"Amazing! People want to install a light weight battery, then they install 200 pounds of stereo upgrades: amps, speakers, head units. Probably drive with the golf clubs in the trunk too."
To each his own. I like my stereo and a light car. My outboard amps, subwoofer, head unit and lightweight battery weigh less than the factory battery. That way I save a few lbs and still have the audio rig I want.
Saving weight does make our cars quicker and more responsive, but how much weight is necessary to lose, and what are each of us willing to go through to save it? I dont know, seems like I can notice 40-50 lbs weight savings on how the car handles, and I can easily feel 100 lbs. Try putting a 50 lb bag of dogfood in the passengers seat a see if you can notice a difference in performance.
If someone is autocrossing and has an older car, to put a lightweight battery in and if they lose their spare tire, thats about 50 lbs savings that most could feel. Is it worth the bother and expense, depends on the owner. Owning these cars is a hobby/passion for many of us, and messing around with them is part of the game.
Is it cost effective to try to increase performance by losing weight? Mostly it is not, a battery is probably the cheapest way to lose a fair amount of weight. Most of the ways available to save weight are quite expensive and would not make sense to many:
Lose spare-if you have one 0K 25 lbs
Light weight flywheel 1K l5 lbs
Full exhaust system 4K 25 lbs
Lightweight seats 2.5K 48 lbs
Lightweight battery <0.2k 20+ lbs
Looks like you could pretty much put a larger engine in the car for the cost of all of those mods. But hey, if thats what floats your boat, so be it.....
Ed
