Extreme weight reduction on a 1997 Civic!
 

He deleted the entire interior except for the dash itself, all of the HVAC, stereo, and SRS systems, just the dash, some blanking plates, the seats, shifter, parking brake, and painted metal: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lL7KFeb1e4Q

https://ecomodder.com/forum/diy-how.html?

Unless I could fit a roof-mounted swamp-cooler like the ones still widely used by truckers in my country, getting rid of the HVAC wouldn't be a viable option for me in order to strip the regular interior trim. At least some ventilation would be desirable.

Roll down the windows and drive! :)

[I will always have air conditioning in Arizona, even though I try to not use it]

I would never feel bad about AC in AZ.

Heck, it runs a decent amount here in the winter just to keep the fog off the windows.

How much weight did the dude shave off?

I do not have any idea. I was trying to find information, this video did not have it, and so I continued looking.

All that and I don't know how much weight was removed and what effects it had on everything: accel, fe, anything else?

Not the first time automotive writers (and nowadays videographers) have gutted vehicles. In the end I always wonder, "Why did they not simply get a bike (or scooter or motorcycle)? :confused:

Back in the '80's Hot Rod magazine had a series of articles where they stripped weight from some otherwise stock car, ultimately ending up with no body whatsoever; IIRC just the firewall and dashboard. My cousin did that to some heap he had access to and I'm told nobody, NOBODY could touch him in a drag race.

After all of that work I would tell everyone and anyone how much benefit there was!

It's not the best idea at all. At least not in Brazil :mad:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TGv...re=em-comments

The curb weight of an EX with a 5-speed is 2,518 pounds: https://owners.honda.com/vehicles/information/1997/Civic-Sedan/specs#mid^EJ854V

He eliminated 358 pounds, 14.2%.

Are you thinking of the Sport Compact article where they chop up a Sentra until it's a floorpan with wheels? (I had a link to it, but it appears to have died). IIRC, they reduced the 1/4-mile time from something like 17 seconds to 14.

Hot Rod did a Duster drag car with significant weight reduction, replacing body panels with fiberglass, etc. They dropped nearly 600 lbs and included cost per pound lost.

http://enthusiastnetwork.s3.amazonaw...around%7C29:16

I hear that some of the "stock" cars racing at Goodwood have been "strategically rusted" from inside so that you can put your hand through flawless looking deck lids. For super-light fenders and other panels, you can pull a fiberglass mold from the metal part, and then build up a thin fiberglass skin, with a layer of foam and then another thin skin, and a few extra layers where needed for the bolts, etc.

It's often reported that some Brazilian DKW racing cars had their body replaced with fiberglass ones which were so thin to the point of being translucent.

All fiberglass is translucent unless heavily pigmented.
In the Kinetic Sculpture Races, there was a replica 1960s Cadillac convertible that weighed about 110 lbs - 50 kg. It would churn serenely across the water on its 2" styrofoam chassis pan, with four riders.

I forgot it, but even with some pigmentation those were reported to be quite translucent. Well, presumably such a thin layer of fiberglass won't stand to a lot of pigmentation...

Reminds me of one of the silly project articles Car & Driver did about a million years ago. The premis was that one of the writers ran into someone about to spend $$$ on a Civic to get it to some really low 1/4 time.

They framed the article along the lines of "I said I could make it get that time, spending under $XXX" and the storyline was "look at what we tricked this kid into letting us to to his mom's car".

They mainly went with weight and frontal area reduction. With a sawzall. And recouped most of what they did spend by selling the OE rims and getting steelies from a junkyard.

And ended with "Here- we got that 1/4 time you wanted for dirt cheap, just like you wanted".

I believe an Insight shell weighs only ~250-300lbs. It's a much better candidate for weight reduction than a Civic. ;)

Just pull the batteries out and replace the glass with plastic and you're probably close to 1000lbs.

Speed holes everywhere.

https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media...jzd2eihqoc.jpg
https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media...jzd2eihqoc.jpg

Makes me lurk about the aerodynamic impact of all those holes, and if an approach similar to the golf balls could actually fare better.