GolfGTIforum.co.uk
Model specific boards => Golf mk4 => Topic started by: jamie16v on 22 January 2011, 20:43
-
anyone here taken weight saving measures?..
if so how far have you gone?..
i use my car as a daily hack and a family car come shopping trolley and all that, so have been minimalistic.
-
my weight measure is no more than 2 people in or scrubs like hell.....missis fiesta is the school run/ shopping car
-
Jakes thread: http://www.golfgtiforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=115829.0 worth a read. :smiley:
-
i love his car, there is just two problems.
one being, i dont have that kindof money yet.
the other being, my missus would stab me repeatedly in the chest if i did that to our car...lol
think i am going to have to save up for a proper family car before i can go to that extreme.. :grin:
-
oooooo.k, just started stripping out.. i weighed everthing i have taken out so far and it`s quite suprising.
i used this thing to do the weighing.. http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/details/digital-hanging-scale-and-tape-measure?da=1&TC=SRC-scale
here is my list.
small rear back rest - 6kg
small rear bench - 2.1kg
big rear bench - 3 kg
big rear back rest - 16kg ( suprisingly heavy)
parcel shelf - 3.2 kg
boot carpet 2.3kg
rear door cards 2.1kg each - 4.2kg
tailgate plastic lower - 1.6kg
tailgate plastic upper - 0.5kg
boot plastic - 0.6 kg
spare wheel - (i used a space saver to make room for hidden amp) 11.5kg
rear wiper assy - 1kg
front seats 22.6kg each - 45.2 kg
rear headrests - 0.5 kg each - 1.5kg
carpet - 4kg
underlay - 10 kg
add all that up and its about 115kg so far, got loads more to take out too, i weighed my new (second hand) sparco sprints and they are 7.4 kg each, so thats 14.8kg to add back.
-
Cheapest way to make it go faster :wink:
-
Cheapest way to make it go faster :wink:
+1
thats some weight removed
-
Cheapest way to make it go faster :wink:
+1
thats some weight removed
:smiley: makes me happy! knowing the car is now my toy. i can do what i want to it. just wondering what the power to weight ratio is so far and then thinking, i still got the front door cards to remove, i want to remove the inner door skin too along with the windows, just cant afford plexi`s at the moment. thats the next plan..
the biggest problem i have if i want to go to FIA rally spec is that my car is a sunroof version, i would either have to get a new roof skin or weld a plate into the sunroof.
might spend the day tomorroow stripping more useless sh!t out :evil:
-
Weld a plate would be the easiest solution wouldnt it?
Rally spec wouldnt have to be pretty anyway :laugh:
-
air con out, save a load of weight and its a drive belt off the engine.
lower half the dash out
some perspex in place of the windows
plastic engine and fuel tank undershields
-
air con out, save a load of weight and its a drive belt off the engine.
lower half the dash out
some perspex in place of the windows
plastic engine and fuel tank undershields
no aircon, its for gays
dash will be minimalised soon
perspex is dangerous isint it? from what ive heard it shards rather than shatters like polycarbonate
engine undersheild already gone, would like to know what that would weigh though... :nerd:
-
you can get sheets designed for windows, its the same stuff buses use for the vandal shields, has a coating on it like a car windscreen to keep it together. just said perspex cos i couldnt remember the proper name for it, lol
i guess prob about 3 kg for undershield
have a look into getting carbonfibre doors made, the doors on a mk4 weigh a ton! seen a thread before of someone who did this to his, ill try and find it
-
carbon fibre costs too much for what is to be gained in my opinion. i can get enough weight off the doors by taking all the luxury sh!t out. and that metal inner thing that holds the motor and window in place can go but would need plexiglas windows if i were to bin them..
-
based on this site, http://www.cuddles.abelgratis.net/volkswagen.htm the golf 1.8t curb weight is 1287kg, if i take 100kg from that, (1187kg) according to this site, http://www.torquestats.com/modified/index.php?pid=calculator&action=calculate_times&drive=FWD&bhp=223&weight=1187&submit=Calculate the estimated 0-60 time would be 5.9s
under 6s (just lol) not all that bad. if i can reduce more weight and gain a bit more (wider) power i should be looking at a reasonably quick (not fast) car. i know the torque stats site is probably nothing to go by.. i`m just dreaming of owning something rapid on a short budget..haha..
-
Hmmm, this is interesting. The back seats in my car dont get used, as most of the time, I am on my own and its very rare that I need to carry passengers.
How easy is it to remove the rear seats?
-
Easy peeessyy! Have a little look its not rocket science, pretty self explanatory :smiley:
-
piss easy, just need a 17mm socket to remover the middle seat belt, and a flat heat screwdriver to unhook the backrests from the hingy bits..
-
http://www.golfgtiforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=102077.0
-
Thanks for the information guys. It seems easier than I thought it would be :smiley:
-
you would be looking at about 20-25kg. take out your spare wheel too and thats a good weight lost. keep fuel tank to below half ect.. i always stick about 20-£25 quid in when my thirsty light comes on, takes me to about quarter of a tank.
more fuel you put in, the heavier your car = the more fuel youre going to burn pulling it
-
keep fuel tank to below half ect.. i always stick about 20-£25 quid in when my thirsty light comes on, takes me to about quarter of a tank.
more fuel you put in, the heavier your car = the more fuel youre going to burn pulling it
I am sure that is wrong, from what I have read. :undecided:
Also if you think about it you have to make more trips to the pumps so would you save anything.
-
Yep your right Wanye
-
keep fuel tank to below half ect.. i always stick about 20-£25 quid in when my thirsty light comes on, takes me to about quarter of a tank.
more fuel you put in, the heavier your car = the more fuel youre going to burn pulling it
I am sure that is wrong, from what I have read. :undecided:
Also if you think about it you have to make more trips to the pumps so would you save anything.
to be honest i heared the same too, that the more you fill up in one stop the more you save, but i just can`t see the logic in that, fuel still costs the same to the litre regardless to how much you put in. can anyone break down the theory?..
i know less stops, but still, i wouldnt say that would come into it???
but i`m talking on a power to weight ratio and not fuel economy or laps per tank sort of topic.. drag strip not track if you get me???.
perhaps i should have said, "the more fuel you put in, the heavier your car = the harder your engine is going to work pulling it?..
-
Was thinking of doing thevsame to my car as theres no other way to get a better power to weight ratio with out spendind loads on the engine. let us know how it goes
-
wat happend to jake that project went quiet chame i wanted to see it painted
-
meh
Anyways apparently the optimum amount of fuel to have is half a tank but like you all say it means more trips to the petrol station...
-
A small 1 litre engine will shave further weight off aswell as en exhaust that exits out of the bonnet.
-
Yeah weight saving makes sence. I can defiantly feel mine pick up quicker when its just me in the car. But If i take seats out i would have to take my sub out to and i wouldn't wanna be doing that :grin:
-
Anyways apparently the optimum amount of fuel to have is half a tank but like you all say it means more trips to the petrol station...
I always try and keep half a tank tbh.
-
i do a rwyb twice a yr at shakespeare county raceway (going next sunday if anyone wants a race? lol), but as its my everyday car, i take out back seats, boot carpet, spare wheel and anything lose, as well as go with half a tank of 97ron excellium, but i also change the front 2 wheels as well, on this i was averaging very low 16s, last time i went though my ecu f**ked up so was running 20s :angry:
-
out of interest, whats the crack with insurance and doing this. as obviously if you add stuff to your car you have to declare it ect. what about it you take the back seats out does that have to be declared?
-
is it a modification or a de-modification?... :tongue:
insurance companies will argue the toss regardless! best tell them and they can take all your ugandan dollars from you!
-
is it a modification or a de-modification?... :tongue:
insurance companies will argue the toss regardless! best tell them and the can take all youre ugandan dollars from you!
any body whos done this what was it like on insurance? was it just admin fees or will it be compleatly not worth it, i know everyones insurance is different but im going out now and busy all day tomorow and just wondering
-
One small point if you take the rear seats out I believe (did read this somewhere honest) that you also need to remove the seatbelts as it will fail the mot.
-
Surely the 'more trips you have to take to fill up etc etc on only ever filling up with half a tank' isn't really an issue and going to use more fuel, maybe a bit more time, I mean in this day an age its not like you have to travel far and wide to find a petrol station. I'm sure the majority of routes we take will deffinitely have several petrol stations on and as long as you keep an eye on your fuel gauge and fill up when needed and on route would be more 'efficient' :huh:
-
Get the sound proving from under the bonnet out and you'll have a shock if you take out the underlay beneath the front seats and dash,that is very heavy.
I ran like this for a while when i was fixing water leaks,car felt like it had been mapped..............
(http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z215/Patch27/New%20Car/DSC00011.jpg)
(http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z215/Patch27/New%20Car/DSC00003.jpg)
-
One small point if you take the rear seats out I believe (did read this somewhere honest) that you also need to remove the seatbelts as it will fail the mot.
you have a valid point and i think youre right, but i`m not 100% sure as i think it could be, if there are rear seats then belts must be fitted if the car was registered post something in the late 20th century?..
-
My dad's '61 Vauxhall Victor has no belts in the front either :laugh:
-
i just edited the list, i took out the carpet and underlay earlier, carpet weighs 4kg and the underlay a shocking 10kg.
total weight so far at least 115kg, i havent weight everything ive taken out as they felt quite light but im sure if you add them all up..
for example, i didnt include the centre console, both front and rear parts weigh 1kg each which is quite a lot for a chunk of plastic.
next on the list to take off is the door cards and inner skins, i would probably need polycarbonates to do that unless i can find a light weight alternative. But whats the point?, if i am going for light, then i may aswel go for the plexi`s. :cool:
-
sorry to dig this from the grave, but it`s an interesting topic.
just had a good read over and since ive driven the car after being stripped all i can say is, if you dont need it, bin it!
to answer some questions.
rear seat belts are not required if no seats are fitted, that means all parts of the seats must be removed i would include the seatbelts too to be sure (and to save weight).
you need to declare ALL mods to your insurance!
by saving weight you not only increase power to weight ratio but it also improves handling.
when my tax comes through the door i plan to take a trip to the local weigh bridge and get the car weighed for a rough idea of how the car weighs over stock.
i`ll keep you posted. :cool: