Losing weight
 

I was running numbers and a 99' Boxster has 201hp and weights 2776lbs unmodified.

With my exhaust my Boxster has at least 206hp and weights 2760lbs.

Now if I remove the spare tire and all the other extra crap I have in the car I think I can easily get it around 2700ish.

Has anyone removed close to 100lbs from there Boxster? Did you actually notice a difference?

I'm just trying to get as much from it as is(while keeping it a daily driver) before I decide to buy headers and other bolt ons. I figured losing weight and extra crap would be better then adding bolt-on parts. With bolt on parts I only gain power and potential problems. If I can shed weight properly the car should be quicker,brake better and handle better.

Thanks for the input!

what are you thinking of removing?

-As I said I started with the new exhaust,shed 16lbs right there.

-I will remove the spare tire and put the GT3 console delete kit,that should be near 30lbs alone right there.

-The next phase would be running the car on a 1/2 tank of gas MAX. I've noticed a difference from a full tank compared to 1/2-2/5,so I think I'll continue to only fill it up to 1/2 tank.

*A full tank is 15.3 Gallons.

1 GALLON of gasoline weighs 6.152 lbs

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_much_does_one_gallon_of_gasoline_weigh

If I only buy 7.5 Gallons I save 45lbs.

Now that should get it down to 2687lbs at most(not including extra small stuff in the car)

-Remove all the extra small stuff in the car;2 full CD cases,10 pairs of grocery store sunglasses in the side drawer,a backpack full of spare parts I have in the front trunk,remove the booklet/manual that came with the car,clear out the rear storage compartment,clear out the change in the change holder in the center console,pull the plastic shelf underneath the driver side dashboard.

I've had my brother,add 160lbs, in the car and I can easily tell that I lose a lot of speed with him in it. I figure that is I lose 100lbs it should be to my benefit but I could be wrong and I'm hoping that someone else could chime in.

I'm a drag racer. In the quarter mile, every 100lb reduction is worth 1/10 of a second. Doesn't sound like a lot, but in drag racing 1/10 of a second is everything.

Check some of Ed Devlin's posts. He's having success removing weight from his car.

The first thing I would do is remove your battery and replace it with a Braille or other lightweight battery. They weigh 10-15 lbs depending on which one you get, that can save you 30 lbs or so.

After that, weight savings gets quite expensive. Going to a single set of high-flow cats and headers can save another 25 lbs, and give you a few extra hp, but doing so can result in CEL error codes if not done correctly (I know this from experience).

Ed

:cheers:

yeah get some cat bypasses fabbed up, few pipes cant cost that much, that should save you some weight right there...
maybe lighter carpeting, i remember in old bmws they pull almost 35lbs of carpeting and sound deadening materials,on the spec Porsche, they have the rear spoiler all the way up and no motor to run it anymore, stays up all the time, CD changer, possibly wiring for it, then if youre really serious get rid of the AC and radio and everything that comes with it,
and lastly, put YOURSELF on diet hehehe

Dude I'm 5 8" and 138lbs at 7.5% body fat,theres not much left to lose.

Get a hair-cut and drive naked! :)

Sounds like a great i deal ill try that today
:cheers:

Ha I almost did the exact thing yesterday. I got a haircut in the morning and went to the beach. Drove back shirtless and barefoot,all I had was swim trunks on and a towel underneath me.

The first thing I would do is remove your battery and replace it with a Braille or other lightweight battery. They weigh 10-15 lbs depending on which one you get, that can save you 30 lbs or so.

How much are the Braille batteries? Do I need a custom mounting kit?

After that, weight savings gets quite expensive. Going to a single set of high-flow cats and headers can save another 25 lbs, and give you a few extra hp, but doing so can result in CEL error codes if not done correctly (I know this from experience).

Changing the cats is a no-go here in California on the non e-gas,the e-gas folks can get away with it.

The easiest weight saver would be to remove the plastic box, above the engine if your car has one, that should be 20+ lbs, then you could remove the speakers, floormats, passenger seat. :D

GT3 seats.

I'm trying to see how much I can get out the car w/o dropping money.

If I were to drop that kind of money I would buy at least headers,those will easily make my Boxster faster compared to GT3 seats for the price. I would be iffy about buying them anyways,too many people said they aren't comfortable.

I was in your position a while ago. I took out my seats and was going to take out the carpeting and center console. When I got them out I saw the carpet is under the shifter housing and E-brake, while ive taken them out before for my short shift, i didnt feel like it and left the carpet in. The is the carpet behind the seats, thats about 7 pounds, carpet above the engine, another 10, front and rear trunk carpet weighs like 1 pound each, not worth it if youve ever felt how light they are. The wood under the rear trunk carpet is an option though, a good 10-15 pounds there. Run center console-less, buy a light weight ebay wheel, new battery. Im buying GT3 seats next month hopefully, Ive finally saved enough, now im just waiting to save up back up cash so im not stretching myself. If you are adventurous, take out all your carpet and drive around. See if you like it.

Dude Jon did the car feel different when you removed the seat and such from the car?

i drove w no passenger seat, and engine covers no diff in speed, but i was almost deaf.
you need to loose a lot of weight off the car to notice any kind of diff

You are right. They are not very comfortable for daily driving. A lot of GT3 owners have removed them in favor of other seats so there are quite a few good nearly new ones around for cheap. They are light weight though.

2800lb / 201 hp = 13.9 lb/hp.

2700lb / 201 hp = 13.4 lb/hp

2600lb / 201 hp = 12.9 lb/hp

* Boxster S - lets say 2850lbs / 252hp = 11.3 lb/hp
* 2.7 non s - 2800/217 = 12.9 lb/hp

Thus, loosing 100lbs is like gaining 7.4 hp. Yes, you should notice this, but.. how exactly are you expecting to see the benefit? Fuel Mileage? Cornering? Acceleration? I imagine that unless you are in "ideal situations" you might never notice the difference.

I know others have a list of ways to save weight.. but even saving weight can get expensive...

Seats an easy way to loose weight.. your seats likely weigh 50lbs each. Lightweight race seats are about 20lb each (save 60-70lbs)

Mufflers - could save 30lbs here

Wheels and tires - could save 10lb/corner = 40 lbs

Remove all unnecesary trim pieces/radio/speaker

Lightweight battery -10-15lbs?

Spare and toolkit - 20lbs?

Seats an easy way to loose weight.. your seats likely weigh 50lbs each. Lightweight race seats are about 20lb each (save 60-70lbs)

Do the base non-option OEM seats really weight 50lbs? Can someone confirm this for me?

I was just looking at different seats anyway
http://www.ltbmotorsports.com/momostart2007.html
only weight 19lbs. That may be something to consider.