Sunroof Delete and other weight savings

[gavin]

Thanks Sick. But I am thinking that I wont be going down that route(even if I could source a manual rack). Heres why.

First, Ive always thought that the car had pretty decent steering and was getting better and better as more work was done to the car. Of course, its easy to trick yourself into believing all sorts of things when left alone to your own devices. (I can believe I'm the world greatest singer..but that doesnt make it so )

I managed to get drives in 2 EVO8s at the local autocross(nice car/ smallish plasticy interior/ noisy engine). One was stock save for Falken Azenis sport tires, the other, very modified for Street prepared. The Evo is lauded as a car that has very quick steering....Well, It felt very familiar. In fact Id go further and say that my car had way better turn-in at low speed. Hmm.

More recently I have been loaning my car to other autocrossers so they can drive it in the hopes of getting feedback (what did you like?, not like?, think should be kept?, changed?). One thing that has come back the 3 times I have done this is...very quick steering (and, naturally, LOTS of torque/ Needs an LSD ASAP!, blah blah blah)

The combination of items on the car seems to be accentuating the inherent benefits of the stock rack. Sure it would be nice to lose some extra weight there, but it looks like Ive got a good thing going. Unless the manual rack is WAY better than the PS rack, Im not too inclined to change anything. I think Id be better off looking for performance elsewhere.

Gavin

[Dyoel182]

I'm also impressed with our quick response steering. Unlike some cars (I'm looking at you Nissan) our cars turn right when we want them to and at times remind of the response of a Mini Cooper ( the handling king).

[gavin]

Hmm. BMW MINI. Have to see about snaging a ride in one of those. Ive heard the same about those cars. Very quick turn-in. Would be nice to compare.

Funny. The people who drove my car commenting on its quick turn-in come from cars that have tight turning radii. Much more so than the MX6. (Hmm, must investigate).

There is still about 100lbs of weight that can be shed from the car I believe. But it will be a bit harder to get to as the larger and most obvious pieces have been dealt with. Theres the AC core under the dash, Aluminum flywheel, aluminum crank pulley, lighter exhaust and turbo headers, lighter strut bodies and a host of smaller pieces here and there. Most of that will have to wait though as it effort required to get to them will be great and there are other arenas that can be attended to that can increase performance with less effort.

Have to get this thing weighed one of these days.

Gavin

[skiingman]

Originally Posted by gavin

Funny. The people who drove my car commenting on its quick turn-in come from cars that have tight turning radii. Much more so than the MX6. (Hmm, must investigate).

Coincidence, me thinks. Maybe there is a relation.

What cars were these people coming from? I wonder what their steering ratios are, expressed angularly. That is to say, how much wheel angle is input for a given steering angle, rather than the typically available lock to lock figure. Should be easy enough to calculate with the lock-to-lock number and the turn radius. Name some cars and I'll dig up the numbers. Only thing that might throw a wrench in that comparo is if the different cars have widely ranging amounts of Ackermann, which I really doubt.

Mazda really does know how to sort a steering rack though. Its one of the primary reasons I enjoy Mazdas.

I would really, really enjoy 1.5 turn steering, at least to try. One turn prolly wouldn't be streetable...
-Garrett

[gavin]

Cool. Someone else wants to do the dirty work.

94 EG Civic Si
87 VW MKII Scirocco(actually a MKI golf manual rack swapped in)
03 Lancer EVO VI

Mazda really does know how to sort a steering rack though.

You may be right. This may all be the result of Mazdas constant fiddling with ahead-of-its-time technologies (2 different types of "speed sensitive" steering racks for the 2wd cars)

Gavin

[gavin]

Bringing this one back for an update.

Radio Delete

Id been really slow to do this one because of an error on my part. I had thought there was no provision in the rules for me to fully remove the stereo system unless there was a "radio delete" option in my car. This turns out not to be the case. The radio and speakers can be removed fully. the remaining holes however must be covered in some way(no gaping holes).



Ive always been amazed at the sound quality the stock system produces with only 4 speakers. Even though I never really used the radio that much I will miss the sound it produced.



The block off plate that now resides where the radio used to be.

All told the radio unit and speakers accounted for 10lbs

Its been pretty easy and cheap to remove the weight from the car to this point(theres still one thing that needs removing). But from here things will get more invasive and expensive to remove weight(and still be in the ruleset that I compete in). The good news is that the weight will be primarily from the front of the car...the bad news is that it comes from things like the flywheel, crank pulley, lighter rims, aluminum shock bodies. The costs start to rise, but I will continuine to remove weight as sensibly and cost effectively as I can

Gavin

[D7ig]

hi!

good work, gavin!

i have stolen so much ideas from your car

currently i am removing weight from my car, too.

if you have a weekend, you can do a few weight-safings more. look at this picture:

picture 1

(1): very easy to remove and this mat weights very much.
(2): bitumen-mats sucks! very difficult to remove and you have to repaint the interior.

picture 2

you see, a bit naked steel!

after repainting:

picture 3

current state:

picture 4

if you have removed the dashboard, you will find 1000 other things were you can save weight

the heating-system would save very much weight, too, but who drives a car without a heating-system?

bye,
daniel

[gtdreamdxbudget]

daniel, one thing to remember for gav in weight.. there class rules for the autox competitions that need to be kept such as the interior.. not allowed to run without one unless he wants to be bumped into a higher class..certainly if i thought i could get away with it, id have carpet in the rear about where the back seat currently resides

[retsamaksrepus]

Hey gavin, do you still have the sunroof motor and auto-seatbelt assemblies?

[gavin]

D7ig....as gtdreamdxbudget said. Im restricted in some areas regarding weight reduction(interior panels, rear seats, dash, etc). There are enough allowances that help things greatly though.

What did you use to remove the sound deadning? Just a simple hammer and chisel? Nice (uncracked) dash..hmmm.

retsamaksrepus....I still do have the auto seatbelt assemblies and the sunroof. I was planning to send the sunroof overseas but the size is proving to be an issue.

Gavin

[D7ig]

Originally Posted by gavin

D7ig....as gtdreamdxbudget said. Im restricted in some areas regarding weight reduction(interior panels, rear seats, dash, etc). There are enough allowances that help things greatly though.

uhm, okay.

Originally Posted by gavin

What did you use to remove the sound deadning? Just a simple hammer and chisel?

partly yes. i tried to use different methods:
over the tank it was very easy with the chisel/hammer, the same on the firewall and some parts on the floor. for the rest i used a hot hair-drier and a scraper, then a bit nitro and cloths for finnishing

daniel

[gavin]

Late addition



Fidanza flywheel

I semi-mentioned this in this previous thread (Gavins DIY Gurumotorsports Differential install(Huge)(lots of pics)) but just to make it official, Ill add it here. Where the stock flywheel is 23lbs the aluminum item is 10lbs for a savings of 13lbs

This is an expensive 13lbs I have to say, and from here on in additional weight savings will be pricey.This was to be expected though and there is the consolation that the weight savings will come with additional performance benefits.

Gavin

[gavin]

So I recently got the car weighed and balanced. I finally got to see what all of this work has netted me. Final tally for the car....

race ready(no spare, no jack, no floor mats, @1/4 tank of gas, RX7 wheels w/225/50/16 tires) without me in the car the car weighs...

2592lbs

This is actually lower than I would have figured. I figured somwhere between 2600-2650 so I am quite pleased. I am even more pleased because...theres more weight that can be legally removed(full stock exhaust?) I think I be able to get the car down to 2500lbs. We will see.

Gavin

[Mr.JasonBH]

thats not... bad....
With an LX body and a GT motor,
With a Spare, a hydraulic Jack and a 1/4 tank of gas, my 17's, (seats were taken out)
My car weighed 2624...

With me in it, 2850 :P

[LARKEN]

Im going to pull my sunroof too. That thing leaks when it rains. You don't know until you go in reverse, then a ton of water runs down your neck.

I put 19 Lb integra seats in mine. I also cut out the trunk floor and put in a piece of 1/16 aluminum. Removed AC, rugs,radio, gastank (it was rusty) and put small marine tank in trunk. The car weighs 2625 right now.
Who can get their car under 2400 Lbs.!