odd ideas for weight reduction ???

leekycelicy

New member
we al know the usual weight reduction blah blah blahs.

carbon fibre, hood/bonnet, plexi windows, steel down pipes, air con removal, etc.......

how about these ideas though.

1 - brushless starter motor, brushless are smaller and more powerful than a normal starter motor.

2 - water injection instead of an intercooler.

3 - carbon/glass fibre, wings, doors, etc.....

4 - aluminium foot wells, cut out the old metal and replace with alloy panels.

5 - brushless motors on the electric windows.

6 - lithium/capacitors for a car battery, laptop batteries in series, much lighter.

7 - swap all nuts and bolts for titanium ones.

8 - carbon fibre wheels -

9 - fill your car with helium balloons, lol, joking.

10 - fibre glass gearbox housing, take a mould from your gearbox and replace all internals from standard box.

11 - don't eat cake.

ok some of these ideas are expensive, but collectively done with standard weight reductions mods could knock of potentially over a 100kg, maybe 200kgs. how much is 20kgs equivalent in BHP of 0 - 60???
 

ALLensTRAC

New member
Mmmmm cake!!!
Seriously though the ones I was looking into that don't get mentioned are an aluminum or titanium mid pipe back exhaust, aluminum rear hatch floor, full carbon roof skin, carbon sheet panelling in the interior. Fixed headlamp solutions using fiber glass brackets and aluminum housings.
The brushless stuff is pretty neat and that could be an idea. Also the lithium pack idea could work too. Our tool guys came around with a jump box for cars the size of a lap top surge protector!!! I laughed until I saw it work.

I'm not too keen on a fiberglass trans. Besides Subaru built one already.....it's called the WRX 5-speed lol!!!!
 

underscore

Well-known member
GT4 Racing in Poland already makes fibreglass front fenders, and using water injection instead of an intercooler can be sketchy, plus you're adding weight with the water so not really worth it.
 

Insanity-74

New member
leekycelicy":3c3d3xs0 said:
we al know the usual weight reduction blah blah blahs.

carbon fibre, hood/bonnet, plexi windows, steel down pipes, air con removal, etc.......

how about these ideas though.

1 - brushless starter motor, brushless are smaller and more powerful than a normal starter motor.

2 - water injection instead of an intercooler.

3 - carbon/glass fibre, wings, doors, etc.....

4 - aluminium foot wells, cut out the old metal and replace with alloy panels.

5 - brushless motors on the electric windows.

6 - lithium/capacitors for a car battery, laptop batteries in series, much lighter.

7 - swap all nuts and bolts for titanium ones.

8 - carbon fibre wheels -

9 - fill your car with helium balloons, lol, joking.

10 - fibre glass gearbox housing, take a mould from your gearbox and replace all internals from standard box.

11 - don't eat cake.

ok some of these ideas are expensive, but collectively done with standard weight reductions mods could knock of potentially over a 100kg, maybe 200kgs. how much is 20kgs equivalent in BHP of 0 - 60???

Number 2 - I don't see this being lighter as you have to carry a lot of water, a pump, electrics etc.

Number 4 - semi structural area, wouldn't fit alloy panels here...have you seen fast and furious :lol:

Number 5 - if you fit polycarbonate windows, they are fixed so you won't have any window mechanism, plus they are small motors anyway.....there was a manual window option for celicas which would be lighter than having electric windows.

Number 10 - fibreglass gearbox housing would be nowhere near strong enough to cope with the power.

Number 11 - you must be joking, cake is important.
 

CSAlltrac

New member
I think with an Alltrac you just have to face the reality that she is a fat ass. Go for power rather than costly weight savings. Oh, and enjoy cake!
 

underscore

Well-known member
You can already buy a CF driveshaft. And compared to modern cars our cars are no longer considered heavy.
 

leekycelicy

New member
No 10 - fibreglass might be strong enough, paintball guns use glass fibre air tanks on the higher psi guns because they are lighter and stronger than alloy, might try it one day with alloy strips for bracing
 

warracer

New member
leekycelicy":d354dmxr said:
we al know the usual weight reduction blah blah blahs.

carbon fibre, hood/bonnet, plexi windows, steel down pipes, air con removal, etc.......

how about these ideas though.

1 - brushless starter motor, brushless are smaller and more powerful than a normal starter motor.

2 - water injection instead of an intercooler.

3 - carbon/glass fibre, wings, doors, etc.....

4 - aluminium foot wells, cut out the old metal and replace with alloy panels.

5 - brushless motors on the electric windows.

6 - lithium/capacitors for a car battery, laptop batteries in series, much lighter.

7 - swap all nuts and bolts for titanium ones.

8 - carbon fibre wheels -

9 - fill your car with helium balloons, lol, joking.

10 - fibre glass gearbox housing, take a mould from your gearbox and replace all internals from standard box.

11 - don't eat cake.

ok some of these ideas are expensive, but collectively done with standard weight reductions mods could knock of potentially over a 100kg, maybe 200kgs. how much is 20kgs equivalent in BHP of 0 - 60???

1- Yes that could work but it would be extremely complex, Brushless motors needs a speed controller or ESC for short and it would require alot of circuitry for not much when you think that you would still be stuck with the casting to mount the actual motor which all in all would probably even out with and the extra material a brushless motor requires

5- Same as number one but its a bit more complex since you would have to limit the torque and rpm output which would require a more complex and pricier ESC for both motors.

6- Yes thats actually a good idea BUT you would need to again add some circuitry to properly recharge the LiPo/Li-Ion or even the LiFe battery, these kind of batteries requires some very specific charging methods, and since you would put the cells in series, you would also need a balancer to keep them all the the same voltage during both the charging process and the decharging phase. It would look something like this : alternator - lipo charger - balancer - battery , so again alot of stuff that you have to add...

11- Now thats just stupid, human being can't live without cake and thats a known fact. :p
 

soarer.jzz30

New member
A/c delete.
Gut interior
Cut useless metal and pinch weld
Gram lights or other light wheel
Aluminum brake calipers
Remove undercoating
Plastic windows
Carbon fiber /fpr replacement for all possible panels
Nitrogen tire inflation
All options/systems deleted except drivetrain
Gto fixed headlamps
Bumper reinforcement removal
Titanium exhaust
Carbon racing seat for driver (everything else gone)
Carbon manual mirrors
I bet you could get almost a grand out of it
 

leekycelicy

New member
DeeCee":2ifz0035 said:
change all the glass in the car for lexan/polycarb?

definitely, are the rear panels god for changing on a celica, most cars are difficult because the rear panels run over the roof but the st165 does not do this, might be easier to change.
 

underscore

Well-known member
Copy this Snetra

econobox_32.jpg
 

WarTowels

Active member
Most of these seem like great ways to ruin (practically, visually, reliably and illegally) your car while barely making it lighter. Do the easy/smarter stuff and then add powaaaar.

CF Hood, Motorcycle battery, CF Drive shaft, Aluminum Calipers, lighter wheels, lighter seats + no back seats, CS/RC Front Crash Bar, Diet and exercise, no spare wheel or tools, uh lets see... could ditch all the spoilers, sound deadening (Don't remove undercoating! Are you joking me, these cars have enough rust problems), ditch system 10, air con delete if you love being sweaty, heater delete if you love being cold, charcoal canister delete, egr delete, new downpipe, custom aluminum exhaust, sunroof delete if you have one, ect.

If you ditch system 10 then you could also ditch power windows altogether and get roll up windows from celica ST and it's door skins- should fit fine.

CF door isnt practical nor is a roof skin, imo. If you want to throw money away I can send you my paypal address?
 

Xander_42

New member
3 - carbon/glass fibre, wings, doors, etc.....
DO IT! Carbon parts really aren't that hard to make if you have the time, knowledge, resources, and money.

4 - aluminium foot wells, cut out the old metal and replace with alloy panels.
Meh, sounds like a lot of work for very little gain.

7 - swap all nuts and bolts for titanium ones.
Lots of work and/or costly (trust me, I have made titanium bolts for weight savings on race cars)

8 - carbon fibre wheels -
Look into the many attempts by the VRI at Western Washington University to make carbon wheels. Many were not successful, and the most succesfful ones were very difficult and did not reduce weight that significantly. The issue is not whether the carbon is strong enough to hold the car, but making a lip that can stand up to tire machines.

10 - fibre glass gearbox housing, take a mould from your gearbox and replace all internals from standard box.
The steel gears and shafts are probably 80+% of the weight of the gearbox, so minimal gains for maximal work.

11 - don't eat cake.
Less of an issue here than in road bikes where it is hilarious (bro, you could easily lose twice the weight of your bike off your ass, and that would make you a lot faster than shaving some grams off your whatever)

carbon fibre drive shafts - DO IT! (Or find one that is already being made)
brushless motor alternator - already is brushless
aluminium block - Damn, that's a lot of work. (Would be easier to just motor swap in something that already has an aluminum block).
carbon ceramic brakes - I don't know if this is a good idea or not. (Probably a good idea for a dedicated track car, possibly a bad idea for a street car. Also, you probably wouldn't save any weight until you went Carbon-Carbon)

I feel like you may be thinking too macro. This:
soarer.jzz30":160n31q8 said:
A/c delete.
Gut interior
Cut useless metal and pinch weld (?) (add speed holes)
Gram lights or other light wheel
Aluminum brake calipers (maybe two part rotors with aluminum hats?)
Remove undercoating
Plastic windows (Lexan/Makrolon/polycarbonate, NOT Plexi-Glass/acrylic/PMMA)
Carbon fiber /fpr replacement for all possible panels
All options/systems deleted except drivetrain
Bumper reinforcement removal
Titanium exhaust
Carbon racing seat for driver (everything else gone)
Carbon manual mirrors
I bet you could get almost a grand out of it
... is really good advice. Do this "easy"-er stuff. Then start thinking about what else you can do.

Stop thinking about removing weight, and start thinking about "adding lightweights". Make thinking about everything on the car something you do every time you touch it. If the car isn't breaking, you aren't pushing the limits of lightness.
 
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