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The three door hatch is a good design for city driving. It has a short wheelbase and at 2400 lbs, it would be hard to reduce its weight. I would suggest focusing on items which are most furthest and/or highest from your front axle. Such as spare wheel; if it is steel, change it to alloys from a junkyard but keep the size, PCD same. If the engine has to pull your weight, the most work done is hauling mass which is further from the source of torque. In city driving, this is done quite often. Grab handles for rear passengers, if you have them should be removed. Rear seats; if you peel off the fabric and foam, if its a huge stainless steel plate, make holes. Lots of it. Not too big that the foam would sag too much. If you can afford it; Lexan or Acrylic rear window.
Be aware as the car becomes lighter, it is easier to accelerate. You mentioned physics. If you lose lbs, it is easier to accelerate more than before, therefore you use more or the same force/torque than before the weight loss. Here is where people lose the advantage of lightening the car.
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