Hgallegos915, when I get around to pulling out the interior, I'm sure it'll go up for sale.

And 400 pounds??? Holy crap! That's like... a lot more than I expected. I figured it'd be about 100 pounds. That's getting close to 2000lbs. I mean, 2200 but still. I wonder if anybody makes that huge piece of glass out of lexan or something lighter than glass. LOL.
-Eric

teribble · Post by **teribble** » November 21st, 2007, 4:56 pm

I know that glass sucks! it kinda make's the car top heavy! just take it out if you don't mind the wind in you hair. lol I know someone has a show car they took an mx3 and put a del sol hatch on it or something like that. it looks sweet i'll try to find some pics.

rccardude04 · Post by **rccardude04** » November 21st, 2007, 11:15 pm

That's not a bad idea. I don't really have the tools to fabricate something that extensive as of yet though.
Maybe later on lol
-Eric

Nd4SpdSe · Post by **Nd4SpdSe** » November 21st, 2007, 11:45 pm

Luc St.Pierre has a great write-up on Mx-3 weight reduction, but his site has been totally taken down as of recent. I tried e-mailling about it 2 days ago but so far no responce. This is the newest one I can find, but I do remember his list being significantly longer. I'll try sending out a few more messages, I just hope he is still interesting in helping. I just sent him a PM and an e-mail through Mx-3.com, I hope he responds.

Item
Weight Saving (lbs)
Comment

Remove rear wiper & wiper motor
3.0
The rear wiper is quite useless on the car. As soon as you start rolling, wind clears the rear glass. Furthermore, the car looks sleeker without it. Click here for a pic of the plugged wiper shaft hole and nice carbon fiber garnish.

Remove back seat
25.5
If there's not enough room for adults in the back, what are the seats for???

Remove inner plastic trims and brackets- aft front doors
16
Priority was set to build the largest and strongest Roll Bar so interior trims will not be reinstalled

Sunroof wind deflector
0.5
If your car is equipped with an acrylic deflector mounted on the roof, the metal retractable deflector is there for nothing.

Replace OEM steering wheel by a Momo wheel
1.5
The OEM wheel weights a full 4 pounds (non-airbag version)!

Replace crank pulley by UOR�s aluminium underdrive pulley
2.5
Eliminate parasitic losses (more hp to the wheels) + reduce inertia on crank shaft + reduce static weight. Too bad you can�t the part when you lift the hood!

Remove DRL power resistor
0.5
In my case I rewired the DRL function to the driving lights in the corner lamps so the bulky resistor to lower the high beam intensity can be removed

Remove hood insulation
0.5
Why would I want to reduce that sweet engine noise?

Remove undercarpet insulation or "fuzz"
2
That stuff is light but there a pile under the carpets!

Remove firewall insulation
8
Only removed driver and passenger side of thick rubbery mat and fuzz. Behind center console was too hard to reach without pulling the dash (probably another 2 pounds there)

Remove spare tire
12.0
A can of puncture sealer should do the job. If the wheel is damaged you would probably need a towing since the suspension will also be hurt

Remove jack and crank
5.0
If you don't have a spare why lift a wheel?

Remove front windshield washer fluid reservoir and use the rear reservoir
12.5
Since the rear wiper is out, why not relocate some weight to the back? Click here to see empty space.

Remove rear windshield washer fluid reservoir
4
Over a full summer I never used it so ditch it!

Remove hatch headliner
2
What for? No rear seat, no passengers in the back to hit their head against the hatch!

Remove passenger side
0.5
Sounds silly but that thing weight almost 2/3 of a pound. Passengers if they dare climb in the car will need sunglasses now�.

Replace OEM cat-back by a custom cat-back, remove heat shields on exhaust, remove resonator heat shield on car
13.0
My new custom exhaust is missing the weight of a pair of flanges + a pre-silencer + heat shields + body heat shield over resonator location

Remove rear floor mats
1.5
No passengers, no mats�

Remove cargo cover
4.0
No rear seat, anything to hide?

Remove rear seat belts
6.0
No rear seat

Empty glove box
1.0
Owner's manual

Engine hooks + bolts
0.5
I don't plan to swap the engine again in the upcoming week�

Sound deadening mat'l over fuel tank/pump
3.0
Removed the thick mat under the rear seat

Remove tools
3.0
Wrench, wheel blocks

Front tow hooks
5.0
Bulky and heavy steel; probably to be replaced by a single aluminium one just in case...

Remove rear speakers
3.0
Sound was crappy anyway�

Relocate battery
add weight

In my case, 33 lbs shifted rearward (sealed battery box + 16' of 2 gauge wire added 9 lbs - battery tray and tiedown bolts removed saved 3lbs). I know I gained 6 pounds there but the weight transferred to the back is well worth it

Trade S/S scuff plates for the OEM plastic scuff plates
3.5
Stainless scuff plates were really nice but too heavy!

Remove fog lights
?
It's unlikely I encounter fog on a race track...

Remove Brake Dust Shields
2.5
Dust sheilds? Not to sure about that. The front one might provide some kind of heat protection while the rears might help keeping the rotors free of water? Let's give it a shot! Afterall this is unsprung weight!

Steel Vacuum tubing on rear head
1
I noticed that 5/8" steel tubing the last time I removed the intake manifold. It connects the rear valve cover to the intake pipe and front valve cover but in my KL version the last end of the pipe is blocked. So I removed it and used a flexible hose. There was also twin small vacuum pipes which one was unused so again flex pipe solved this!

Wheels
36
For racing purposes I had the luck of finding decent Toyo RA-1s in size 205/50/15. For those who do not know these tires, lets simply say the treadware rating is 30. I mounted the tires on American Racing's Estrella in 15x7". Weight of the wheel/tire combo: 35lbs. Weight of my 16" ATP's and Toyo T1+: 44 pounds which is already a bit less than the average wheel. Weight reduction is there but most importantly, reduction of unsprung weight and inertia is a big factor.

Relocate water bottle
0
Some folks might find this one funny. I relocated the water bottle where the battery was originally sitting. OK no big gain here but what the heck? It's 2.5lbs shifted from the nose to behind the front axle...

Racing Seat
9.5
Never thought the OEM seats were that heavy! 33lbs each. I replaced the drivers seat with a lightweight (14lbs without brackets) Momo "Start" fiberglass seat. Seat mount and sliders were modified to fit the Momo seat.

Carbon Fiber Radiator support
1.5
OEM stamped steel rad support was swapped in favor of SRD's Carbon fiber support. As a bonus, gives a 10hp boost when you open your hood to strangers!

Aluminium Crossmember
1.5
The 4.5lbs flexy OEM crossmember was replaced by a much stiffer in many ways SRD billet unit.

Coil overs
13.0
Ground control springs are 4 lbs lighter than the large OEM springs. Plus, removing the spring seating base & top & spring insulators and� from the shock�s body yields another 9lbs (coilover sleeves will now seat on a steel sleeve welded to the shock�s body)

Doorlocks
0.5
I don�t think I would need to unlock the passenger door when strapped in the racing seat. Gone are the LH switch, RH actuator and timer modules.

Passenger seat
33
Race-trim only

Tar insulation
?

Hi-Flow Cat
3.5
Stock Cat swapped for a CATCO hi-flow cat. Not only it released 4hp & 5lbs/ft, the cat is significantly lighter. From a 12� long catalyst, the new one has only 6� of restriction.

Total
241.5

K8Boosted · Post by **K8Boosted** » November 21st, 2007, 11:46 pm

i live in hick vill northern wisconsin i have 3 farm wiegh stations all withen 2 miles of my house... i weigh my car weekly the mx is on a strict diet dont want her getting fat

Post by **Mooneggs** » November 22nd, 2007, 1:36 pm

K8Boosted wrote:i live in hick vill northern wisconsin i have 3 farm wiegh stations all withen 2 miles of my house... i weigh my car weekly the mx is on a strict diet dont want her getting fat

nice... so how much does yours weigh??

Raven95150 · Post by **Raven95150** » November 22nd, 2007, 4:22 pm

teribble wrote:I know that glass sucks! it kinda make's the car top heavy! just take it out if you don't mind the wind in you hair. lol I know someone has a show car they took an mx3 and put a del sol hatch on it or something like that. it looks sweet i'll try to find some pics.

Rather than taking the glass out, why not just take the whole hatch off? That thing has to weigh like 50 lbs and you can easily put it back on if you want to.

Tunes67 · Post by **Tunes67** » November 22nd, 2007, 6:20 pm

Trade S/S scuff plates for the OEM plastic scuff plates
3.5
Stainless scuff plates were really nice but too heavy!

This statement is utterly false. The SS Scuff plates may weigh an ounce or two more than the plastic ones.. but I doubt it. The metal is very thin. The person that originally made that statement probably had never even seen them let alone held them.

Tunes67

rccardude04 · Post by **rccardude04** » November 25th, 2007, 7:13 pm

lol @ removing the hatch. I would, but I want to keep the car driveable on the street as well. It will probably see the track a couple times a year, but I also want to be able to drive it ~1x per week, especially when it's nice outside.

Nd4SpdSe, I appreciate the breakdown of parts. I did a quick search but didn't come up with a whole lot.
-Eric

Post by **Mooneggs** » November 26th, 2007, 1:22 pm

rccardude04 wrote:lol @ removing the hatch.

lol @ not removing the hatch.... I had my hatch removed for a summer and it was like driving a convertible... of course the entire car was gutted but man that thing was so much lighter...

I do not know if it was legal but I never got pulled over

Whisper · Post by **Whisper** » November 26th, 2007, 5:35 pm

Wouldn't removing your hatch screw up your aerodynamics? The hatch probably helps the airflow over the car, without it you'd have some turbulence there that will probably cause drag.