Weight Loss

[edevlin]

I don't track my 2000 Boxster (yet!), but I, like many, enjoy its responsiveness. In an effort to make my 2.7L a little quicker, I have picked up a few hp with intake, exhaust and ECU chip. Now, I am looking at any inexpensive (no carbon fiber hoods please) ways to lighten the car. I have thought of new seats, but they are too expensive and I love the fit and feel of the stock seats.

So I am looking hard at the spare tire and battery as possibilities. I have been reading the posts about the pros and cons of having a spare tire. I think I would be O K with a compressor and can of tire goo like the later-generation cars.

I took out my spare tire and jack kit on my car and it weighed 29 lbs. My battery weighs about 44 lbs. If I lose the spare and change the battery to a Brille lightweight unit which weighs about 10 or 15 lbs, depending on the model, I can save about 50 lbs off the front of the car, and that takes into account adding a compressor and can of goo.

This seems like a pretty cheap way to save some weight (and add boot space). The cost would be about 200.00 for the battery and 100.00+ for a used compressor on ebay, lets see, thats about $6.00/lb..... Has anyone tried this or have any opinions?


Ed

:dance:

I took my spare out of my Z3 and was lucky to never need it. You might also be lucky (yes im the devil on his shouler). Well, you could always strip the car, lol. Take out cd player, climate control, center console, door panels, passenger seat, all the carpet, and put on some light weight magnesium wheels and tires.

Atkins or South Beach??

[djomlas]

i took my spare out of my camaro, and no joke, 4 hrs later had a flat. true story.

we were on the way to the beach too...great, my buddy was in the area and he drove it to my car, but what a bummer

also, what is it like 100lbs equals to aproximately 1hp?

aso, carpets weigh a lot, any kind of soundproofing, radio, speakers, storage delete...just a few more oprions.
in my e30 we took out over 30lbs of soundproofing outta just the trunk

[Boxtaboy]

You can run without the spare tire, but I'm not sure if it helps with any frontal crash energy dissipation or not. Prob. not, but the new 987 models although they run without them, do have a redesigned, reinforced frontal structural area to improve the crush protection of the leg/feet area.

As for the lightweight battery, unless you don't use the radio or other accessories much, I'd personally forgo that idea. With the small battery, I'd think with just a couple openings/closings of the softop without the engine on, and your battery would be out of juice.

You could prob. lose some weight by stripping unnecessary items like a rear storage box/speaker kit, front lower center console (GT3 console delete), that shelf that holds the owner's manual located below the steering wheel, etc.