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Old 04-13-2016, 08:45 PM   #4
jakeru
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Join Date: May 2015
Location: Greater Seattle, WA
Posts: 534
Quote:
Originally Posted by jcslocum View Post
Or, you can just go to any local truck stop, quarry, large landscape place or recycling center that has a scale and drive over it. They will tell you the weight. At least here in the USA.
That it will - but it won't give corner weights (weights of each corner). This is typically only really useful if you have ride height adjustments, however (if so, you can dial in the cross-weights to be 50%, which can help balance and equalize handling in the left vs right directions.)

However, most race car prep shops have individual scales set up properly (need to be calibrated on a perfectly flat surface to give the best results - but this is more important as the spring rates go up.)

I've gotten basically free corner weights before myself at the larger national-level autocross events where some classes have minimum weights (they will typically have scales set up at such events for the minimum-weight classed cars to drive up to for policing the rules compliance at such events - however, I've found the scales are available for use by other competitors when not needed by the minimum-weight classed cars. If you asked nicely, and catch them when they're not busy, the folks running the scales could probably even accommodate weighing a car that's not entered in the event. However, the scales set up at such events typically wouldn't be an flat-calibrated surfaces, like you'd find at a race car prep shop.

Don't forget to take your weights with driver in the seat and with car set up as if you would be competing! (Spare tire or junk in the trunk? Right amount of gas in the tank? On a boxster, even the top being open vs closed could have a measuresble effect. Don't forget to set the tire pressures too!)

OP, I calculate you have a cross-weights of 49.3%, which is good! But it's also what I would expect if you are running a matched set of (relatively soft) stock springs on a boxster that also hasn't had any serious body/frame damage. (Once you get into adjustable height coilovers, you really should be thinking about getting your cross-weights checked and dialed in.)

But Jcscocum also makes a good point that for just for general overall car weighing duty, there are many other options which would be easy and convenient (at least in the US).
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Last edited by jakeru; 04-13-2016 at 09:08 PM.
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