Does anyone know of parts in development (or availabe) to shed some pounds on our beloved VIII?

I've been wondering about a light-weight roof panel - and that Mitsubishi included it on the 'MR' makes me curious whether it's feasible in terms of effort/cost/weight savings.

Does anyone know the weight of the stock body panels? Are there any lightweight (ideally stealthy) options? Any other promising candidates? E.g. what about titanium screws?

The handling of the VIII is even more confidence inspiring than on the VI - but it does feel heavier... just looking for Evo heaven

This is a daily driver - so I have to leave in some creature comforts.

As to what I personally am not looking for - I was pretty disappointed when nearly 2K of carbon fibre hood would have yielded about 5 pounds of weight savings... hoping for some better bang for the buck on handling rather than looks.

 

Let's start with this one:

How difficult is it to replace the roof???

 

your kidding me right... you actually wanan remove your roof? How about starting with lighter wheels, trunklid and taking out the cash bars... the front of the evo is porky get some weight off that and it will change the handling of your car. If your really serious about this get your car corner balanced but for a daily driver I believe your wasting your time and money. The car already out handles almost anything and to profect it even more is going to require work and money.

 

My cynical mind tells me that Mtsu are making the roof out of Aluminum because Mitsus traditionally have a problem with the roofs rusting where the bond them to the stiffeners.

 

Just because I'm only asking about lighter parts that have not been discussed yet does not mean that's the only thing to replace...

And exactly how would you suggest taking weight off the front besides the usual light-weight battery? The crash bars help mostly because of their location rather than outright weight.

Similarly for the roof - because it would help with lowering the center of gravity.

And whether I'm serious on doing it depends on how feasible it his - therefore the question.

 

well being that the jdm car has a better balance of weight i'd assume following what that car would have on it (ie no where near the size of our crash bar) The front was bulked up with the new styling but there is still much weight to be lost or shaved off. For starters you can remove the steel strut bar and replace it with a Ti one. Removing the roof and replacing it with a lighter weight one is up to you, but I highly doubt you will find a member or a shop which has done this. The maximum weight that can be lost buy such a thing wouldn't be worth the cost of taking on such a task. Not to mention it would create more body flex by lessening the ridgity of the car. If you want to lower the center of gravity throw a set of coilovers on the car and drop it 2 inchs, theres no way a lighter weight roof panel could have more effect then a lowered suspention.

 

I totally agree with 1QWKEVO on this one. Unless you are planning to make your car into an all out race car, the cost of fabricating the aluminum roof and welding it in wouldn't be worth the cost.

 

I agree that fitting it probably would be far too much hassle.

And considering that since the VII they already used thinner sheet metal for the roof I have no feel at all for the possible savings - if it's 5lb like the hood then forget I ever asked...

All good suggestions that I agree with - things like the cusco ti front strut is exactly what I like.

And the search continues... (just to quote other threads on weight savings)


Titanium front Strut bar: ? (Cusco weighs 2 lbs, how much is the OE?)
Coilover suspension -20 lbs
Lightweight Battery -20 lbs
Lighter rims: -35 lbs
Titanium Lug Nuts: -5 lbs
Full titanium exhaust -20 lbs (RB motoring claims 26.5 lbs for theirs)
Rear bumper beam: -17 lbs
Front bumper beam: -13 lbs
Spare/jack/tools removal: -42 lbs
Rear wiper w/ motor: -3 lbs
Carbon Trunk: -13 lbs
Racing Bucket Seats -45 lbs
Titanium bolts throughout the car: ?
Carbon Driveshaft: ? (-10 lbs)
Lighter flyWHeel & Clutch: ? (Who knows the weights of e.g. Excedy twin/Cusco twin carbon/ACT?)

Couple of things that were claimed, but I don't know if this is based on actual products:
Brake Rotors: -10 lbs
Engine Pulleys: -5 lbs

Some other things that don't appeal to myself (in terms of weight):
Stainless Downpipe -5 lbs (drops 1 cat)
High quality CF hood -5 lbs

 

ever see fantasy island? cut the doors, roof and trunk...get a midget to scream at planes and u will be set...with no roof or doors you can eliminate the air conditioning...take out the front windshield and wear goggles and a leather hat like the red baron (dont forget the scarf)...then u wont need any sound insulation...i think that could bring it to right about 2000 pounds....you would be in lotus elise league....but 4 wheel drive...

 

Back in the 60's the really serious Mopar drag racers would acid dip the unibody shells. Called chemical milling. You could probably save substantial weight by replacing all the glass except the windshield with plexiglass or lexan. Remove all the side window motors and regulators and use lift straps. Sounds silly but it depends on how bad you want to get rid of the weight.

 

The aluminum roof would be a WASTE unless done at during initial build..

Just bring over the "MR" baby!!

 

EVO's glass is thin already no need for plexi or lexan. The roof is not much.