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Weight reduction tips?

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Old 11-15-2003, 10:29 PM
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Weight reduction tips?

Any weight reduction tips for my RX-8 to improve performance? Some obvious ones I can think of:

-My car came with a spare, and I can remove and the bracket for commuting.
-The removable ashtray and lighter can come out.
-I could take the carpet mats out but I think I'll keep them.
-An old thread I can't find, mentioned accessory brackets for unistalled options can be removed.
-Changing to light-weight wheels, flywheels and the like.
-Removing one or both rear seats - ugly.
-Maybe the cupholder is removable but that would leave a hole.
-Not installing little accessories and keeping personal effects such as umbrellas, flashlights, etc to an absolute minimum.

Other suggestion would be welcome.
Old 11-15-2003, 10:38 PM
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Have you tried the Atkins Diet? :D
Old 11-15-2003, 10:42 PM
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I only way 130 lbs. But yeah, I could take a s**t before driving and save a pound or two. :D

Cut my hair, clip my nails, etc. :D
Old 11-15-2003, 10:44 PM
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Fill the tires with helium.
Old 11-16-2003, 01:47 AM
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Originally posted by Zoom2X
Fill the tires with helium.
Just the tires? Hell make the cabin airtight and fill it with helium... although talking to anyone on the cellphone might be pretty comical.

The rear seat behind the driver's seat may never see a human's butt... maybe if I can fabricate some sort of metal cover plate it wouldn't look so bad... wonder what a rear seat weighs??? 15 pounds?
Old 11-16-2003, 02:27 AM
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Light fill the tank and basically drive from station to station putting in 2 or 3 litres of fuel!!! :D

Remove sound deadening materials is a common first, boot lit, bonnet, probably some sort of tar like finish underbody and there'll be something under the mats, boot mat, side sound deadening material.

How serious are you?

Remove all the audio and any of it's dedicated wiring.

Remove air conditioning, along with it's compressor.

What's your target? 100kg ???

Rear seats go, lighter front race seats go in.

Cosmetic engine covers.

Go to a Ti exhaust.

Do you want the head lining???

No water on you windscreen washers.

Maybe a smaller lighter battery.

At some point you'll start welding seams and drilling holes, replacing metal panels, adding light weight components.

I think a fanatic could hit 1100kg.
Old 11-16-2003, 11:13 AM
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i think rodmeister has gone a little too far in the excessive side... with your toenail clippings your hair and your cup holders you aren't going to save enough wieght to make a difference...perhaps the only thing you listed that would actually work is the spare,lighter wheels, and parts of the drivetrain..
Old 11-16-2003, 02:20 PM
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Weight reduction

In a slightly more serious vein, what is the weight added by the appearance package which includes the wheel flares, mud flares, and the spoiler? Also, how does it affect the 50/50 weight distribution? Finally, at what speed does the spoiler began to put enough pressure on the suspension to affect the handling?
I know that the add-ons make your bank account $910 lighter which might also cause balancing problems. It looks nice with the package, as does a "stock" version without, but I wouldn't want to add back too much of the precious weight saved or adversly affect the 50/50 balance that are the hallmarks of having a Wankle :D powerplant.
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