Quote:
Originally Posted by achang1
Ive seen people talk all about modifying their engines, areo mods and what not. but has anyone thought about doing serious weight reductions?
things like replacing your hood, fenders, boot and doors with fibreglass/kevlar/carbon. and replacing some, if not all windows with lexan?
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The tough thing about weight reduction,is that the low-hanging fruit has already been plucked.By the 1980s,carmakers had already trimmed 1200-lbs off the weight of the average car.--------------- With present safety standards,the "mass" of your unibody and bolt-on structures is actually part of progressive deformation and destruction designed for it's crumpling,so as to allow its destruction,while preserving your ability to walk away from a crash and drive another day.------------------- And the gauge of today's steel is so thin (safety and weight reduction),it makes remarkable weight savings,even with composites,hard to pull off.--------------------------- Remember,you've got to lose 10% weight to see a 3.8% increase in mpg.That's 200-lbs off my CRX,and that's hard to do,even with carbon-fiber epoxy.---------------------------- I pretty much gutted the CRX for Bonneville,and the noise/vibration/harshness was so marked,when I got back home,I put everything back in so so I could stand to drive it.I've even added a couple extra pounds of sound-deadener.Early Hondas are really "harsh"!------------------- Adding 1,300-lbs and a second axle to the CRX only cost me 2-mpg on the highway.Once rolling,weight isn't that big a deal.In the city its the biggest deal and aero is meaningless.My solution was,get out of the city.