2011 hyundai accent weight reduction (looking for some advice)
 

Hello i am current trying to reduce even more weight off of my 2011 hyundai accent. Its a gl so not ac or power windows/locks. I deleted the power steering and the stupid engine cover. I am going to be putting al rims on when i am done cleaning them up and deleting the tpms set up also. Now i am at the point of looking at what is a good buy for weight reduction or easly deleted that i over looked

Aside from deletions, buying stuff for weight reduction is really not cost effective at all.
When the battery dies you might be able to replace it with lithium ion and relocate it away from the engine compartment. Only problem is they don't like engine bay heat or below freezing weather.
But you could get a 20 to 30 pound weight reduction with the battery.

Ive thought about a lifepo4 battery. I am planning on taking the money from the stuff i took off to do other mods at no cost.

Start with the rotational mass, if you are willing to dump money into the project (though, read on below for plenty of cheaper/free weight reduction tips!). Light weight wheels are a perfect start! I used to buy the lightest wheels for the buck I could, which was the Rota Slipstreams at the time. The difference between these and heavy rims, for acceleration, was very noticeable. City driving, it should net you a little MPG, though most aluminum wheels will come with challenges in the aerodynamic department.

Another one that kills weight and adds "umph" is aluminum drive pulley. I'm sure there is a little MPG to gain, as it takes weight directly off the engine's rotational mass, but probably not a lot. An under-drive pulley sends less power to the accessories, giving even more reving hapiness, likely giving you further MPG gains, but each car responds to this differently and you will want to do your research before going this route.

Ridding of sound deadener from the factory and using carefully placed, higher quality deadener will yield in about the same results, but save you ~20-30 lbs pretty easily. Carpet padding is another thing you can take out, but will gain a tad bit of road noise. You can usually find thick insulation on the firewall inside the cab that is pretty heavy as well.

Your best bet is basically remove as much interior as you are willing to remove, analyze it, and put back what you believe you need. You'd be surprised how many little things are in there that you may think you don't need. e.g. my Insight had a metal plate in the steering column cover that I saw unnecessary, so I yanked it out. Why lug around even an ounce of weight if it does nothing for you? Sure, maybe some of it is there for a reason, but if those reasons don't fit with your agenda, YANK IT OUT! Course, be very sure of what you pull out. You don't want to compromise your safety too much, now do ya? (though, airbags are heavy... are they worth your life?)

I like to find the small things that I don't need... here's a spreadsheet to my insight, for example. In my old Neon, I was willing to cut sheet metal and bracing out to save weight. Hell, I took bolts I deemed too long and cut them down! Or replaced them with zipties, where deemed safe to do so... :) My Insight, I'm a little more reserved about making permanent and extreme changes. Every car is different, but has a lot in common with the same weight-reducing capabilities. All depends on how extreme you are willing to go!

Just an FYI, if you aren't primarily city driving, weight reduction is going to net you close to nothing in MPG. Sacraficing weight to get aerodynamic gains is definitely the right way to go for the highway! Examples: wipers, mirrors, antennas, badges, "rub strips" on the doors, emblems, etc.

When adding weight in, consider using aluminum and coroplast. Great for things like grill blocks that, even in city, are very well worth the tiny amount of weight.

Oil_pan is right, the way to save gas is not by spending money on lighter parts. With the exception of parts that already need replacement, in which case go for it. You won't see a very large benefit from weight reduction unless you do a massive amount of low speed driving. Most of your weight reduction comes from deleting things altogether such as a/c, power steering, cruise control, back seats, passenger seat, removing sound dampening, interior paneling, spare tire, etc. There really isn't a whole lot of weight to be saved if you are trying to maintain creature comforts and keep the interior. Sure you can throw on some lightweight rims and tires, a lighter battery, carbon fiber hood, aluminum control arms, racing seats, a lightweight flywheel, the list goes on... All of these things will reduce weight, but it's cost prohibitive because they will cost far more than the gas you will save by making the modifications.

Here is a link from a Civic forum that talks about weight reduction.
Weight Reduction 101

Forgot to mention.. You could drive with only have a tank of gas, but that only saves you 37lbs.

Edit: WOW! 2 posts before I could hit submit

I drive more city then highway usually so lower weight is better. Under drive pulley dont have harmonic balancers and can end badly without on some engines that and it would only be under driving the alternator and water pump. I do agree with not spending money which is why i plan on going through my car, and seeing what i can shave or remove before going into the buying stuff. As for comforts i just need a radio and all the seats just incase i have to ever take my wife or kid in the car. Also weight reduction helps with the whole no power steering too a little bit.

I steam cleaned what looked like 5lbs of dirt out of my carpet a few days back...

Whenever my brother puts an engine back together and has a pile of extra bolts at the end, he chalks it up to weight reduction :p

Don't bother.

My van averages 6.7 city (16mph average speed) and on a really bad day 9.7 with a 500kg+ trailer.

If you work that out that's 0.006l/100km per kg.

Those are worst case figures because a trailer also adds rolling resistance, rolling inertia and completely ruins my aero (it's a big tall box). I also EOC normally but rarely do with the trailer.

My van had a 0.33 CD and I coast down tested the van+ trailer at 0.45CD

If I type those numbers into the calculator, I find that with a .33CD I should be getting ~6l/100km at 50km/h, and with a .45CD I should be getting 8.7l/100km. So it seems that my 500kg trailer is only costing me an aero penalty, the weight is doing little to nothing.

A lighter car will sit higher on it's suspension so could actually cost you economy at higher speeds.

So on my new van I happily fitted a heavier radio, speakers, sound proofing and even an active sub, as the comfort, convenience and enjoyment is worth the extra 0.000-0.001l/100km or so it might cost me.

Edited for US measurements.

This statement baffles me.

Are you able to sell parts you took off?

If you were, that is now money in your pocket. You could spend it on something sensible like good beer. If you spend it on expensive aluminum bits, it has a cost. Period.

My personal opinion, is what others here are saying. The fuel saving is infinitesimal. If you have to pay someone to mount and balance tires from your steelies to the aluminum rims, it likely isn't worth it. If they already have good tires on them, wait until the current tires need replacing and make the switch then. Or maybe put all seasons on one set of rims and LRR summer tires on the others.

Anyone else notice some really bad advice given here?

Removing bolts for zipties?

Really?

Cars have a tendency to move and vibrate and bounce around. Do you really want all the stuff inside rattling around?

Cutting out bracing?

I suspect an engineer may have put it there for a reason.

And damn near weightless insulation mounted to the firewall? There's a reason they called it a firewall. There really hot stuff on the other side. Do you want that heat coming through any more than is necessary? Will it effect all the electronics behind the dash?

And that bit of metal in the steering wheel, yeah, I'm sure they put it in their for better overall weight distribution. They couldn't possibly have done it to kep you from being impaled on the steering column in the event of an accident. I realize that this may be a non-issue if you are properly belted in, but for the .00000000000000027/mpg it costs me, I'll leave it there.

i wont bother putting any real money into it to be honest. but shaving and removing stuff i dont need never hurts anything and will only increase my mpg. The reason why weight reduction isnt the best mpg meathod is because a lighter car takes less fuel to accelerate and decelerate (if engine breaking) but once up to speed it does nothing really and it negatively effects mpg when coasting due to less momentum. Thank you physics i guess

I always link to this guy when people ask about weight reduction. He removed 800 lbs from his car.

The thread pretty much covers everything you could consider doing to remove weight.

I'll add that most people could stand to loose about 20 lbs themselves. That's free right there, and actually saves money on the grocery bill.

There'd be nothing left if I did that. :D

Okay i may have to post this in the forum to get some expert answers. But i was considering removing the air intake system and just running a filter off of the intake manifold. Reasons: weight reduction of the whole set up and i have a map so no oil issues. And it would basically act as a wai since it would be right there basically on the side of the engine. Issues air intake tempature: what is good and what is bad. Wai temps get too hot ill lose timing advance and such. And lack of power (dont use it at all but dont want to lose some if i lose mpg.

Many air intakes are "tuned" to smooth out power delivery across the RPM band. So, by removing it, you may be losing torque in one place and gaining it in another, usually resulting in more "lumpy" power delivery. This may or may not matter to you; it certainly doesn't to me. In fact, I have my stock snorkel removed and replaced with dryer ducting to suck warm air from around the catalytic converter.

The good: Warm air intakes almost always improve economy, up to a point. I don't think my car starts to retard timing until the intake air gets around 180F, and I've aimed to have the incoming air be around 115-125F. In the winter this can be a 10-25mpg improvement where I live, when the air outside is 40 below zero.

Warm air improves economy directly by reducing power - warm air is less dense, resulting in the throttle plate being more open and thus lower pumping losses. Cold air lowers economy in gasoline engines, but improves power because you can get more air into the engine. If you want the best of both worlds, you want a flap or valve to feed your engine warm air at part load, and switch over to cold under heavy loads. One car that had this, to my memory, was the Honda CRX. The power gained under load and the economy gained at other times was far larger than the reductions caused by the weight of the system; removing it would be akin to unbolting a turbo from a TDI to save weight.

The bad: Almost all aftermarket filters allow more dirt into your engine than the factory air box, and rarely improve anything for a stock engine.

^^ Beat me to it.
Idk about using the filter directly attached to the throttle body. I suppose it would work fine. The vast majority of vehicles (with the exception of forced induction engines) will see improved fuel economy by switching to a WAI and removing their stock unit.

Well directly on the throttle body seems the most weight saving as possible. Issue is my ecu is on the side of my air filter box so i cant delete the whole thing. Ill have to get a scan gauge and monitor temps and timing and compare it to before and after. And ik aftermarket air filters filter less ik thats why i would try to find the best filteration cone style filter.

And sorry i didnt see the post asking about selling stuff. I mount and balance my own tires. I have wintertires on the steels right now with all season sitting there to go on the al rims i bought. I bought a manual rack for like 70 but my power steering worked just fine. So i currently have the power steering pump, rack and lines on ebay. I have the tow hitch that was on it off on ebay. I have the engine cover i took off and on ebay. When i put the rims on i plan on removing the tpms module from the car and selling that. (Pointless to keep it unless i get sensor for the other rims).

That's funny​. I plan on installing an aftermarket TPMS in my car. The weight is completely insignificant. Being able to see my tire pressure on the fly could potentially save me way more gas.

What is this live psi display TPMS you speak of?
This sounds like a good idea to have on my tandem axle and suburban.

They make a lot of them. It's pretty much just valve stem caps with a wireless sensor in them that send their info to the receiver which plugs into your cigarette lighter. They do sell higher end ones that use internal sensors similar to OEM units. I've seen them with both dash mounted displays or cigarette lighter type. If you search Google for "aftermarket TPMS" you will find a lot.

Here is one of the valve stem cap ones:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01LA...d_i=2201765011

Here is an internal tpms one:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01K6KEQ8U?psc=1

Those valve stem cap ones are complete junk just warning you. They push down on your valve and measure the pressure that way. Issue with it is they will leak me and my buddy put 2 different brands on our cars and both either leaked out a week later or a month later. I check my tires once every 2 weeks or a month and they dont drop or do 1 psi a month. Those cap sensors it was like 1 psi every day or other day since they suck at sealing.

And yeah the tpms sensors doesnt weigh much but reprograming them every winter and summer with the 2 sets if rims is a hassle. That andbuying the programmer and 4 sensors for the other rims is too pricey.

Oh and i almost forgot that the stem sensors also tend to seize on the stems only happened to one of mine when i had them on my old car a year and a half ago.

Thanks for the info. I think I'm still going to try them though. I'll buy through Amazon because they have a satisfaction guarantee. If they end up sucking, I'll be refunded. So nothing to lose really.

Might not leak if you use some thread tape or grease.

I guess you missed this line then...

Use your head if you are going to do ANY modifications to your car. Replace a motor mount bolt with a ziptie?! Definitely not. There are plenty of things that, if willing, you can change out safely without any real negative consequences. Though, small amounts of weight will never show up on your fuel log.

BTW the plate I'm talking about is a very thin, flimsy plate under the steering wheel column. I'm sure if I kicked the plastic trim REALLY hard, that plate might have kept it from cracking. Otherwise, I see no reason to keep it. It wasn't the steering wheel itself.

True small amounts of weight reduced wont. But you got to lose ounces to lose a pound so everything helps

A agree. In my Neon, I did some major weight reducing modifications. I don't remember what my final numbers were, but I took out a lot of weight, but with safety compromises. Those are the risks I was willing to take on an already terribly unsafe car. It was a terrible idea as well! But, live and learn.

For my insight, I'm must more reserved, but still pull out anything that's unnecessary. Weight really is a tiny fraction of your MPG, even city. Though, if its something you don't need, there's no reason to keep it, no matter the size or weight. Just use your head and it should be quite easily and your downsides should be little to none.

#1 way to save gas starts and ends with the driver's mentality behind the wheel. Aero and weight reduction is nothing in comparison!

Off topic: Recently picked up ultra-light backpacking. You think some of the weight reduction of a car is extreme... :)

Al rims are currently on so lets see if ny mpg goes up or down a hair. Will be deleting the tpms system shortly.

Also sorry to late answer about the air box. Talking to my drag racing old timers i know. The air intake isnt really tuned for low or high ( you do have resonators that kind of dampen air flow vibrations though). Anything before the throttle body (intake runners) are. Its kind of like the exhaust with the headers in a sense.

Tuned or not, you will most likely see better fuel economy by using a WAI. A big part of it is that it will help your car warm up faster. It also helps that it recirculates warm air into the engine for a more complete but of the air/fuel mixture and a teeny tiny bit because it saves a little weight.

I 100% agree! Driving technique is the best way to improve fuel efficiency. I've seen nearly a 10mpg improvement mostly through changing the way I drive.

Okay so i hate for this thread to change its course to a driving one but... Okay so i engine off (or e-off for short) when i safely can (Road to my house, down a couple of hills etc). I e-on in neutral always when a can (off ramps, hills in busy areas etc). I dont pulse and glide due to highways here not being flat and also sometimes windy( tried it and i would be pulse and gliding every minute not work wear on clutch etc). Always try to be in the tallest gear i can be in mistly 4-5 gear. Here is my downfall which i do alot is engine braking due to alot of hills where i live. (My work commute is 10 min about 5 miles. And i go down 3 and up 3 somewhat steep hills to and back with turns-stop signs- red lights etc. And thats just my work commute. I am assuming thats my biggest damper on getting way of 40 mpg. Thats another reason why i figured weight reduction because lighter the car less engine braking. Ps when i say engine brake i am using the engine to keep a steady speed down a hill or try to limit how quicky i am getting a speed increase and never engine brake in anything lower then 3rd gear.

I personally never engine brake. I accelerate downhill never more than 5mph over the speed limit (keeps me out of trouble since most people are still going even faster) and that allows me to coast​ up most hills (with engine off) or at least get me most of the way up, before having to apply light throttle to maintain speed. Doing it this way is more efficient than engine braking down hills and accelerating up them.

Also weight​ reduction won't really help much for hills. You can't just factor in the uphill, you have to also take the downhill into account. Being lighter helps you up a hill but, it hurts you going down hills because the heavier a car is the easier it will accelerate while going down hill.

I only engine brake when going down a hill that is going to require me to stop.

I know the talk of intakes is well into the past, but I'd say negatory on deleting the intake piping.

The stock rubber piping is about five or six pounds of weight. If you want, you can get rid of the snorkels and whatnot pointing out of the engine bay, but deleting the length of pipe between the air filter and the throttle body can have negative effects on power and efficiency.

Simply: That piping length is tuned to provide you power... we've experimented with it on a number of cars and simplifying and shortening things leads to less power, which you don't want when going up hills.

If you want a WAI, go ahead and do it, but leave the stock tract after the filter head. Or, if you want better flow and efficiency, replace the piping with some nice smooth stainless pipes and bends.

The piping effects are next to none on even a dyno but i do agree that it does have a purpose. I scraped deleting the whole air box due to the ecu is mounted externally on the outside of the air filter housing. Also i have a pcv line going before the throttle body so i have to play with adapters and such. Also ive never really like the dependability of those cotton wire filtere engine wise. My current plan is to delete the piping going from the outside to the airbox housing. That way it sucks in a hair more warmer air and shaves a micro amount of weight.

Also shortie yes weight reduction has a upside and downside on hills and even flat roads. You gain easier acceleration but lose momentum. But since we have gravity, friction, and air resistance acceleration will use more energy then keeping at the same speed. Or even engine off coasting. Issue is the differences are small between the 2. But in my situation where i have a stop sign or a low speed turn etc at the bottom of a hill. I cant be staying in neutral cooking my brakes, so i slightly engine brake to keep my speed controlable (able to stop normally or brake for a turn). If i neutral coast on any of the hills i drive down on my way to work ill have to be stopping @50 mph in a 35 zone while still going down hill.