Griffith Weight Loss?
Discussion
I know Griffs aren't exactly overburdened with weight, but I wondered if there were any ways to remove mass... Not worried about costs yet!
Current thoughts are:
Not carrying a spare (I don't anyway)
Lighter wheels - the 18" OZ Superleggeras I have on the Impreza are extremely light, and the Griff could get a set of them...
Steve Heath's hubs. IIRC there's a bit of weight saving there.
Seats: Are Cerbera seats, for instance, lighter? (Need to be good for daily use and match the interior of course)
Lighter panels? They don't weigh a lot anyway!!
A silly one: Would an internally balanced engine enable me to have a lighter crank pulley? (As well as all the other benefits it brings) Should be good for a kg or two.
Another silly one: Going on a diet and not eating chocolate.
My guess is the easy stuff (ie anything but the diet) is worth about 20kg at the most.
What else is there?
Current thoughts are:
Not carrying a spare (I don't anyway)
Lighter wheels - the 18" OZ Superleggeras I have on the Impreza are extremely light, and the Griff could get a set of them...
Steve Heath's hubs. IIRC there's a bit of weight saving there.
Seats: Are Cerbera seats, for instance, lighter? (Need to be good for daily use and match the interior of course)
Lighter panels? They don't weigh a lot anyway!!
A silly one: Would an internally balanced engine enable me to have a lighter crank pulley? (As well as all the other benefits it brings) Should be good for a kg or two.
Another silly one: Going on a diet and not eating chocolate.
My guess is the easy stuff (ie anything but the diet) is worth about 20kg at the most.
What else is there?
you are the heaviest bit in the car...
go on a diet (cheapest but hardest option).
race battery (saves about 5KG!!!!!) £130
C/F doors ACT (bout £2k) saves 3KG per doorish
1/2 tank of fuel
T350 seats (they fit)
Bin the CD changer (1KG)
Bin the carbon cannister (front wing) 2KG
steve Heaths ally bits (hubs/discs will save alot of Unsprung weight)
titaniym fixings throughout
remove carpets/trim etc etc how far do you want to go???
go on a diet (cheapest but hardest option).
race battery (saves about 5KG!!!!!) £130
C/F doors ACT (bout £2k) saves 3KG per doorish
1/2 tank of fuel
T350 seats (they fit)
Bin the CD changer (1KG)
Bin the carbon cannister (front wing) 2KG
steve Heaths ally bits (hubs/discs will save alot of Unsprung weight)
titaniym fixings throughout
remove carpets/trim etc etc how far do you want to go???
There's no aim at the moment other than making the best of the engine mods I'm working on... Just thinking ahead and doing a little research. I'll not get away with anything excessive in any case.
[quote]go on a diet (cheapest but hardest option). [/quote]
I know... Depressing, isn't it?
[quote]race battery (saves about 5KG!!!!!) £130 [/quote]
I'll need a new battery shortly. Do they last as long as normal batteries? Gut feel says no, as the rv8 is a big thing to turn over in the cold...
[quote]1/2 tank of fuel [/quote]
Always. Full tanks are a myth. I know I go to the garage, and put lots of petrol in... But the next day half of it's gone. I don't know where it goes. Does anyone else have this problem?
[quote]T350 seats (they fit) [/quote]
Excelent. I like T350 seats.
[quote]Bin the CD changer (1KG) [/quote]
What CD changer?
[quote]Bin the carbon cannister (front wing) 2KG [/quote]
Good idea. Not thought of this, although I did it in the Impreza.
[quote]remove carpets/trim etc etc how far do you want to go??? [/quote]
Not that far. It still needs to be comfortable and a "nice place to sit"
Incidentally, the new ECU is considerably lighter than the old one. This ought to be worth a few grams, however I fear it'll be offset by the addition of multiple coils.
[quote]go on a diet (cheapest but hardest option). [/quote]
I know... Depressing, isn't it?
[quote]race battery (saves about 5KG!!!!!) £130 [/quote]
I'll need a new battery shortly. Do they last as long as normal batteries? Gut feel says no, as the rv8 is a big thing to turn over in the cold...
[quote]1/2 tank of fuel [/quote]
Always. Full tanks are a myth. I know I go to the garage, and put lots of petrol in... But the next day half of it's gone. I don't know where it goes. Does anyone else have this problem?
[quote]T350 seats (they fit) [/quote]
Excelent. I like T350 seats.
[quote]Bin the CD changer (1KG) [/quote]
What CD changer?
[quote]Bin the carbon cannister (front wing) 2KG [/quote]
Good idea. Not thought of this, although I did it in the Impreza.
[quote]remove carpets/trim etc etc how far do you want to go??? [/quote]
Not that far. It still needs to be comfortable and a "nice place to sit"
Incidentally, the new ECU is considerably lighter than the old one. This ought to be worth a few grams, however I fear it'll be offset by the addition of multiple coils.
Easiest way of removing weight is to only put a 5 litres of fuel in the tank. Save about 45 kg compared with a full tank. Bit impractical but if you are really serious, its the way to go.
You can lighten the car but it costs a lot of money and to honest, unless you want the absolute lightest car for competition reasons I can think of better ways to go. Remove the side windows, and winder mechanism and replace with plexiglass will save aroiud 10 kg. Take all the carpets out and that's another 15-20. Remove all the boot carpet. Remove the air con. Fit an ally radiator. The car starts to become a dedicated racer at this point. Fit a John Eales ultra light weight flywheel and AP triple plate with small starter motor. That another 10-12 kg. Costs around £1000 to do it but what's money?
As I said all this stuff goes out the window as soon as you fill the tank. Or eat that extra portion of roast/custard/pud etc.
You can lighten the car but it costs a lot of money and to honest, unless you want the absolute lightest car for competition reasons I can think of better ways to go. Remove the side windows, and winder mechanism and replace with plexiglass will save aroiud 10 kg. Take all the carpets out and that's another 15-20. Remove all the boot carpet. Remove the air con. Fit an ally radiator. The car starts to become a dedicated racer at this point. Fit a John Eales ultra light weight flywheel and AP triple plate with small starter motor. That another 10-12 kg. Costs around £1000 to do it but what's money?
As I said all this stuff goes out the window as soon as you fill the tank. Or eat that extra portion of roast/custard/pud etc.
dnb
red top ("40" i think) see "demontheives" catalogue.
half the weight/size, gell filled race battery slightly more cranking power.
bin running one for two years no probs. just make sure its on the accumate if not used for long periods...does NOT like going flat! other that that you won't know the difference.
andy
red top ("40" i think) see "demontheives" catalogue.
half the weight/size, gell filled race battery slightly more cranking power.
bin running one for two years no probs. just make sure its on the accumate if not used for long periods...does NOT like going flat! other that that you won't know the difference.
andy
I see I'm not the only one who call them "demon thieves" 
Not got AC, already got the alloy rad... Battery sounds good - will get me another couple of inches of passenger foot room & more space for the ECU too.
I'm already pursuing other avenues of performance, but it's worth considering all the options available.
Not got AC, already got the alloy rad... Battery sounds good - will get me another couple of inches of passenger foot room & more space for the ECU too.
I'm already pursuing other avenues of performance, but it's worth considering all the options available.
If you are doing it to improve the performance, then concentrate on the flywheel and wheels first. You can lighten the flywheel quite a lot, but it will make it harder to control the engine revs when you pull away. You can get much much lighter wheels and tyres. The disadvantage is that they are quite expensive and relatively fragile, but they are a very effective way to improve the performance.
The Red Tops do not like small current drain for a long time as this will kill them. DMS strongly advise against this in their docs. Unfortunately Alarms fall into this category whether they are set or not. I've used Red Tops on the 520 for years but when the car is laid left overnight, the battery is disconnected and a trickle charger is connected to maintain the batteries. Leave the car for a week or more and the chances are that the battery will be dead and its life will be severely shortened.
Gassing Station | Griffith | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff