Making It Lighter

[perfesserbob]

Even after being zoomed around a track in a new Fiesta ST by the legendary Roger Foo, I decided I was going to keep my red gen 1 Speed 3! At 27-hundred pounds, the Fiesta achieves lightspeed quickly - and with a massive little erection! But forget all that. I'm keepin' it, dammit!

What changed my mind was the appraiser at the Ford dealership the next day. Understand that my car looks like the freaking Temple Virgin - like it came off the dealer's floor 7-years ago - only better. To say I'm a little fussy about my cars is, well.... Anyway, the guy didn't even pop the hood to see that after 88k miles the oil looks like it just came out of the bottle! That was it. "Car not for sale. Thank you. Come again".... ding ding...

I'm going to rock into all the maintenance, get rid of the crappy H&R street-strip coilovers (ohhhh yeaaah, they're comfy - if you never go slower than 85). And it's time to make it lighter. I removed (and saved) most of the rear interior. Spare tire and jack went, too. Living dangerously. I'm going to have a lightweight carpet made with a dynaliner under it to cover the floor.

I want to take off the plastic bumper strips on the doors, and was also thinking about those ugly plastic rocker panels. So what's under there, anyway? Big hole or a shiny smooth painted surface???? My goal is up to 200-pounds lighter. Actually, it could be about 340 pounds lighter if I could get "she who must be obeyed" to move back home with her mother.

Ideas anybody? What about lighter wheels? Are there any cheapies out there that'll do the job and leave me some cash to buy new Hankooks? And is there such a thing as a smaller, lighter rear wing? Maybe just a little carbon fiber lip spoiler and nothing else? Thank you all!

2007 Speed 3. Bigger intercooler, bypass valve, cat back, downpipe, Cobb Intake, Hypertech-fixes-every-damn-thing-programmer, and a huge radar detector! Corksport and ********** parts, too. Good folks.

 

[soslow93]

I as well am interested in ways to lighten the pig...! muffler ,spare tire, jack and audio system to start with for me. After recently upgrading to a test pipe i notices several "braces" that could poteniatlly be swiss cheesed a bit to remove a lb or 2. also thinking about doing a diy fiberglass hood for race day only type thing...and some fixed back seats that are 13lbs each should get pretty close to the 200# mark then wheels should take another 30#'s this is all for a daily driven autox car!

oh yea also light weight batter should be good for 15 lbs depending on what you replace with.

 

[Chris_Top_Her]

I'll take the "she who must be obeyed", I don't think the other parts will go into my CX-5.

 

[MSMS3]

Reducing unspring weight has double benefits, because it not only improves power to weight ratio, but has a huge impact on handling. So, lighter rims and paying attention to tire weight (yes, there are dramatic differences from brand to brand) is important. Also remember that wider tires do not always make a car quicker and rubber is heavier than alloy, so go for sticky compound over extra tire width.

I agree regarding the back seat, spare tire, jack and such. Be careful regarding too much hole drilling in cross-members. Lighter front seats might also help, as would a much lighter battery and moving it to the rear for balance), but all of the real weight savings is going to cost some money. Removing plastic panels and such is not going to produce much gains.

Going back to power to weight ratio: You can pretty much predict straight line acceleration performance (once you get traction) with this. For that reason, not only put the car on a crash diet of removing what is not necessary, but also bump up the power. A 10% increase in power is the equivalent of dropping about 300 pounds of weight in that regard for cars in our weight category. If you can do both, that is fabulous. I'm up about 70 whp over stock with safe, sensible power mods.

 

[perfesserbob]

Making Her Lighter

I'll take the "she who must be obeyed", I don't think the other parts will go into my CX-5.

So, you're into women with depression, eh? They're sooo compatible with the car hobby. Punishment from both sides...

 

[perfesserbob]

MSM3! Hey, thanks for the input. Couple of questions... How do you like the colder plugs? Did you notice anything different from the slightly hotter plugs? Today, I'm messing with the back doors - seeing if I can replace the inner skins with something lighter that will do the bracing instead of the steel. The speakers are probably history, too.

I'm still fretting about wheels. Ever find any cheap, light 5 or 6 spoke wheels that mimic the OEM's? I have also run the Hankooks off the front again and need tires, too. I'm getting tired of the "push". Could I dial that out by tightening the rear sway? Ahhh, another 2-grand will surely cause feminine apoplexy.

It's already a jillion degrees in Phoenix. We're sorta like Gulfport without the humidity, the water, the seafood, the green trees -- okay so we're not Gulfport. I can dream...

 

[MSMS3]

If you have both Hypertech and an aftermarket downpipe, you are, like me, seeing 18-19 psi boost under some conditions. One step colder NGKs (#6510) can provide a little extra protection against knock and keep your timing from pulling back. I don't get any fouling at low rpm city driving, so they are working fine.

Don't know what rims to recommend as I'm still on stock, but I am a firm believer in staying at stock width and getting very sticky rubber, like the Yoko Advan AD 08s I'm running. They are very close to R rubber.

 

[magicka]

Enkei Racing wheels are fairly light and inexpensive, particularly the PF01 and RPF1 in 17" diameter. Both those, plus the NT-03M are also available in 18", if you want to stick with stock diameter. If ~$250/wheel is too dear, Kosei K1 TS (only comes in 17") and the TRMotorsport C2 (only 18x8) are good options for $75-100 less per corner.

 

[perfesserbob]

If you have both Hypertech and an aftermarket downpipe, you are, like me, seeing 18-19 psi boost under some conditions. One step colder NGKs (#6510) can provide a little extra protection against knock and keep your timing from pulling back. I don't get any fouling at low rpm city driving, so they are working fine.

Don't know what rims to recommend as I'm still on stock, but I am a firm believer in staying at stock width and getting very sticky rubber, like the Yoko Advan AD 08s I'm running. They are very close to R rubber.

Everytime I take a wheel off and pick the thing up...heavy. Drives me nuts! Thanks for the info on the on the NGK's. I'll try `em next time. I have experienced knock/timing changes (car seems to get a severe cough for a nanosecond or so). Mostly when I'm in the mountains, tho. Replacing the MAF helped. Have yet to get faster O2 sensors. I have both the Hypertech and a Corksport downpipe with one cat deleted. I got a big HP boost on the butt dyno when I installed the pipe, and it felt like more when the programmer kicked in. I love the Hypertech. Everything in the car plays nice together.

Also like your Yokos. Had them once on a Neon R/T. Ran them off in about a week, tho... Another car guy was over to the house last night to buy my old H&R coilovers for his wife's Speed3. He was driving the first M5 from BMW. Cool old car. Sez he runs tires off it couple of times a year. Sez he cannot go ANYwhere without someone wanting to race him. Also, he described the failure of the right front OEM strut of his wife's Speed3. Both of our cars failed the same way at about the same mileage. Did you experience anything similar? The right front just gave up the ghost and turned into a "clunk" monster.

Let's see. What else? Oh, the oiling issues the 2.3 has had. Something about a badly spec'd pcv valve and the engines blowing smoke. The second problem was something about not having a catch can.

I've not had much of the catch can problem. I warm the turbo up, and let it cool a bit before I turn the motor off. I run ZMAX all the time and the turbo appears to love it. Only thing I notice is about every 2-years, I blow a big cloud of white smoke at a stoplight or on a freeway onramp. Oops...

I suppose the PCV thing was fixed on later cars. It's tough to replace. You have to remove the intake manifold. I fixed the problem in mine by inserting "the pill", a restrictor in the breather tube and by running 10w30. A little smell at the drivethru now and then, but no visible smoke anymore.

 

[perfesserbob]

Enkei Racing wheels are fairly light and inexpensive, particularly the PF01 and RPF1 in 17" diameter. Both those, plus the NT-03M are also available in 18", if you want to stick with stock diameter. If ~$250/wheel is too dear, Kosei K1 TS (only comes in 17") and the TRMotorsport C2 (only 18x8) are good options for $75-100 less per corner.

Thanks! Am going to look up Kosei and TRM right now.

Perfect!!! The C2's are the 1s, so to speak... Have been looking for 6-spokes specifically.

Magicka: You're not only magik, but you can read minds, too! Thanks!