Quote:
Originally Posted by Cobb
Does weight really play that much role in mpg? I know Ive read from time to time about people lighten their vehicles and achieve X. I know on insightcentral and youtube Ive neen one of the higher if not highest mpg achievers with the gen 2 insight and I check in at over 6 ft and over 350 lbs. Infact I have to have a special office chair as I brake the ones that are standard issue or stretch them out of shape. Dont forget the 100 lbs of audio gear I carry to listen to loud music on top of that. 
Still for a manufacturer to loose 700 lbs and keep all the bells and whistles is something else. I bet one of us could easily knock another 700 lbs off.  |
Well the rule of thumb at the dragstrip was every 100 pounds of weight removed resulted in a one tenth of a second reduction in the quarter mile E.T. So if my Nova ran a 12.50, and I gutted the interior etc and pulled out 100 pounds, in theory it should run a 12.40 with no other changes. It doesn't sound like a big change, but if we put that in the perspective of everyday driving, I can see how it could add up. A drag car gets rolling from a dead stop once, and it shows an improvement with weight reduction. So, if we made a smaller weight reduction in a car that is in stop and go traffic all day, then I can see it being beneficial to lose 50 pounds off the car, or the driver for that matter! I personally think that reducing unspring rotational mass is where the biggest, easiest improvements are. There is a reason that serious race cars have lightweight wheels and aluminum driveshafts. I can tell the difference in my Civic when the bigger winter tires are on it vs the summers, and that's only a few pounds at the most. Going from steel wheels to lightweight alloys is probably the easiest thing you can do to make a difference in the way your car feels when it comes to weight reduction. I think the rough guideline for rotational mass is 1 to 4. So if you take 10 pounds of mass out of your wheels, it's like taking 40 pounds out of the rest of the car. Someone please correct me if I am wrong, but reducing rotational mass is the first place to find easy weight savings.
Edit: Oh sure MetroMPG, ninja me with your fancy science and charts and whatnot ha ha