Has anyone done a major weightloss?
Discussion
Driving the Moaner around Brands today made me realise what a lard-bucket it actually is.
Caterhams weighing 850kg coming around the outside, hell even stripped out Fiestas with slicks doing the out-corner the Monaro boogey!
Low weight is king in the real-world performance stakes so, has anyone ever stripped out a Monaro or HSV/Holden coupe and fitted a roll cage etc to get the weight down...and, what did it get down to?
Caterhams weighing 850kg coming around the outside, hell even stripped out Fiestas with slicks doing the out-corner the Monaro boogey!
Low weight is king in the real-world performance stakes so, has anyone ever stripped out a Monaro or HSV/Holden coupe and fitted a roll cage etc to get the weight down...and, what did it get down to?
Depends on how far you want to go.
Carpets, Interior panels, dash surround, all seats & replace drivers with low weight race one, strip out the boot, hood insulation, lose the stereo and aircond. Should save a couple of hundred kilo's all up. Oh and take out your side windows for perspex or a plain webbed net.
Carpets, Interior panels, dash surround, all seats & replace drivers with low weight race one, strip out the boot, hood insulation, lose the stereo and aircond. Should save a couple of hundred kilo's all up. Oh and take out your side windows for perspex or a plain webbed net.
It was something that I contemplated doing in the future, having resigned myself to the fact that my HSV wasn't worth selling. Sadly, I never got the chance to explore it further.
What I was thinking of doing, is to get a roll cage from Aus., which should have been reasonably easy to source seeing as there are loads of VX race cars. Shouldn't be too difficult to find a Monaro one though.
I was going to strip out the rear seats, probably retaining the original front seats, but maybe fit a pair of lightweight race seats. Fit a rear strut brace & adjustable suspension.
Engine wise, I wasn't going to do a lot other than make it safer for the track, by fitting a baffled sump etc. probably would have left the power as it was (c.540bhp) as I didn't want to fit bigger wheels. Would have got a spare set of wheels with track rubber on though.
I also wanted a set of side exit pipes :smokin
I was going to retain the aircon, & the dash etc. might have removed the rear door trims, but my thoughts were that it shouldn't be impossible to put it back to how it was.
These mods. would have left the car road use friendly, which was important to me, as I wouldn't want such a car to only use on track days.
I never got as far as looking at prices, but I don't think it would have been too expensive & there would have been a huge amount of info. available on the net. from Aus. Also, it could all be done in stages.
Having seen various race cars that Mark has prepared, I probably would have got LSV involved.
I often wonder ,if it was possible, how much it would cost to buy an ex V8 Supercar?
What I was thinking of doing, is to get a roll cage from Aus., which should have been reasonably easy to source seeing as there are loads of VX race cars. Shouldn't be too difficult to find a Monaro one though.
I was going to strip out the rear seats, probably retaining the original front seats, but maybe fit a pair of lightweight race seats. Fit a rear strut brace & adjustable suspension.
Engine wise, I wasn't going to do a lot other than make it safer for the track, by fitting a baffled sump etc. probably would have left the power as it was (c.540bhp) as I didn't want to fit bigger wheels. Would have got a spare set of wheels with track rubber on though.
I also wanted a set of side exit pipes :smokin
I was going to retain the aircon, & the dash etc. might have removed the rear door trims, but my thoughts were that it shouldn't be impossible to put it back to how it was.
These mods. would have left the car road use friendly, which was important to me, as I wouldn't want such a car to only use on track days.
I never got as far as looking at prices, but I don't think it would have been too expensive & there would have been a huge amount of info. available on the net. from Aus. Also, it could all be done in stages.
Having seen various race cars that Mark has prepared, I probably would have got LSV involved.
I often wonder ,if it was possible, how much it would cost to buy an ex V8 Supercar?
Edited by A57 HSV on Tuesday 10th October 12:00
A couple of guys have gone a bit beserk on the ls1gto forum. Spare wheel and jack gone for starters plusr there's this little triangle thing underneath on the 04 cars anyway that some had got rid of. People have taken out the rear seats and even removed the AC system in the path to save weight. I imagine replacing the front seats with recaros would make a difference. To be fair the moaner isn't *that* heavy but the 04 could definitly do with a half decent suspension set up, have you thought about wortecs new adjustable one?
I can't really see the point, I bought the Monaro because it has decent performance and yet can still seat four in comfort. If you are going to the route of removing all the "nice" bits then you must just as well go and buy a stripped out purpose built track day car.
Just my two pence worth
Just my two pence worth
Totally see your point Daz, but I was considering it as a future project on a car that would by then have been maybe 6 years old or more. As the resale value would have probably been very low, it would have been a case of keeping it and making it in to a different vehicle for fun. As I'd bought my first HSV in 2000 it would have been a case of a "change is as good as rest".
As it was, the kind soles at Norwich Union paid me £45k for my HSV once the Bristol Fire Brigade had turned it into a cabriolet.
As it was, the kind soles at Norwich Union paid me £45k for my HSV once the Bristol Fire Brigade had turned it into a cabriolet.
better to by a lightweight car? ive got a v6 gtm libra kit car - will leave the supercharged hsv for dead in the twisty stuff on b roads.
light in more than one way - 830kg - light on wear and tear - tyres, brakes, clutch etc.
tracking a hsv /monaro would be fun but very expensive :-)
was thinking of a drift day (or half a day at oulton park - they wet the tarnmac rally course :-) a lot less stress on the car but they do get very dirty
light in more than one way - 830kg - light on wear and tear - tyres, brakes, clutch etc.
tracking a hsv /monaro would be fun but very expensive :-)
was thinking of a drift day (or half a day at oulton park - they wet the tarnmac rally course :-) a lot less stress on the car but they do get very dirty
my old neighbour had a mk1 exige which he reduced to about 750 Kgs and then put a VAG 1.8T with strengthened everything and last time I saw was running 350 + HP.
An absolute weapon - devasting on straights and in corners.
But he still had big respect for the Ro.
As sjc says if you want a track day car buy one. I did a session around Bedford GT circuit and had great fun as teh aim was to learn how to handle the wee beastie. Noise issues and on standard CV8 suspensiom meant corners were interesing (apart from larger sweeping ones) but...apart from crazy high powered caterhams, GT3's, Ultimas and an EVO FQ400 nothing could take me on the straights.
Pullled away from NA 911's (GT3 excepted) M3's etc once above 90...
An absolute weapon - devasting on straights and in corners.
But he still had big respect for the Ro.
As sjc says if you want a track day car buy one. I did a session around Bedford GT circuit and had great fun as teh aim was to learn how to handle the wee beastie. Noise issues and on standard CV8 suspensiom meant corners were interesing (apart from larger sweeping ones) but...apart from crazy high powered caterhams, GT3's, Ultimas and an EVO FQ400 nothing could take me on the straights.
Pullled away from NA 911's (GT3 excepted) M3's etc once above 90...
My thoughts were to have the car as a fierce road car, the roll cage & rear strut brace to stiffen the chassis. I would have done the odd track day, but as I've said many times before, I to think that the HSV & Monaro are too heavy for regular track use. I reckon that the last track day I did ended up costing me over £700, when taking into account the wear on my tyres & brakes. Good fun but frankly I'd have had a better time at Bedford Autodrome using a range of fast/fun cars that I didn't own.
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