Hey guys, I know that our engine bay is quite heavy. But I was just curious for guys who are into performance wise. What do you do to make your front lighter? Such as using carbon fiber hood, aluminum or titanium internals etc?. And when you guys buy your products do you also check how much it weights before you install it? I hope we can all pool in some ideas, info and experiences.
NeoDestiny
Two words:
Steve Theodore
Check his online blog (site), and see what he's done for weight reduction - I believe that he's pretty much listed most of the popular items, as well as weights (reduced).
Many start out with the battery relocation, then go from there (single turbo, various items removed, etc.)
Steve Theodore
Check his online blog (site), and see what he's done for weight reduction - I believe that he's pretty much listed most of the popular items, as well as weights (reduced).
Many start out with the battery relocation, then go from there (single turbo, various items removed, etc.)
Yes, but Steve needs to fix or email me the curb weight calculator thing....STEVE WHERE ARE YOU???
start here http://www.supraforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=204789
then search for "weight removal"
then search for "weight removal"
Thanks Adam, but I forgot to add in I still want to retain the overall comfort and make it street legal. But I'll try some of those for sure!
I don't think a Cf hood would do much for the money. Our factory hoods are already pretty light. As far as shaving weights off front, anythings possible if you have the funds for it. I'm not sure how far you wanna go, but if your ballin, there was a talk about the production of Ti rods awhile back, and a someone mentioning a website about billet blocks for the 2j lol..
Perform all of the following and you can shave off 100lbs+: Use light weight battery, take out your spare tires/tools, install a full titanium exhaust/down pipe & replace stock seats with lighest racing seats you can find.
remove heavy bomex bumper and replace with real carbon fiber bumper,if you have euro headlights, swap to 97-98 lights,strip all undercoating and sound deadener ,remove stock hood insulation,strip the car to bare metal if it has been repainted and start fresh,applying only enough material to get coverage,remove the wing, windshield washer bottle,wiper motor and all the mess associated with it, remove rear wiper, antenna,side markers,rear seatbelts,upgrade brakes to carbon,if your car is AEM equipped, clean the wiring harness ,remove charcoal canister,cruise control, ABS.
people are gonna hate but................. remove 2jzgte replace with 3sgte.. still able to make good hp and a reduction in a 100-150 lbs or so possibly more i would say more... did a lil quick search on gooooooooogle seems that 3s's are just over 300lbs and a 2j over 400 probably more oh and this is probably worth a grain of salt 
as others have said, the big money maker for front-specific wt loss is relocating the battery (approx 40lbs). going single can be a significant wt saver, but of course, it is dependent on the size of turbo.
for general wt loss, the other two big money makers (b/c they are relatively cheap and easy, AND offer significant wt reduction), are removing the spare and tools from the back (approx 40lbs iirc), and switching to fixed race bucket seats (approx 30lbs).
as stated, these are approximations; i will, of course, defer to objective data (and Steve Theodore). ha.
craig
for general wt loss, the other two big money makers (b/c they are relatively cheap and easy, AND offer significant wt reduction), are removing the spare and tools from the back (approx 40lbs iirc), and switching to fixed race bucket seats (approx 30lbs).
as stated, these are approximations; i will, of course, defer to objective data (and Steve Theodore). ha.
craig
Steve Theodore's site is good. I read it thoroughly and have managed to remove a significant amount of weight up front to about the cabin / firewall area (airbag and cover). I didn't weigh the car yet but I weighed everything I did and wow the savings were over 100lbs!! Right now I'm trying to figure out an elegant solution to remove the glove box cover because that f****r is also heavy and I don't use it for anything!
I don't like the lightweight battery especially if it's a streetcar so I think using an even bigger battery and relocating it to the trunk is better since standing-start / off-the-line traction and overall weight balance improves more so than just simply shedding weight.
I've also been slowly carving out my front TRD bumper to get more airflow through the engine especially the radiator coz my HKS FMIC just blocks everything and water / coolant temps tend to go up when idling in traffic with the a/c on. That bumper is heavy as f**k and all the way up front too. Same with my TRD / TS hybrid fenders where I've been carving out excess materials and adding ducts and vents to help channel air out of the engine bay and lighten up the front as much as possible.
By the way, if you're bolting on fixed bucket seats, unless you bolt them straight to the floor (like a proper race car) the brackets and sliders weigh a ton!!! (about 20lbs each actually sans the seats themselves)
I also removed the rear seats because it was useless and surprisingly weighed a lot too
I guess in the grand scheme of things this doesn't mean much but it can get fun and addictive removing as much weight as you can from your car hehehehehe
FAIK the CF roof from Seibon doesn't save a whole lot of weight because of all the insulation they add back up but they do say there's a multiplier effect when you remove weight all the way up top as compared to down low by about 4x
I don't like the lightweight battery especially if it's a streetcar so I think using an even bigger battery and relocating it to the trunk is better since standing-start / off-the-line traction and overall weight balance improves more so than just simply shedding weight.
I've also been slowly carving out my front TRD bumper to get more airflow through the engine especially the radiator coz my HKS FMIC just blocks everything and water / coolant temps tend to go up when idling in traffic with the a/c on. That bumper is heavy as f**k and all the way up front too. Same with my TRD / TS hybrid fenders where I've been carving out excess materials and adding ducts and vents to help channel air out of the engine bay and lighten up the front as much as possible.
By the way, if you're bolting on fixed bucket seats, unless you bolt them straight to the floor (like a proper race car) the brackets and sliders weigh a ton!!! (about 20lbs each actually sans the seats themselves)
I also removed the rear seats because it was useless and surprisingly weighed a lot too
I guess in the grand scheme of things this doesn't mean much but it can get fun and addictive removing as much weight as you can from your car hehehehehe
FAIK the CF roof from Seibon doesn't save a whole lot of weight because of all the insulation they add back up but they do say there's a multiplier effect when you remove weight all the way up top as compared to down low by about 4x
This is What I've done.
Remove Stock hood, Replace w/ light weight True Carbon -15lbs savings
Single turbo ~40lbs savings
light weight flywheel
BBK
remove trac control pump
light weight battery
remove a/c condenser and lines
replace stock seats to buckets
remove rear top portion of seats
remove rear speakers
remove rear sub
change out stock heavy ass wheels
remove front crash beam
Titanium nuts and hardware in engine bay
Titanium Exhaust
remove stock amp
remove stock spare and tools
shaved traction control throttle body
i'm right around 3200lbs with a full tank of gas.
adding more power does not make for a well balanced car. Removing weight makes your car faster, nimbler, sharper. Look at all the manufacturers now, they are looking to reduce more weight as their primary goal rather than keep adding hp.
every lb counts. I've still got my creature comforts, full front interior, 6.5" Front Speakers, no a/c (i live in CA). IMHO the only bit of weight i'm itching to take off is from the hatch. You can easily take another 30lbs off the top back portion. And to adjust for weight distribution, corner balance it. I'm at 50/50 cross weight after corner balancing. car is a dream to drive.
Remove Stock hood, Replace w/ light weight True Carbon -15lbs savings
Single turbo ~40lbs savings
light weight flywheel
BBK
remove trac control pump
light weight battery
remove a/c condenser and lines
replace stock seats to buckets
remove rear top portion of seats
remove rear speakers
remove rear sub
change out stock heavy ass wheels
remove front crash beam
Titanium nuts and hardware in engine bay
Titanium Exhaust
remove stock amp
remove stock spare and tools
shaved traction control throttle body
i'm right around 3200lbs with a full tank of gas.
adding more power does not make for a well balanced car. Removing weight makes your car faster, nimbler, sharper. Look at all the manufacturers now, they are looking to reduce more weight as their primary goal rather than keep adding hp.
every lb counts. I've still got my creature comforts, full front interior, 6.5" Front Speakers, no a/c (i live in CA). IMHO the only bit of weight i'm itching to take off is from the hatch. You can easily take another 30lbs off the top back portion. And to adjust for weight distribution, corner balance it. I'm at 50/50 cross weight after corner balancing. car is a dream to drive.
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