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how fat is yours?

gaz_gaz - 21/6/11 at 02:06 PM

corner weights today say my early MNR with full cage, padded seats, everything else is 540 kgs.

to me this seems alot,

anyone else have an opinion and what can i chuck to make it lighter?

rodgling - 21/6/11 at 02:21 PM

What's the engine? Sounds quite good to me.

My GKD with 328, no cage is 710 kg wet.

gaz_gaz - 21/6/11 at 02:28 PM

damn, i forgot that bit, its an R1 Engined car

franky - 21/6/11 at 02:56 PM

I'd say thats not bad.

jollygreengiant - 21/6/11 at 03:03 PM

2.5 x titanic, but then it is a Luego Viento with a boat anchor and a 11.5 gallon fuel tank.

edit bit, Oh and a BFB for a driver.

[Edited on 21/6/11 by jollygreengiant]

scootz - 21/6/11 at 03:08 PM

That sounds like it's on the money Gaz-Gaz!

Bear in mind that a lot of folk spout complete tosh when it comes to the weight of their car... and it's 0-60 times

Jon Ison - 21/6/11 at 03:19 PM

440 kgs wet, rear hoop and forward facing side bars, padded cobra roadster seats.

Eta, can do a Obama and show relevant paperwork if required.

[Edited on 21/6/11 by Jon Ison]

franky - 21/6/11 at 03:31 PM

quote:
Originally posted by scootz
That sounds like it's on the money Gaz-Gaz!

Bear in mind that a lot of folk spout complete tosh when it comes to the weight of their car... and it's 0-60 times

So true! There's manufacturers weights and real weights. Speaking to Westfield they said that their fully caged cars come in at 700kg with comfy seats/double side impact bars etc. I bet they didn't say that to many punters though.

Caterham quote their car weights dry in the lightest possible spec. It seems some companies make it up completely.

Yazza54 - 21/6/11 at 03:55 PM

I'm assuming that's with you sat in it?

If so, on the money

If not, your car is fat

gaz_gaz - 21/6/11 at 03:57 PM

without me.

basically complete car with all sva bits
full cage
cobra roadster seats
protech suspension
speedline wheels
25 litres of fuel
bit of mud under the arches from driving down to the garage
usual sierra brakes, diff etc, not really sure where i can remove weight as its basic as it is.

so where can i start shedding weight?

[Edited on 21/6/11 by gaz_gaz]

[Edited on 21/6/11 by gaz_gaz]

Strontium Dog - 21/6/11 at 04:10 PM

If your gonna shed weight then IMHO you should be looking at unsprung weight first. This will make more difference to your A-B times. Wheels,hubs, and uprights etc. Then look at things like battery if your not already on a bike one etc. If you can afford carbon, then some body parts but I'd look at everything else first!

Hope thats of some help

Jon Ison - 21/6/11 at 04:20 PM

RGB front engine car with driver min weight 530 kgs MNR dabbled in RGB and I would be surprised if the car weighed any more than around 540 all in at race end.

loggyboy - 21/6/11 at 04:32 PM

Sounds good, I have a fullcage on my striker and will be pleased if it weighs in under 600kg when ive finished it.

More importantly, whats the corner weights?

skibikejohn - 21/6/11 at 04:36 PM

My Luego with Cosworth YB is 625kg wet.

matt_gsxr - 21/6/11 at 05:02 PM

what kind of battery are you running?

Wheels are tyres are often heavy as there are 4 (or even 5) of them. ACB10 and 13inch revs come in at 9kg a corner which is one (rather dangerous) way of lowering weight.

Cage adds about 10kg, full of fuel adds 20kg. 500kg isn't a bad target.

Mine was about 475kg at SVA, not sure now, but probably a bit more.

Matt

matt_gsxr - 21/6/11 at 05:02 PM

bassett - 21/6/11 at 05:08 PM

Weighed mine at 450 but a nice light R1 no cage or luxuries other than a boot box. Maybe lose the seat for something more racey, shorten any pipework/wiring,make any steel bits out of ally but i doubt youll notice anything. probably easier and cheaper for us drivers to lose weight:-)

hughpinder - 21/6/11 at 05:09 PM

Seems a bit heavy for a BEC.
Is your cage a bolt in jobbie? If it is and its built to 'the book', I believe the procomp one is of the order 13 kg lighter, depending on the exact design of course.
As Strontium Dog says removing weight from wheels/brakes/hubs/uprights/front wings/calipers/tyres etc will have more effect than the from the sprung weight. I don't know what the sierra calipers weigh, but I was shocked that the mx5 fronts I have were more than 5kg each (with pads) Some of the light alloy ones are not much over a kilo. Smaller wheels are lighter but not as good looking as big ones, so if you've got large wheels they may be good to change.
Unfortunately the cost of relatively small weight reductions is very high!

Best of luck
Hugh

Hellfire - 21/6/11 at 05:23 PM

Does sound a tad on the heavy side. Greatest weight saving would be to swap the front Sierra vented discs and calipers for lightweight calipers and solid discs. Next, replace the cobra seats for lightweight GRP ones and look at possibly changing the wheels for lightweight ones. After that, other weight savings become increasingly expensive for little gain

Phil

gaz_gaz - 21/6/11 at 05:30 PM

i cant remember the exact weight but it was around 140kg each side on the front axle and 120kg each side on the rear.

the battery is a small bike item.

removing the seats and putting something lighter in is an option, what is a good value lightweight seat?

the protech suspension is being replaced with some very lightweight custom made Quantums, when i get my finger out and finish them,.

i had thought about changing the brakes for a Willwood kit or similar, perhaps the 257mm kit rd sell, any recommendations on this?

i currently have 14" Speedline wheels on there but i'd happily run a 13" wheel as i actually prefer the smaller wheel look on this type of car, i'd need to see how much the current wheels weigh.

The cage is fitted and welded on by MNR before the chassis is delivered i beleive.

Carbon Panels are out of the question, the only reason i bought this type of car was to save money after 6 or 7 years playing with Skylines GTR's, Evos and RX7's.

[Edited on 21/6/11 by gaz_gaz]

[Edited on 21/6/11 by gaz_gaz]

mark chandler - 21/6/11 at 05:33 PM

mines about 480 wet, although measured on 4 x Ł3.99 bathroom scales.

Its made light, so not sure where I can strip weight really.... worked out at 38 stone across each diagonal axle.

omega0684 - 21/6/11 at 06:01 PM

not to steer away from teh OP'ers topic, but can anyone recommend light, grippy tyres? Are T1R's Light?

daniel mason - 21/6/11 at 06:10 PM

kuhmos felt light to me when i had them. v70's. and very grippy.
avons are well known for lightness too

Johneturbo - 21/6/11 at 06:13 PM

My MNR R1 with half tank fuel was 485kg.. not sure what it is now with the 14 lump prolly an extra 20kg

BigLee - 21/6/11 at 06:15 PM

I weigh 130kgs so best thing I can do for a lighter car is join Weightwatchers.

franky - 21/6/11 at 06:15 PM

quote:
Originally posted by omega0684
not to steer away from teh OP'ers topic, but can anyone recommend light, grippy tyres? Are T1R's Light?

Yes. Lighter than most.

gaz_gaz - 21/6/11 at 06:16 PM

was that full cage etc?

see Chris at MNR did tell me that the later bodywork etc was lighter and i'm sure they made a fair few weigh saving between mine (number 11) and the later ones

INDY BIRD - 21/6/11 at 06:31 PM

my zx14 mnr was tad over 500 kg wet full tank etc,

so johneturbo will be about right with extra 20kg,

thats with rear bar centre bar and side impact bars,

it will be going on a winter diet to aim for another 20kg loss which can be achieved im sure,

but 520 full cage is not terrible

i believe my old mk zx10r with full cage was tad over 480 kg half tank,

cheers

Yazza54 - 21/6/11 at 06:53 PM

quote:
Originally posted by loggyboy
Sounds good, I have a fullcage on my striker and will be pleased if it weighs in under 600kg when ive finished it.

More importantly, whats the corner weights?

Your strikers a zetec though. Heavy box and engine.

My Fury was 460kg with R1 engine. Albeit no cage but it's substantially lighter than the OPs.

gaz_gaz - 21/6/11 at 08:16 PM

ok well i reckon theres saving to be made on the front brakes, dampers, uprights and possibly wheels

anyone know how much the stock xr4x4 brakes weigh?
also is it possible to buy the alloy uprights new or is it a case of waiting till they appear on here?
what are these m16 brakes required to work with the alloy uprights?
and lastly for now, what do people recommend for grp seats?

[Edited on 21/6/11 by gaz_gaz]

daniel mason - 21/6/11 at 08:52 PM

mnr supply a full front end.
discs,
alloy calipers
alloy hubs
new uprights, (lighter than the ally ones)
and compomotive cxr's or td pro race in 13"
also grp seats,
i would contact them and see what they can do for you.

also carbon items are avilable,
front arches
rear arches
back panel
boot cover

this wont be cheap tough!

mcerd1 - 21/6/11 at 09:02 PM

quote:
Originally posted by gaz_gazanyone know how much the stock xr4x4 brakes weigh?

lots

I did have the weights somewhere but I've lost them (can weigh them again if needed)

gaz_gaz - 21/6/11 at 09:06 PM

i've sent MNR an email earlier so will see what they come back with,
i don't mind paying fair prices but i expect to see gains for the money,

if you have some brakes to hand that'd be smashing,

Frosty - 21/6/11 at 11:49 PM

A tad over 500kg is about right I would say. You really have to take these low weight figures with a pinch of salt as most of them are guesses, or weighed using majorly inaccurate methods, like 2 bathroom scales joined by a plank of wood in each corner etc.

I figured my car would be really low, but it was 512kg with a full tank when on the corner weight scales. I have since added anti roll bars, and a full cage with side impact bars, so I expect it's around 530kg now. This is 20kg that was well worth adding though.

The things that spring to mind are:

* Rear calipers - Sierra ones are heavy - there are some replacements which are under 1kg out there.
* Radiator - alloy may be lighter?
* Tyres - CR500 tyres are the lightest I have seen. Nearly 2kg lighter each than R888s IIRC.

Yazza54 - 22/6/11 at 06:11 AM

Mine was corner weighted professionally

richard thomas - 22/6/11 at 07:10 AM

quote:
Originally posted by gaz_gaz
without me.

basically complete car with all sva bits
full cage
cobra roadster seats
protech suspension
speedline wheels
25 litres of fuel
bit of mud under the arches from driving down to the garage
usual sierra brakes, diff etc, not really sure where i can remove weight as its basic as it is.

so where can i start shedding weight?

[Edited on 21/6/11 by gaz_gaz]

[Edited on 21/6/11 by gaz_gaz]

Those seats are heavy, i replaced mine with fibreglass ones...considerably lighter although I don't know the exact weights...

Jon Ison - 22/6/11 at 07:17 AM

here, one pinch of salt.

hughpinder - 22/6/11 at 07:35 AM

I was going through all the paper I've accumulated during the design of mine and came across a copy of the report that was done for caterham for the suspension set up of the race spec SV car. (full cage etc). If it makes you any happier that was weighed at 611kg (285front, 326rear).
Regards
Hugh

franky - 22/6/11 at 07:41 AM

quote:
Originally posted by richard thomas

quote:
Originally posted by gaz_gaz
without me.

basically complete car with all sva bits
full cage
cobra roadster seats
protech suspension
speedline wheels
25 litres of fuel
bit of mud under the arches from driving down to the garage
usual sierra brakes, diff etc, not really sure where i can remove weight as its basic as it is.

so where can i start shedding weight?

[Edited on 21/6/11 by gaz_gaz]

[Edited on 21/6/11 by gaz_gaz]

Those seats are heavy, i replaced mine with fibreglass ones...considerably lighter although I don't know the exact weights...

If you want padded lightweight seat the odyssey 11's are about half the weight of the cobra ones as they're just a padded GRP shell.

coozer - 22/6/11 at 07:54 AM

Hmm, mine was 525kg at SVA.. with a cast iron zetec and type 9.

Since then I've shaved 5kg off the Sierra calipers by putting wilwoods on, saved 6kg in an ali bellhousing and added 19kg with the full cage.

I would have thought the bike engined variaty should be well under 500kg.

Benzo - 22/6/11 at 10:43 AM

mine comes in at 475kg dry... Blade lump and a full cage

Minimum for our 'RGB' type series over here is 560kg..

Sam_68 - 22/6/11 at 11:58 AM

Mines 433kg wet and with a full tank of fuel, weighed by Autocar magazine.

But that's with a car engine and very heavy seats.

Frosty - 22/6/11 at 12:00 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Jon Ison
here, one pinch of salt.

Blimey - what's your chassis made of? Cardboard?

What was that weighed on out of interest? The reason I ask is because weigh bridges are not accurate enough on light cars because of the rounding up. Furthermore, the split axle weighing method is not always accurate either, and this is often used.

The SVA weight of my car was MILES away from the actual weight on the corner weight scales (which is why I was suprised when it came out at 512kg when corner weighted).

Appologies if yours was weighed on corner weight scales or something very accurate. I was merely pointing out to the OP that some of the figures you read about are not a true reflextion of the car's actual weight. I'm certainly not calling anyone a liar.

Johneturbo - 22/6/11 at 12:20 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Yazza54
Mine was corner weighted professionally

Irony - 22/6/11 at 12:57 PM

I was told by a fellow I know who runs several racecars (including a cool 1970's classic F1 car he found abandoned in a Carpet showroom) that getting the weight down is all very well but the difference handlingwise between unsprung and sprung weight is huge. He reckoned every kilo of unsprung was worth 4kg of sprung weight.

I don't know how true this but it makes sense to me

Antnicuk - 22/6/11 at 01:07 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Sam_68
Mines 433kg wet and with a full tank of fuel, weighed by Autocar magazine.

But that's with a car engine and very heavy seats.

blimey, thats Light, do you have any pictures of your car?

matt_gsxr - 22/6/11 at 03:29 PM

iiyama - 22/6/11 at 05:05 PM

Mine came in @ 508Kg's with best part of a full tank and the Dax cage.

gaz_gaz - 22/6/11 at 08:49 PM

thanks for all the input guys,

i guess it weighs what it weighs,

do you think it would be realistic to think i could shed 30 kgs by replacing

uprights,(sierra)
front sierra brakes
rear sierra brakes
wheels (14" speedlines)
dampers (protech single adjustable)
seats (cobra roadster)

if there replaced with the correct items?

daniel mason - 22/6/11 at 09:06 PM

protechs are light already.
bu the rest should be do-able

gaz_gaz - 22/6/11 at 09:19 PM

i read they where 1kg per damper without spring?

not sure how true that is but i will certainly weigh mine this weekend when there off.

Jon Ison - 22/6/11 at 09:26 PM

Here's an easy one for you, how heavy are your springs ? Got adjustable platforms ? Why are your springs as long as they are ?

Sam_68 - 22/6/11 at 09:30 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Antnicuk
blimey, thats Light, do you have any pictures of your car?

Actually, it's probablyabout 20kg lighter at present, 'cos I've removed the ARB's, passenger seat and harness.

Not as light as some of the Caterham Blades, though - Richard Meaden got his down to 369kg, IIRC, though I don't know whether that was wet with fuel. Mighty impressive, regardless, for a road legal 2-seater with as steel spaceframe.

Circa 500 kilos isn't too impressive for a BEC, tbh - my old Sylva was corner weighted at 508 kilos with no really lightweight components (cast iron Crossflow engine, cast iron bellhousing and diff nose, Live axle, Sierra 5-speed box, fairly heavy alloys and full bodywork), though it will have gained weight a bit later in life.

Benzo - 22/6/11 at 10:20 PM

quote:
Originally posted by gaz_gaz
thanks for all the input guys,

i guess it weighs what it weighs,

do you think it would be realistic to think i could shed 30 kgs by replacing

uprights,(sierra)
front sierra brakes
rear sierra brakes
wheels (14" speedlines)
dampers (protech single adjustable)
seats (cobra roadster)

if there replaced with the correct items?

Hi gaz, a Major weight reduction i made on mine was replacing the westfield seats with JK Composite seats, the westie seats had a combined weight of 26kg! and now i have seats in which are 3kg a side so a straight saving off 20kg!! im not sure what the cobras are like tho.

gaz_gaz - 23/6/11 at 07:27 AM

quote:
Originally posted by Jon Ison
Here's an easy one for you, how heavy are your springs ? Got adjustable platforms ? Why are your springs as long as they are ?

The springs on my new dampers have 1" more travel than the damper has. Just so the spring does not become coil bound and the springs tend to work a little better.

franky - 23/6/11 at 07:38 AM

quote:
Originally posted by Sam_68

quote:
Originally posted by Antnicuk
blimey, thats Light, do you have any pictures of your car?

Actually, it's probablyabout 20kg lighter at present, 'cos I've removed the ARB's, passenger seat and harness.

Not as light as some of the Caterham Blades, though - Richard Meaden got his down to 369kg, IIRC, though I don't know whether that was wet with fuel. Mighty impressive, regardless, for a road legal 2-seater with as steel spaceframe.

Circa 500 kilos isn't too impressive for a BEC, tbh - my old Sylva was corner weighted at 508 kilos with no really lightweight components (cast iron Crossflow engine, cast iron bellhousing and diff nose, Live axle, Sierra 5-speed box, fairly heavy alloys and full bodywork), though it will have gained weight a bit later in life.

One of the few fw400s?

How come they made so few, cost? Its a nice shape.

Sam_68 - 23/6/11 at 11:26 AM

quote:
Originally posted by franky
How come they made so few, cost?

Several reasons, I think;

Cost, certainly - to be honest whilst the design is very clever, the build quality and detailing isn't even close to what you'd expect of a Ł40K (in 1999!), ultra-basic two-seater.

It was overtaken by the BEC craze - a Megabusa isn't that much slower and was little over half the price.

The gearbox makes it very compromised for road use - incredibly noisy and with a fairly brutal gearchange.

And, allegedly, the sub-contractor who manufactured the tubs came back after the initial production run and said they couldn't make a profit without a price hike that would have taken the overall price into Porsche 911 territory.

It's an interesting curiousity, though, and shows what can be achieved if you're a bit more adventurous; there are construction techniques that would allow a similar tub design to be constructed quite easily by the average 'Locost' type home-builder, though obviously not as cheaply as a spaceframe car.

...oh, and its F*****g quick, too!

DRC INDY 7 - 27/6/11 at 10:23 AM

Mine at sva was 550kg with full tank of fuel

What make's me smile when people say fit this fit that you will save 2 kg of weight when some owners are at least 18-22 stone in weight

Rocket_Rabbit - 27/6/11 at 08:27 PM

I do seem amazed by some peoples weight quotes.

My Westfield has pretty much every lightweight item going, barring the engine which admittedly is a iron blocked, but naturally aspirated, YAB Cosworth (Yep, YAB ) that is dry sumped and a windscreen which is soon to be retired.

Oddesey battery, carbon nose, carbon front arches, roll bar only, alloy uprights, alloy hubs, alloy calipers, billet image wheels, type 9 box and live axle (which is lighter than IRS as you all know)

Otherwise, full tank of fuel it comes in at 576kgs on Procomps scales

A decent IRS BEC with a thou, wet, would be 500kgs.

[Edited on 27/6/11 by Rocket_Rabbit]

SJL - 27/6/11 at 08:45 PM

My Megabusa came in at 521kgs full cage,anti roll bars etc and half a tank of fuel.

This was on properly calibrated corner weight scales.

I could lose some weight as I am using a 7.5 inch diff but it was brand new and the rightish price.

When I was building I did strive to keep the weight down where possible using alloy bits in places where there was no structural integrity etc.

Unfortunately it all boils down to a cost/weight equation as getting lighter costs lots of ŁŁŁŁ

Best thing I did was to lose two stone in weight after Christmas was over

franky - 27/6/11 at 08:52 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Rocket_Rabbit
I do seem amazed by some peoples weight quotes.

My Westfield has pretty much every lightweight item going, barring the engine which admittedly is a iron blocked, but naturally aspirated, YAB Cosworth (Yep, YAB ) that is dry sumped and a windscreen which is soon to be retired.

Oddesey battery, carbon nose, carbon front arches, roll bar only, alloy uprights, alloy hubs, alloy calipers, billet image wheels, type 9 box and live axle (which is lighter than IRS as you all know)

Otherwise, full tank of fuel it comes in at 576kgs on Procomps scales

A decent IRS BEC with a thou, wet, would be 500kgs.

[Edited on 27/6/11 by Rocket_Rabbit]

I think some people are quoting what the kit manufacturer says. IE sales speak

TimC - 27/6/11 at 08:55 PM

MK Indy CBR1000 w/ Cobra Roadsters & lots of stainless, big wheels, iron calipers etc ~ 565kgs
Sylva Striker X-flow, Type 2 gearbox, live axle, small drums, minimal trim, cosmetic roll hoop ~ 476kgs (seriously!)
ST Locost Race Car x-flow, full roll cage, Type 2 gearbox ~ 526kgs
Autotune Gemini RGB car R1, Live axle, full cage ~ Target 440kgs wet

Edit as I'd over-stated the Locost weight

[Edited on 28/6/11 by TimC]

UncleFista - 27/6/11 at 09:31 PM

Boggo locost with Zetec and type9, wet 570kgs.

weight

David Jenkins - 27/6/11 at 09:36 PM

quote:
Originally posted by DRC INDY 7
What make's me smile when people say fit this fit that you will save 2 kg of weight when some owners are at least 18-22 stone in weight

Yes - to twist an old saying - "the heaviest thing in many of these cars is the nut holding the wheel!" I'm sure that many of those cars would go faster if the driver ate less pies...

My x-flow-powered book locost is 600kg - but I wasn't trying to save every kilo when building it.

[Edited on 27/6/11 by David Jenkins]

Chet - 27/6/11 at 11:18 PM

FYI -

The US demo Sylva J15 Hayabusa weighs a little less than 450 kg.
This includes all fluids, 15 x 6.5 street wheels, 205 x 50 x15 tires, single hoop roll bar with brace, electric reverse, etc..

The car was being shown at the Carlisle PA USA show recently and I had many "experts" willing to wager that the car couldn't possibly weigh less than 1200 lbs(about 545 kg ). I ran out and purchased four bathroom scales and then displayed the car on the scales.

I also collected $200 in bets!

Chet

PS - Jeremy modified this J15 with a longer wheelbase (93) to get better chain life or it would be even lighter.

[Edited on 27/6/11 by Chet]

Sam_68 - 28/6/11 at 04:13 AM

quote:
Originally posted by frankyI think some people are quoting what the kit manufacturer says. IE sales speak

I can only speak for myself, but my Sylva's weight was taken by myself on high quality digital scales when corner weighting the car; I have no reason to disbelieve TimC's similarly very light figure though - Sylvas are physically smaller than most 'Seven' type cars, with a very lightweight chassis, and seem to come in a good bit less than most of the competition. You'd need a real boat-anchor of an engine (ie. a Pinto or Vauxhall 16V) or a very lax approach to weight saving to get the wrong side of 550 kilos with a Sylva, I think.

The figures for my Westfield and the Evo/Meaden Caterham are as reliable as you're going to get from third-party figures (and the Westfield actually represents a miserable failure against its design target weight/manufacturer's claim of 400 kilos).

'Normal' Westfields are physically quite large cars, particularly now they've standardised on the wide chassis/body, and Locosts are, well, Locosts: at the end of the day they were designed to be cheap and robust, with no particular eye to weight saving.

phelpsa - 28/6/11 at 08:02 AM

460kgs at Procomp. Thats with no particularly special lightweight parts and a full cage, but not road legal.

Have since saved another 2kgs a corner on wheels and tyres but added fire extinguisher.

BobM - 28/6/11 at 12:36 PM

My ZX10R BDN S3 is just on the 560kg weight limit for RGB with my 90kg, 10 litres of fuel and 10kg of ballast

bigfoot4616 - 28/6/11 at 08:32 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Sam_68

I can only speak for myself, but my Sylva's weight was taken by myself on high quality digital scales when corner weighting the car; I have no reason to disbelieve TimC's similarly very light figure though - Sylvas are physically smaller than most 'Seven' type cars, with a very lightweight chassis, and seem to come in a good bit less than most of the competition. You'd need a real boat-anchor of an engine (ie. a Pinto or Vauxhall 16V) or a very lax approach to weight saving to get the wrong side of 550 kilos with a Sylva, I think.

my blade powered striker weighed in at 440kgs at procomp

No. 67 - 15/7/11 at 03:53 PM

mine's 450 kilos but then it was built purely for racing

Oh, and it's for sale!!!

black fingernail - 15/7/11 at 05:10 PM

mines 560kilo with 1/2 tank of fuel. weighed on nice shiney new weighbridge.
alloy puma engine, home made alloy bellhousing, everything else pretty much standard locost.

andyfiggy2002 - 16/7/11 at 10:05 PM

managed to put my megablade on a diet last year & got down to 420kg, even i've lost weight so with me thats 490kg, now all i need to do is find a job so i can afford insurance, MOT & TAX to run it...lol

[Edited on 16/7/11 by andyfiggy2002]

Nick DV - 17/7/11 at 09:00 AM

An interesting thread but it surprises me how much some people get hung up on the weight of the car. Maybe the sole purpose for some is just to build a kit as light as possible just to say he or she has the lightest car when down the pub at a meeting - or on a forum

Not to put anyone down, but I would question whether or not anyone here could drive their respective BEC's, or CEC's, to the limit on the road - or for most, on the track - so why go to the trouble of spending ages and probably Ł's trying to shave off the odd kilo or two in weight? Until you can drive them to thier limits just get in, drive and have fun

For me though, I need to eat a lot less pies, drink a lot less cider and get out on the bike - mine would be 15 kg lighter then!!

Cheers, Nick

Sam_68 - 17/7/11 at 09:33 AM

quote:
Originally posted by Nick DVNot to put anyone down, but I would question whether or not anyone here could drive their respective BEC's, or CEC's, to the limit on the road - or for most, on the track - so why go to the trouble of spending ages and probably Ł's trying to shave off the odd kilo or two in weight?

You're at least partly missing the point. It isn't necessarily about ultimate performance or shaving the last 10th of a second off lap time or 0-60.... very light cars feel different all the time, throughout their whole performance envelope. The lack of weight means that every response to steering, braking and throttle inputs is that much sharper and more precise.

And sure, no single overweight component makes an overwhelming difference on its own, but if you take such a lax attitude, you'll find that everything quickly starts to add up and the next thing you know you're driving a 650 kilo car when it could have been a 500 kilo car... and believe me, the extra weight makes a very noticeable difference to responses.

But I guess the question you're asking is 'why strive for excellence, when mediocre will do?'.

Some of us just don't like to settle for mediocre.

[Edited on 17/7/11 by Sam_68]

eddie99 - 17/7/11 at 10:02 AM

The global with the zx10 weighs at 490 wet including myself, im hoping for 600 for the panther...

gaz_gaz - 17/7/11 at 10:41 AM

quote:
Originally posted by andyfiggy2002
managed to put my megablade on a diet last year & got down to 420kg, even i've lost weight so with me thats 490kg, now all i need to do is find a job so i can afford insurance, MOT & TAX to run it...lol

[Edited on 16/7/11 by andyfiggy2002]

Do you know how much it weighed before the diet?

andyfiggy2002 - 17/7/11 at 12:25 PM

anyone remember what Colin Chapman, the founder of Lotus's philosophy was?

black fingernail - 17/7/11 at 01:52 PM

yees, 'to go fast add lightness'
But sometimes this lead to disaster (alledgedly).
weight saving is a good thing, but common sense must prevail. swapping steel parts for alloy or carbon fibre and the like is good, providing these are unstressed items, steering, suspension, controls, and related mountings MUST be up to the job so do not try tigging up a set of uprights from odd bits of spurious alloy you happen to have in the shed.
ok a bit extreme, but if you keep the thought in the back of your mind while building, and use lightweight alternatives like alloy water pipes, not have handfulls of wire tied out of the way, be careful with wheel choice - some alloy wheels weigh more than their steel equivalents! it it surprising how much weight is trimmed off.

andyfiggy2002 - 17/7/11 at 05:44 PM

or was it 'less is more' ?? same thing i guess as u said

Sam_68 - 18/7/11 at 11:28 AM

quote:
Originally posted by andyfiggy2002
anyone remember what Colin Chapman, the founder of Lotus's philosophy was?

I thought it was 'if the car doesn't fall to pieces the day after the warranty has run out, then its over-engineered'?

... or something like that.