Quote:
Originally Posted by Elmer_Fudd
Light rims will improve acceleration but decrease highway gas mileage.
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That's not entirely true - at least not in a broad and general sense.
You're talking about the weight being able to maintain momentum more easily..
in our cars, its more a function of the flywheel's ability to hold inertia.
our drive train, power band, and etc is actually fairly efficient for highway cruising - lighter rims *may* hurt this if they are a many-spoked design, or other aerodynamically inefficient attributes.
another thing to consider is the fact that most ppl who bother putting rims on also put on some sort of performance tire, which is usually of a softer compound than all weather comfort radials.. this increases tire drag slightly, which adds up to less mileage (percentages of a decimal point however)
If someone found a lightweight, full face rim OR a rim with spokes designed both to minimalize turbulence, and draw air out from the bottom of the car - a-la colin chpaman (lotus) design then you would get the gain from lighter weight, as well as better mileage.
re: weight redux... there isn't a lot of room to remove weight in this car withough affecting your creature comforts.
spare tire/jack/non essential portable items was already mentioned.
Lightwight battery that you DONT need to jump? batcap 8xx. Useful as a start battery with 800=something cranking amps, but it isn't very cold-climate friendly. 14lbs which is a significant savings over regular batteires at 26+ lbs.. and a big savings over premium batterys - an optima redtop, for instance weighs 31+lbs.
stripping the interior is a multi-tiered discussion. I wish Howlett was around
frankly.. you don't save much weight at all by ripping out the seats. They are light with the exception of the driver's seat. Swap the power leather for a non power cloth seat and you save about 20 lbs.
Where there IS some weight to be shaved while still keeping a reasonable interior is under the carpeting in the cabin and trunk. the factory sound deadening and mass loading material makes up at least 15-20 lbs. good luck getting it off though lol. its a bitch.
the carpeting adds 10. 15 if you also have a 4 piece set of mats.
what else... everything from speakers (1lb each stock) to pedal rubber.
sunroof motor and assembly is a pig at 7 lbs.
rear spoiler is a couple of pounds. rear strut is a pound (you only really need 1 very good one, instead of 2 mediocre ones lol)
the power antenna can be replaced with a lighter weight sail antenna, and the motor is also a bit of weight savings.
the fiberglass matting under the hood is almost 2 lbs.
speaking of under the hood - there are so many un-needed brackets and bolts. I shouldn't say un-needed.. just.. you can easily get along without a lot of them. being able to strip 10 lbs of crap under the hood, after replacing with zip ties is very feasible.. without removing any functionality.
the e-brake setup (handle, assembly, cable, various anchor points, and arm on the caliper) can be removed to save 8-10 lbs.
an aluminum short shifter will be 1/2 a pound lighter than stock.
running a shorty exhaust (exits on the side, either just behind front wheel or just in front of rear wheel (better)) with thin wall piping, no cat and a small race muffler can save 15-20 lbs.
a set of 20 race lugs will be about 1.5lbs lighter than stock chrome lugs.
the trunk lid doesn't really weigh a lot in the first place.. so a full CF one might be saving you 3-4 lbs.
Better weight savings comes up front. fiberglass fenders, and a cf or fiberglass hood can save you 12-15 lbs.
The rear windscreen glass is very heavy. 45 lbs or so. a piece of lexan cut and bent to fit will be <5. It will also be extremely expensive, and will shatter if broken. very easily scratched too.
the dash. the dash pieces total up to about 25lbs, and the various looms of wire and assorted [shizzle], when simplified, save you another 5 lbs in "extra" bolts, tape, padding, shielding, etc.
a single high power flexalite fan will weight 5-6 lbs less than the stock dual fan assembly.
the bumper supports are what.. 5 lbs each?
the trunk latch (3lbs or so) can be replaced with light weight hood pins.. save 2 lbs that way.
It seems like nit picking, but a pound here, 2 lbs there is the difference between a 2600lb mx6 and a 2480lb mx6.
all of these though are getting more extreme - The mx6 is already a fairly light car, and until you get extreme with it, unless you're willing to give up creature comforts, or spend money replacing stocker parts with light weight parts, you won't be saving much more than 75lbs or so. I've seen 2280 lbs no options and fully stripped mx6's though
