info on weight reduction

[0wn3r]

nismochick, you should at least give the link along with it.... lucky for you i made this post on another forum a long time ago

http://www.importmodifications....html

anywho... if you're worried about balance from the tire or whatever.... just put in an amp and sub in it's place

[TrueSlide]

Lots of those things IMO are impratical, unless your drag racing a monster of a car its not worth it. Even in autoX, etc. etc. Its not going to make a huge difference. Keep your interior/car nice, become a better driver or invest more in performance parts. Hell you can drop a few pounds by taking a dump or sweating off some water weight.

[Red coupe]

damn man switching you spare for a sub hast to be one of the worst Ideas Ive ever head...The numbers and power gains all sound a little optomistic to me personaly...

[Juujai]

http://www.mysportscar.com/fea...x.htm

i agree that most of these things removed are impractical. i'm not too big on weight reduction but these mods also help the car in other ways.

i kept most of my interior for comfort while ditching stuff like aiv, iaa, fender liners, rewiring a lot of stuff... bought some aftermarket parts like fiberglass seats (holds the driver tight also), forged wheels (wider +looks also), lighter exhaust(hp gains+looks), racing battery(will clear intercooler) etc.

some things i want to get in the near future are: dry carbon fiber hood, lighter driveshaft, chromoly flywheel, even sr20det.

while keeping full interior, ac, sound deadening etc. while not really trying to remove weight it will still be easy to knock off ~250lbs without losing the luxuries.

if you got tons of $$$ and want to get down there's fuel cells, magnesium wheels, lots of carbon/titanium/aluminum stuff, and lexan glass
Modified by Juujai at 1:58 AM 10/25/2005

[0wn3r]

yea the info is mainly for heavy-serious drag people who will usually NEVER be driving, daily or not, on the street.

i'm w/ u tho... for the gains it shows, it's kind of like, f-that. i'd rather beat people in style than be sitting on a milk crate attached to an engine.

[RB20DETodd]

I found some really good info on weight reduction... i saw that some people had asked out stock weight and about reduction so here's a lil info i found for all yall niconauts!!

Nissan 240SX Stock Weight - 2859lbs Stock Wheel Weight - 22lbs each/without tires The Nissan 240SX's weigh approximately 2859lbs, depending on the model, with a max difference of roughly 100 pounds from heaviest model to lightest. Dividing by the horsepower of 155, we get about 18.4lbs/hp. So roughly every 18.4 lbs removed from the cars weight will add an effective 1 hp. Gas weighs about 8lbs/gal so 16 gallons in the tank weighs 128lbs. If you have only 1 gallon in the tank, its almost a 7 horsepower equivalent difference. A passenger can make even a bigger difference, not to mention the drivers weight. You can easily remove things like the spare tire and jack, the floor mats, the rear seats, interior panels and anything else.

Listed below are some easily removable items: 1. Passenger Seat (37lbs) - Removing the passenger seat is a very easy and effective way to give your 240SX a small gain in power. The nice thing is that the seat is only held in place by 4 bolts.

2. Rear Seat (29lbs) - The rear seat is a little more complicated to remove than the passenger seat. When removing just remember where everything goes and it should be easy to put back in place whenever needed.

3. Rear Seat Cushion (10lbs) - The rear cushion should be removed at the same time as the rear seat.

4. Floor Mats/Front and Rear (6lbs) - This has to be the easiest weight reduction available for the 240SX owner.

5. Tire Floor Cover (3lbs) - The tire floor cover is right underneath the rear hatch carpeting.

6. Spare Tire and Jack (32lbs) - Another easily removable item.

Total Easy Weight Removal = 117lbs or about a 6.3hp increase. Intermediate Skill Weight Reductions

The weight reductions included below can even prove more effective than some of the reductions included above. However, once you start removing these items you are taking away from the cars overall appearance and in some cases its more predominent ammenities.

7. Air Conditioning (40lbs) - Removing the air conditioning will net you a reduction of about 40lbs. Be sure to remove everything from the engine as well as behind the dash. Should be completed by the experienced only.

8. Front Hood (50lbs) - Replacing the Front Hood with a lightweight fiberglass or carbon fiber hood is a great way to remove some weight around the front end of the car. Total weight reduction will be close to 50lbs or greater depending on the aftermarket hood you choose.. If you dont intend on replacing the entire front hood you could also remove the sound dampener on the inside of the hood. This should help in cooling your engine a little.

9. Stock Wheels (22lbs each/replacement weight from 11lbs each) - Replacing the wheels is a must for anyone seriously interested in increasing their cars performance. The stock wheels are quite heavy and can be replaced with a variety of aftermarket models. We would suggest searching for lightweight wheels. Replacing your wheels with lightweight wheels will dramatically increase your cars acceleration. We suggest not going over 17 inches if maximum performance is what you desire to achieve.

10. Front Drivers Seat (40lbs/replacement weight from 14lbs) - The front drivers seat on the 240SX can easily be replaced with a much lighter alternative A lightweight racing seat will save you considerable weight and will also be effective once you have added more horsepower to your car.

Total Intermediate Weight Removal = up to 188lbs or a 10+hp increase. More Weight Reduction Some of the things listed below can also be removed or replaced with lighter alternatives than stock. Stock Flywheel - Can be replaced with lightweight aluminum flywheels or machined down in excess of just 13lbs.

Stock Steering Wheel - Can be replaced with lighter performance steering wheel with no airbag.

Passenger Airbag Removal - Can save some extra weight as well. (Not recommended for normal driving)

Interior Panels - Both the drivers side and passenger side front door panels as well as the rear panels can be removed to save in excess of over 40lbs.

Stock Speakers - With a weight of over 2 pounds a piece these can also be easily removed.

Rear Hatch Cover - This can simply be removed whenever needed. Weight is close to 6 lbs.

Replace Stock Exhaust - The stock 240SX exhaust weighs considerably more than some of the aluminum aftermarket exhausts. We suggest going with the Stillen or Borla cat-back exhaust.

Wiper Motors - Although they are generally needed under almost all driving conditions they CAN be removed if need be although we do not personally recommend it.

Carpet - Removing the carpet as well as the carpet lining underneath will reduce the cars overall weight by close to 40lbs. Removing excess wiring and bolts and brackets will also net you a reduction of close to 10lbs.

(p.s-> make this a sticky!! haha)

Booo just get a real motor

[Red coupe]

^^^what does that have to do with anything? How is a heavy engine gonna help with turning and stopping? Just adding more power wont match the benifits of a lighter car.

[Nismochick240]

rb20-- its got nothing to do w/ the MOTOR in ur car... its a simple post on how much stuff weights! no big deal at all!

[lee.]

Time to pwn.http://www.mysportscar.com/fea...x.htm

Here's the build up of the car.http://www.mysportscar.com/features/project240/

[Neejay]

Ive been debating on gutting from the front seats back...but Im not too sure...just for daily driving, because I know Im gonna get more road noise.

Daily driving, worth it to gut from the front seats back?

[0wn3r]

read the thread

[edit: no, not really worth it]

[Nismochick240]

sky- its not bad to gut ur car... i gutted mine from the seats back... sounds like the exhaust is louder but no big deal! lol! you dont hear a lot of road noise if ya have a radio!! lol

[Neejay]

read the thread

[edit: no, not really worth it]

Ah, I just read where you said it was mainly for race/track. Gotcha.

[Neejay]

sky- its not bad to gut ur car... i gutted mine from the seats back... sounds like the exhaust is louder but no big deal! lol! you dont hear a lot of road noise if ya have a radio!! lol

Yeah, thats the problem. Someone broke into my car about a month ago, and stole my cd player.

[biggie]

Time to pwn.http://www.mysportscar.com/fea...x.htm

Here's the build up of the car.http://www.mysportscar.com/features/project240/

Yes that is a more detailed list. Guys I know are doing this project and I'm helping out occasionally, think I'm on there a couple times. But good project and great documention.

Edit: It hasn't been updated recently, they are slow. But the engine is in the car now.

[DjPantsSpecR]

it is definately worth it to gut your car. If you're an enormous wuss that thinks exhausts are too loud or whatever, then by all means by a lexus. But the difference between my gutted coupe and my hatch are that night and day. Its really weird to be in a full interior 240, not the other way around.

you'll definately get used to it, and you'll love it when it rains and you hear everything bouncing off the bottom of the car, it really is nice. Road noise is almost negligable, but it does take a lot of radio on the highway to even sound at the right volume

[dickie]

hmmm. im thinking i need to buy a ****ty old coupe and gut it, build an all-motor racecar... now where's MY hundred-dollar car?

[Neejay]

...Road noise is almost negligable, but it does take a lot of radio on the highway to even sound at the right volume

That right there is the only problem I have....no radio...although I might still do it anyway just because I dont have any money, so Im looking for stuf to do. lol

[Doomed2Walk]

How does having a real motor do anything? :P 240sx owners are lucky, starting from a curb weight of 2700-2800. MY05 STi has a curb weight of 3200 and I'm trying to get it down to 3000 without gutting my interior. Nismochick, you're forgetting some of the most important weight reductions (although very costly), reducing rotating mass and unsprung weight. If you reduce rotating mass, for every pound, it's like losing 4 pounds of sprung mass. You had the flywheel and wheels, but you can get aluminum/carbon fiber driveshafts, lighter brake rotors and hubs. Also with most aftermarket suspension components you shed weight there too. A good starting point for 240s is CF hood! Balances the car out a little and the hood on my old S14 was just damn heavy.

[Doomed2Walk]

BTW, anyone else think Nismochick looks like Rachel McAdams in Mean Girls (the blonde version)?

[Neejay]

MY05 STi

Thats all I read. I hate you.

[DjPantsSpecR]

ha neejay, you can just pretend you're ultra badass and gut the speakers too.... then brag about how hardcore you are. don't even put the passenger seat back in. no im just kiddin, no one gets the ladies without the passenger seat, and gutted coupes dont get ladies anyways, and who am i kidding i just plain dont get the ladies anyways...

anyways, i was just kiddin, you can notice literally no difference with the passenger seat in or out. However, it is close to an equivalent of about 2 horse, but thats crank horse, and come on now, you cant notice that.

the point i'm trying to make here, is that it makes your driving experience so much better. I daily drive mine everyday, and in stop and go, and i never want that interior back. You feel much more in touch with the car, and you hear problems and rattles that you wouldn't otherwise here in some situations.

do it, and get rid of that sound deadoning too.... but use a heat gun

[Neejay]

ha neejay, you can just pretend you're ultra badass and gut the speakers too.... then brag about how hardcore you are. don't even put the passenger seat back in. no im just kiddin, no one gets the ladies without the passenger seat, and gutted coupes dont get ladies anyways, and who am i kidding i just plain dont get the ladies anyways...

anyways, i was just kiddin, you can notice literally no difference with the passenger seat in or out. However, it is close to an equivalent of about 2 horse, but thats crank horse, and come on now, you cant notice that.

the point i'm trying to make here, is that it makes your driving experience so much better. I daily drive mine everyday, and in stop and go, and i never want that interior back. You feel much more in touch with the car, and you hear problems and rattles that you wouldn't otherwise here in some situations.

do it, and get rid of that sound deadoning too.... but use a heat gun

lol...I think Im gonna go for it. Gotta wait a bit until it warms up (if it warms back up) before I attempt it though.

[Bosrudorfer]

If you're an enormous wuss that thinks exhausts are too loud or whatever, then by all means by a lexus.

HEY I own a Lexus and I am by fair no wuss... in fact the Lexus has Magnaflow's on her

[DjPantsSpecR]

ha sorry guy, don't take that the wrong way. i cant wait to get my hands on a sc300, i'd trade both 240s for that any day... but then of course id have to strip the crap outta it

however, what i was trying to note is that it makes your 240 sound and feel like the pile of crap it probably is, and not the lexus you roll to your business meetings, all mushy and cushy and other words that dont rhyme

plus no more weight in the rear, so open diff just got that much less fun...

and you know i'm not talking about your mint *** 98 either, i hate you...

[0wn3r]

ha sorry guy, don't take that the wrong way. i cant wait to get my hands on a sc300, i'd trade both 240s for that any day... but then of course id have to strip the crap outta it

however, what i was trying to note is that it makes your 240 sound and feel like the pile of crap it probably is, and not the lexus you roll to your business meetings, all mushy and cushy and other words that dont rhyme

plus no more weight in the rear, so open diff just got that much less fun...

and you know i'm not talking about your mint *** 98 either, i hate you...

you must own 2 S13's... because I was looking at both S14's and SC300/SC400's cuz they both look similar IMO. keep in mind that i think all SC300's were auto...

i disagree with what doomed2walk says about the CF hood. a 240 is said to have 50/50 ratio. A CF hood might bring more balance if you swapped an engine that weighs significantly more (ex. RB26) than the stock (or mostly stock) KA. CF is always gonna be lighter, but just look at what the gains say at that web page.

as for neejay, would you prefer a few hp and sacrifice all of the looks in your interior? you could probably do half and half... correct me if i'm wrong, but there's usually sound-deadener under the seat, get some of that out... or if you take the seats and everything completely out, you could plexi-glass a nice shell to fit inside (no offense, but i don't see you doing the latter..nicely at least)

[Neejay]

as for neejay, would you prefer a few hp and sacrifice all of the looks in your interior? you could probably do half and half... correct me if i'm wrong, but there's usually sound-deadener under the seat, get some of that out... or if you take the seats and everything completely out, you could plexi-glass a nice shell to fit inside (no offense, but i don't see you doing the latter..nicely at least)

Nah, it would just be from behind the front seats to the rear. But to be honest, my car's interior isnt the best thing to look at anyway. And I'd take all the extra hp I could get with the condition my engine's in. And at least I'd be forced to keep the car clean without rear seats (I just throw stuff in the back seats and forget about it)

[DjPantsSpecR]

no one ever looks at it as ft/lbs of torque gained.

i've done enough math tonight i'm not doing any more. screw it

lets say you're fairly healthy stock KA makes 135 wheel torque on a good day. and youre coupe, which has a bunch of gas and you're fat *** in it. So lets assume 2900 lbs for a good square number up from a 2680. Who knows what numbers to believe anyway?

21.48 lbs/ per ft/lb (i dont know how to make the units work out, cuz that is in feet)

it's easy to lose 210 lbs off that car, and who is ever going to complain about "wasting" three to seven hours gaining 10 free ft/lbs to the wheels

free 10 ft/lbs to the wheels

[vvaffle]

21.48 lbs/ per ft/lb (i dont know how to make the units work out, cuz that is in feet)

You can't cancel out the units, it's lbs/ft-lb. And yeah, free 10ft-lb of torque at the wheels is nice. The only reason I am not stripping my car to the bare minimum is that I would like to start racing in the stock autocross classes next summer and weight reduction is not allowed in the stock class.

[dfw240_EE]

Weight reduction is kindof allowed in stock:)

Read the rules, you can remove spare and tools while autocrossing. (this makes more sense than out on the road, and they make good paper weights if you have any papers around) Remove all floor mats, you can't even have a driver's side mat anyways. Remove all trash and papers from cubbys and glove box. In fact they want NOTHING loose in there anyways. Glovebox is legal, but no point. In a fastback I would also feel uncomfortable with the hatch cover. I know it's negligable but it's something.

As for the list, alot of that is impractical to MOST people but I would look through your car and see what you could absolutely do without. For example, you live in Michigan. By all means, dump that A/C! Never have rear seat passengers? Remove the rear seats then. Gives you extra cargo space anyways.