Just something to think about -

My IX RS weighed in at 3087, 1/2 tank of fuel. Nothing (except for my mods) has changed. I assume the exhaust helped the most. I also dont have the cage in my car yet.

 

DUDE!!! Wow. you are going freaking crazy!! Are you sure you want to take some of that stuff off the car? Some of it is not reversible.

Anyway, I have weighed 2-3 different carbon fiber hoods. Not worth the money. The stock hood is 1 pounds LIGHTER than the lightest CF hood I have weighed. The trunk lid though is a decent weight savings. -10 pounds from the CF trunk we sell to a stock RS with no wing.

The door beams are not as heavy as some say. Maybe 7 pounds per door. Expect to need some paint/body work after removing them. They are extremely hard to get out without doing any damage to the outer skin of the door.

Airbags, sure you don't want to keep them? I have considered it in my RS but sure would be nice to have if you wrecked.

There is a lot of weight under the dash. If you are taking the heater and such out anyway then there is a good 10 more pounds in misc. BS that can be removed from the large dash bar that is under the dash.

Lexan may not save you as much as you think unless you go with some ulta thin stuff. It scatches, flexes and most installs leaves leaks for water.

Electric window motors are very light.

Get a set of the small APR mirrors for the outside, very light.

David Buschur
www.buschurracing.com

 

Well I just kinda made that list to give an idea of what is possible. This year I will not have lexan in it... I drive the car in any weather. The airbags will be gone for sure. My DSM never had any I will keep the heater for now at least. Under the dash will be gutted. I dont feel like spending the money of the fiber parts yet... rather spend it on suspension, pay a little more but get twice the reward.

As for the door gutting I am only going to get what I easily can without getting rid of any the window functions or mounting tabs. Im not trying to get it down to the skin... just all the noise muffling stuff and some of the metalwork in there. I havent torn it apart yet to look at it in detail.

I need to give ya a call and get some of your motor mounts and give them a shot too.

 

Well i just had another thought. Perhaps some of you guys can help me out again. Since the fuel cell will be going in I will be cutting a hole in the trunk floor and tossing out the stock fuel tank obviously. I was thinking instead of just cutting a hole big enough to drop the cell in and have it hang down slightly, maybe I should just cut out the whole trunk floor and replace it with aluminum. I believe some DSMers do this and was just wondering if I would need any bracing back there or just use relatively thick aluminum. Im assuming the trunk floor weighs a decent amount because I cant bend it even if I wack it with a hammer I figured this would be a decent way to shave off another 30-40 lbs maybe?

 

I suggested that in your last weight saving thread!!! I still think if someone where to make that front cross member out of CF we can shed tons of weight. That damn thing weighed atleast 70lbs.

 

The problem is that is a load bearing structure. It would need to be designed very well... after all it is what the front of your car rides on. It would be a nice piece though

Sorry I guess I forgot about your idea before. Hopefully I can start this project shortly. I am finally getting it tuned for high boost. The car is just stupid now. The boost control is very strange. It seems to taper alot and I dont know why exactly... seems like a little too much taper for me but oh well. In 4th it hits 31 and tapers to about 26.5-27.5... Ill post some updates once the car starts getting torn apart.

 

couple manufactures like mercedes and aston martin are using carbon fiber for the front cross member. if done correctly it could yield some very nice weight loss. Anyone know if we share the same cross member as a lancer? I would be willing to take it to someone to get some quotes for it.

 

good luck with the door crash beams...let me know if you pull this off.

 

Few things.

1. If you race, a fuel cell will put you in a totally seperate class.

2. Yank the ABS.

3. Remove sway bars

4. Remove those silly subframe bars

5. Remove front bumper bar thingy

6. Remove any IC misting garbage

7. Remove the washer resivoir from the trunk

8. Low weight wheels?

9. Remove head liner

10. Weld up the sunroof w aluminum

 

It ran a crappy 11.5 @ 123
Man I wish I was in your position hopefully some day

 

Are they just spot welded on or is the full seam welded? I may not get them all the way off but Ill get alot... Ill hole saw a bunch of holes if I need to

 

No you dont.. trust me The amount of time my car sits because I put new parts in it that it doesnt need sucks. Then you take the amount of money I dump into... also sucks... all that and my best time is an 11.5.... trust me, thats not a good number.

 

I have a complete fuel system here we just took out of an EVO. Fuel cell, lines, pump, rail, regulator etc. Complete. Support 800+ whp. The cell is "plastic" about 14 gallons. Pretty easy install the way we did it actually. No cutting required. If you are interested in it give us a call, I will make you a cheap deal on it.

David Buschur
www.buschurracing.com

 

if you do the aluminum trunk floor remember....aluminum and steel arent friends. Prime the hell out of the contact areas to avoid corrosion later on down the line and if you rivet it together I would dip each rivet in primer as well.

 

I would personally skip the aluminum foor for the trunk. Cutting the trunk floor is tough as it provides support for the rear diff. too. If you do decide to do something like this I have some kick *** seam sealer that you can bond the two back together with and it will prevent it from rusting.

David Buschur
www.buschurracing.com