Is there an adding lightness thread? Lightness racing mods

[MX5XM]

I've heard her muttering about buying her own car.

..as long as the beast she buys doubles as a race car tow vehicle!

[Vilko]

I've just done the little stuff.
Stripped:
-Carpet
-Stereo
-Aerial
-It didnt have AC
-Removed lower section of door trim (only the paded top bit remains)
-Spare tyre (I have tyre foam instead)
-Sun visors (I have sunnies )
-Removed the ecu bash plate and cable tied it under the dash
-Drivers Sparco Evo on "custom" solid rail, running minimal padding on seat. (not sure how much this actually saved me though...)
-No center console
-No glove box

Still to do:
-Strip power steering (NA6 rack)
-Remove sound deadening from boot
-Strip carpet/rubber liner from rear parcel tray (currently held in by roll bar)
-Light weight battery
-Remove unneeded wiring
-Passenger side sparco
-Cheap ebay light weight mirrors and remove power windows wiring
-Strip unneeded nuts/bolts/brackets and If I get desperate get some aluminium/titanium to drop those last few grams.

Possibly:
-Custom single wiper conversion. I plan on changing the pivot point of the passanger side wiper so it sits in the normal position but covers the majority of the wind screen.
-Light weight boot
-Lexan front quarter windows

Its a NA8 with a Mx5 mania roll bar and a stock soft top. It weighed in at 1020kg with full to the brim fuel. Im hoping to get it at least under 1000, the goal is around 990.

Note: This is my daily, rain hail or shine, and my work is about 50 minutes away. So stripping things like heater box isnt really a safe option.

[lightyear]

You sure your scales work? The stock car weighs less. My nb8b is 949kgs with full interior and heavier nb dash with 3/4 tank of fuel. It has no p/s, A/c, heater or Softtop. C.f hardtop, and heavier 9" wheels.

[rossint]

My NA6 is down to about 930kg with 1/2 a tank of gas. Nothing that major done to get the weight down, just little bits and pieces as I've gone along.
Added lightness: stripped boot, no soft top just CF hardtop, carpet stripped from parcel shelf to front edge of seat, no centre console, no stereo/speakers/arial, no arm rests on doors just strap handles, lightened flywheel, factory tow hooks replaced with alloy ones, no passanger seat, fibreglass fixed back race seat, removed AC, removed alarm.
Weight Added: half cage with side impact bars, underbody braces, bigger alloy radiator (more water), bigger swaybars. 15x7 wheels and R spec tyres, NA8 front brakes, remote oil filter, oil pressure and water temp gauges, front strut brace, fire extinguisher, 4 point harness. Oh and the biggest piece of ballast, me (not included in the 930kg).

[rain902]

My NA6 is down to about 930kg with 1/2 a tank of gas. Nothing that major done to get the weight down, just little bits and pieces as I've gone along.
Added lightness: stripped boot, no soft top just CF hardtop, carpet stripped from parcel shelf to front edge of seat, no centre console, no stereo/speakers/arial, no arm rests on doors just strap handles, lightened flywheel, factory tow hooks replaced with alloy ones, no passanger seat, fibreglass fixed back race seat, removed AC, removed alarm.
Weight Added: half cage with side impact bars, underbody braces, bigger alloy radiator (more water), bigger swaybars. 15x7 wheels and R spec tyres, NA8 front brakes, remote oil filter, oil pressure and water temp gauges, front strut brace, fire extinguisher, 4 point harness. Oh and the biggest piece of ballast, me (not included in the 930kg).

you can beat that by at least a hundred kilograms if you try. And that is with a full cage.

[lightyear]

And then add that same weight back in when you sit in it..........

On my first mx5, i never weighed it, but it would have been not much more than 800kg's. The new car is going to be a close call to being under 800kg's (heavy rollcage). There is a lot of metal that can be cut out. The doors and roof can be replaced in c.f saving 60kg's.
But it is really a case that when a proper sized guy sits in an mx5, he is over 10% of the weight of the car . I am not light, and there are others that race these cars that are heavier than average, and there isn't much you can do about that, as it is just genetics. Rant about me weighing too much.........And i am not overweight.
I think you have to decide if you want to take the next step and cut out metal that will make the car unroadworthy, and potentially make it hard to sell the car.

[rain902]

And then add that same weight back in when you sit in it..........

yep thanks for mentioning that. 104 kgs in my case.

The new car is going to be a close call to being under 800kg's (heavy rollcage).

Whos fault is that?

There is a lot of metal that can be cut out. The doors and roof can be replaced in c.f saving 60kg's.

im considering renting a plasma cutter for the weekend in the near future and adding Lightness on a grand scale.

But it is really a case that when a proper sized guy sits in an mx5, he is over 10% of the weight of the car . I am not light, and there are others that race these cars that are heavier than average, and there isn't much you can do about that, as it is just genetics. Rant about me weighing too much.........And i am not overweight.
I think you have to decide if you want to take the next step and cut out metal that will make the car unroadworthy, and potentially make it hard to sell the car.

[NitroDann]

Lightyear, why do your cars still have a roof?

Dann

[rascal]

Lightyear, why do your cars still have a roof?

Dann

I'd suggest because its quicker with it than without. At the faster tracks at least
The weight of the carbon fibre top is hardly anything and the aero benefits well and truly make up for it.

besides driving a car > 200kmh with your head stuck out in the wind isnt fun....

[NitroDann]

not if you remove the windscreen also.

Dann

[lightyear]

I run a hardtop because without it the aero would be very poor - especially if you have a full cage. Imagine the wind hitting all those bars. You would have heaps of drag, and there would be no chance of a rear wing working due to messy airflow.
And what racsal said, your head would be wobbling around a bit with air hitting at 200km/h plus. It is also easier to concentrate and hear the engine, etc when you are inside and not getting the excessive wind and exhaust noises. If you ran no rollcage, or windscreen, then i would would say for sure no roof.

[rascal]

You'd still have the cage and driver stuck in the airflow creating turbulence, which would also mess up the flow to the rear spoiler..

edit: ha, Lightyear beat me to it....

[Guran]

Dunno. I can see where Dann is coming from. Aero drag in cars is determined by both drag coefficient (Cd) and frontal area. A driver and rollcage sticking up with no windscreen would possibly increase Cd a bit. But removing the windscreen would reduce frontal area much more. Surely less drag without the windscreen and roof? Not to mention less weight! Where's a wind tunnel when you need one?

Interesting data here:
http://www.mayfco.com/tbls.htm

[bootz]

Whats lightness?

My car has

NO...

Air con
Locks
Power steering
Heater
Fan
Accessories
Stereo
Carpet
Boot lining and all carpet
Boot metal plate things
Spare/tools
All heat shields except for manifold and intake shields, very necessary for good power those are
Sound deadening
Airbox
Wiring that wasnt needed after removal of other things and ecu upgrade
Inner guards
Softtop
All windows including hardtop window, except quarter windows and windshield
Also all of the window winder and motor parts and door mechs except handle
The covers around the lights
Bumpers, under the front and rear bars
Engine fans
Aerial
Pedal rubbers
Steering wheel padding
One front and one rear tow hook
Tiny battery
Aluminium Brake shields
Aluminium ecu cover
Passenger seat is out and a fibreglass shell of a sparco on custom rails (not rails really, much lighter than that) goes in for the track

Must be more, but that feels hardcore enough for me for a car I just arrived home from work in, and im just about to pick my girlfriend up from work in it, and its raining...

Dann

Yeah, you win, but what a noisy rattlebox.

[Mr nanotech]

Wonder how much Dann weighs and if he wears speedos driving. Pedal rubbers seems abit extreme. You could probably lose that weight with a hair cut