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for carbon fibre parts that i made for lotus elansplease look on lotus elan central . com
i know this is of little interest to porsche owner's ,but as of thursday i will have mine ,so may do similar things for 911 , nothing as big as body panel's .
look in owner's gallery under steve sharpe.
i know this is of little interest to porsche owner's ,but as of thursday i will have mine ,so may do similar things for 911 , nothing as big as body panel's .
look in owner's gallery under steve sharpe.
If you want to lose a lot of weight in one go in your 911, start by ditching the Lazyboy seats, with all their motors and stuff.
Apparently, this can be an instant saving of up to 50kgs.
Say you have a C2 that weighs 1350 kgs. Getting down to 1200kgs will be very difficult. The 964RS only just managed that, with all necessary captive nuts removed, no underseal and all manner of creature comforts ripped out.
But it will be the last 50kgs that will be the hardest to lose. You could probably get down to the late 1200s with a few sensible mods.
However, UV has a problem - namely the heavier weight of the turbo engine, complete with air con compressors and the like. These weigh something like 1450kgs to start off with, so mid to late 1300s would be a good target.
Apparently, this can be an instant saving of up to 50kgs.
Say you have a C2 that weighs 1350 kgs. Getting down to 1200kgs will be very difficult. The 964RS only just managed that, with all necessary captive nuts removed, no underseal and all manner of creature comforts ripped out.
But it will be the last 50kgs that will be the hardest to lose. You could probably get down to the late 1200s with a few sensible mods.
However, UV has a problem - namely the heavier weight of the turbo engine, complete with air con compressors and the like. These weigh something like 1450kgs to start off with, so mid to late 1300s would be a good target.
domster, my rough weight loss plan as follows...
kg's lost due to:
50 - carbon buckets
15 - carbon hood
20 - no spare wheel / tools - use tyre mousse
5 - stripped luggage bay
10 - lighter battery
30 - no rear seats + belt mechanisms
5 - ditch standard shite stereo + speakers
135kg lost from 1340 = 1205kg
kg's lost due to:
50 - carbon buckets
15 - carbon hood
20 - no spare wheel / tools - use tyre mousse
5 - stripped luggage bay
10 - lighter battery
30 - no rear seats + belt mechanisms
5 - ditch standard shite stereo + speakers
135kg lost from 1340 = 1205kg
Hmmm, yeah, some of this weight loss looks feasible, but you may be erring on the 'generous' side with the figures. Anyway, I think it's a good idea, being a fan of bulimic porkers myself!
Maybe UV (who obviously has money to burn
) could buy a set of corner scales so we can see the real weight loss acheived.
Maybe UV (who obviously has money to burn

lol!
I hadn't realised ther was that much excess weight in the flywheel & exhaust. Won't the car become too jerky for everyday driving with a light flywheel?
I was going to get the factory sport exhaust for 1k purely for the better sound. I suspect this is only for the back box, so no weight loss I'm sure. Also I'm not sure there will be any power gains either. Do you think I might be better off killing two birds with one stone (better power + weight) with a JZM upgraded exhaust etc for 2.5k for 350bhp?
I hadn't realised ther was that much excess weight in the flywheel & exhaust. Won't the car become too jerky for everyday driving with a light flywheel?
I was going to get the factory sport exhaust for 1k purely for the better sound. I suspect this is only for the back box, so no weight loss I'm sure. Also I'm not sure there will be any power gains either. Do you think I might be better off killing two birds with one stone (better power + weight) with a JZM upgraded exhaust etc for 2.5k for 350bhp?
UV - here is the info on the Kevlar bits from Bernard:
"The lightweight T2 bits came from The Racers Group (Sears Point, USA) they advertise in several Porsche mags, if your colleague can't find details (or
JZ don't know of them which is unlikely) let me know."
Roadrunner - I am not sure how much weight is lost by using an RS flywheel, but I know that Scottster's old 964C2 had one fitted and used to stall more often when cold... ie it may have an unwanted side-effect if you fit it.
Not sure about sports exhaust gains, mainly to sound I should think. JZ Machtech 350 upgrade seems quite good value for 2.5k
If I tune my 964RS I'll get exhaust, filter and Motec mapping - for about 5k, eeek - from 930 Motorsport. Until I have a spare 5k, I will stick with the cat bypass pipe and a Roock chip.
Just to add a bit to the weight loss, Cats are heavy, so ditch those and you'll save a fair bit of weight.
Re: the Carbon Fibre doors, what are they like noisewise? I was going to fit some to my Brother's Mini (not much more than standard new doors and won't rust
), but was told they're no good for a road car as they're so bloody noisy?
Re: the Carbon Fibre doors, what are they like noisewise? I was going to fit some to my Brother's Mini (not much more than standard new doors and won't rust

The dual mass flywheel weighs a tone. I had a look at both examples when I bought my car (promted from questions about the DMFW life span).
On the exhaust side, for weight saving get a bypass pipe i.e. ditch the muffler completely. I have saved 30 lbs by doing this. As for performance don't expect any gains by making any changes to the muffler, you need to change the headers. You basically need to get equal length manifolds that have been properly tuned to your car. JZ and 930 Motorsport do a GT(2?) exhaust system which proclaims to be such an item. However, these cost 2.5 - 3K. You'd be lucky to get a 10Bhp gain. Not really a good bhp/cost ratio.
So all in all your approach is probably spot on. Get the performance upgrade and change the muffler if you want better sound.....
On the exhaust side, for weight saving get a bypass pipe i.e. ditch the muffler completely. I have saved 30 lbs by doing this. As for performance don't expect any gains by making any changes to the muffler, you need to change the headers. You basically need to get equal length manifolds that have been properly tuned to your car. JZ and 930 Motorsport do a GT(2?) exhaust system which proclaims to be such an item. However, these cost 2.5 - 3K. You'd be lucky to get a 10Bhp gain. Not really a good bhp/cost ratio.
So all in all your approach is probably spot on. Get the performance upgrade and change the muffler if you want better sound.....
Hi UV
Yeah, sorry, I meant my RS had a cat bypass and Roock chip already. I may ditch it for full 3D Motec mapping later on.
This is an interesting email from Bernard:
"Losing 150kg is realistic, if you're prepared to try!!
Yes the 964 RS was 1190kg (and the 993 about 1270kg I think) but the T2 starts life at 1460kg (kerb). I have taken almost exactly 200kg off that, according to a sum of corner weights allowing for one-quarter tank.
This involved:
carbon kevlar bonnet & rear wing/engine cover
grp front splitter
full B&B tri-flo sports exhaust
ZucZ induction kit / airbox (aerospace grade plastic replacing metal)
racing bucket seats
Turbo 4 hollow spoke 'Technology' wheels (>£1000 each if gotten from Prof
Porsche)
removal of one auxiliary cooling fan (to use the thermostatted connection
for an intercooler fan - not yet fitted)
To go down further you would need to get rid of most or all soundproofing, fit thinner glass, use replacement aluminium (or carbon) doors, fit lightweight bumper mounts, and remove the rear seats. Or, just re-body the whole car in carbon-kevlar! (not). I don't consider any of this to be a viable proposition, in either practical
or cost-benefit terms.
With over 400bhp and well over 400lb ft on a good (cold) day, I've taken my T2 to a metred 3.9s 0-60 and I reckon a road tester who didn't have to live
with the consequences or have any bills to pay would shave another tenth or two off that. Autocar got a Turbo 4 to 60 in 3.8s (1510kg plus tester BUT plus 4wd) and my car feels quicker in-gear than the two Turbo 4's I have test driven.
That's the only thing holding me back from a 993 Turbo S, I'm honestly not sure it would be that much quicker in accelerative terms at realistic road speeds (up to 100 mph) to justify the price I'd pay.
Still might get one though..."
>> Edited by domster on Wednesday 29th May 12:00
That T2 sounds great fun. I can imagine the massive thrust that would have, similar to my mates 450bhp 300zx I expect.
With a little more poke and a lot less weight I hope to dip comfortably below 4.5 to 60ish. Funnily enough Evo / Car / TopGear mag tested the lighter facelifted 3.6 C2 and said it felt more like 4.5secs for the 60 dash. Apparently much better than the previous 3.4 model. Weight loss should make a big difference. Look how fast the puny exige is with only a 1.8 engine!
With a little more poke and a lot less weight I hope to dip comfortably below 4.5 to 60ish. Funnily enough Evo / Car / TopGear mag tested the lighter facelifted 3.6 C2 and said it felt more like 4.5secs for the 60 dash. Apparently much better than the previous 3.4 model. Weight loss should make a big difference. Look how fast the puny exige is with only a 1.8 engine!
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