15 replies to this topic

[sam138]

How Much weight in my mini will I have to lose to notice a difference in performace ? Today I have removed Rear seats /spare wheel /wheel jack bag /under lay / took up the sound deadening and a few other bits and that was just over 30kg .

[mad mk1]

You need to work out what your going to use it for really mate.

[HarrysMini]

I'm fairly sure I read on here recently that it is something like 10KG loss is equal to 1 HP gain. 

 

So if that is correct, you have effectively gained 3 HP!

[sam138]

Going to be a weekend toy , have been out in it this evening at noticed a difference in 1st and 2nd gear pulled a bit quicker than it did before .

[sam138]

The car is a mini city 1992 any idea of a rough standard weight ?

[markosparko1994]

"Adding power makes you faster on the straights. Subtracting weight makes you faster everywhere" - Colin Chapman

[sonikk4]

Yep it works out roughly for every 10 kgs you lose you gain the equivalent of 1hp so yep in theory you will have an extra 3 hp to move your car now. That is a cheap power increase.

 

There is a formula for it somewhere out there in tuning land.

[cradley-heathen]

"Adding power makes you faster on the straights. Subtracting weight makes you faster everywhere" - Colin Chapman

thats a great quote!

 

a friend of mine races bikes and some of the lengths he has gone to to shed a bit more weight is just amazing!

 

as for the O.P. i have been down the weight saving route myself and i think it makes a huge difference once you get a bit more serious about it. i used to use my last mini for track days, and i would that by going that bit further than most with the weight saving gave me the edge against more powerfull minis (mine was only a 1310cc)

 

i had alloy hubs, alloy drive flanges, alloy calipers, alloy shockabsorbers etc etc, and most original parts had holes drilled in them!

 

look at literally every part on your car, do you need it? if you do need it can you make a lighter one? if not, can you drill holes in the existing one? do that for every part and you will be shedding pounds like your on slim fast!

 

my old cars front end (i know the split pin isnt in the drive shaft)

 

my old minis rear end

 

i got into the habit of weighing everything, by doing some machining on the alloy rear drums, i saved an extra 1.25kg from each drum, and they were already a good few kg lighter than the cast iron ones.

 

reducing weight from these parts makes the suspension work better too!

[mad mk1]

Have a look at my build page as I am hopping to drop to 599kg this year.

[Harrison541]

Have a read of this: http://www.topgear.c...r-car?imageNo=3

 

Top Gear stripped a 207 but the weight loss didn't make any difference to the lap time. They blame it on the car not being set up for the new weight therefore making it unbalanced. 

 

Getting your corner weights set up when your done might be necessary

Edited by Harrison541, 15 February 2014 - 09:31 PM.

[69k1100]

Interesting what happens to alignment and grip. Weight loss isn't isolated, it's part of a package deal like any system in a car. Also if you're going for top speed weight isn't as greater factor as you'd think, it hurts acceleration and manoeuvrability.

[vx220]

Easy way to see how much you'll notice is to ADD some weight. Stick 40kg in the back seat, see if you feel a difference (or measure a difference with a 0-60 iPhone app?)

People jump in the car after stripping it out, and because it is louder it feels faster!

[joakwin]

Shaving weight off the top of you car will help a lot,
But shaving the weight off of your suspension/ brakes/ wheels will help a ton more

I put billet hubs on my car and light weight calipers
My rotors with adapters are about the same but I went from solid rotors to bigger vented rotors

[Carlos W]

Also look at your own weight! Good reason to go on a diet!

There's a company on here that do perspex Windows who come highly recommended by a mate of mine who rolled his golf at brands and said if the side windows had been glass they would've failed!

I've got a single skinned fibreglass boot lid for sale which is really light!

As with most things, it depends how deep your pockets are!

[Moggyton]

Also look at your own weight! Good reason to go on a diet!There's a company on here that do perspex Windows who come highly recommended by a mate of mine who rolled his golf at brands and said if the side windows had been glass they would've failed!I've got a single skinned fibreglass boot lid for sale which is really light!As with most things, it depends how deep your pockets are!

Dot suppose you know of that company mate?