is it easy to take out the back seats of my evo because i would like to do this for an upcoming autocross event. if someone could tell me how id appreciate it or give me any other weight saving tips.

 

It's easy, but if you're in the SCCA A Stock class then you don't want to do it, because it'll kick you up into either Street Prepared or Prepared (sorry, can't remember which one) without giving you any benefit.

The rear seat is amazingly light, and I would guess weighs less than 10 lbs. All it is is a giant foam cushion and the seat material covering the cushion. It doesn't feel like there's much if any metal in it at all.

 

take out your spare tire

 

its easy to pull the handles between the seat and floor board meets

 

Street Modified, actually.

And it certainly does give a benefit -- 24 pounds of weight reduction -- but certainly not enough to make you competitive in SM if you're otherwise Stock.

See here for some weight reduction amounts for autoX:

https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/sh...ad.php?t=83574


Removing the rear seat bottom cushion is a 20-second job that doesn't require tools, you just pull the two release knobs which are reachable on the front edge of the seat, then you slide the cushion forward and then sideways out the door.

The rear seat back requires a tool (basically a socket wrench), I don't recall the exact bolt size, but there are three bolts to be removed which go through U-hooks which come down out of the seat back. Remove the bolts, then the rear seat back can slide upward out of the retaining brackets at the top of the seat. Once it's loose, work it carefully out through the seat belts and out the door.

Basically, complete removal can be done in under 5 minutes with just the one socket wrench. Reinstallation is a bit trickier -- getting the seat back onto the top retaining brackets while fighting with the seat belts, and then the U-hooks at the bottom are never perfectly lined up so getting the bolts threaded always seems to take a few tries. Still, it's just your ordinary mechanical job -- with a little patience, no problem.

 

+1

seats are so light you wouldnt even notice...spare tire and accesorries need to come out

 

24 lbs. I've known some folks to spend hundreds of bucks to save less weight. And seat removal is free.

In the other thread I referenced, you can see that the spare tire, jack, and tools add up to 39 lbs.


I would definitely agree that taking out the rear seats is a mistake (for autoX) if that's the only thing that kicks you up to Street Modified. The 24 lb weight savings doesn't help you enough to make up for the other allowances in SM.

But if you're already in SM, you might as well take 'em out.

 

Ahh - I see where you're getting your 24 lbs from: you're including the rear seat back as well. I was just going with the rear seat bench cushion.

And absolutely it's easy to pull it out - easy enough to pull it out just to weigh for constructive arguing on web boards.

And speaking of weight reduction, I've got a buddy who autocrosses a BMW 325i and is so obsessive that he empties the washer fluid by spraying it all the way to the venue. He claims he's shedding about 9 lbs.

 

In the other thread I linked to, I quoted the weights, which I weighed myself from my '03 Evo 8:

 

Yeah - I just edited the above post. I didn't catch you were including the seat back in there.

 

So when added together one could save 63 pounds with rear seat delete and no spare, jack etc. That seems pretty good to know.

 

Does anyone have any how-to information on removing the rear seat belts and rear deck?

After taking out the back seat and seat back, I'm thinking of leaving them out. I need to get rid of at least my rear seat belts that come from the rear deck. Any help would be appreciated!

 

gotta pull the speakers, and the anchors out first (pull the plastic off the top and undo the single bolt.)

then theres a half dozen or so pop clips that just snap out. If i remember, i may have pulled my c pillar pieces before i pulled the deck out. don't remember.

 

Thanks, I'll give that a shot later this weekend.

Autopower rollbar going in for 2008! I assume I'll leave the rear seat, seatbacks and back seat belts out....

 

UPDATE!

I wanted to primarily remove the rear seat belts. Turns out they are a bit difficult to get to, but I was wanting to gut the rear of the car anyways so it wasn't a bid deal for me.

I made some note to share with all. I don't feel like going into detail since it was pretty straight forward. So, take your time and use common sense for the most of it. If there's a trick, I noted it:

- Remove rear seat; 2 pull clips
- Remove reat seat backs; lower seatbelt hardware and corner bolts
- Remove speaker bolts (from trunk) (3 each side)
- Remove 3rd brake light nuts (2 total) 10mm
- Remove child safety harness bolts (3 total)
- Remove c-pillar (only need to remove one side)
- Remove speaker covers (2 total)
- Remove/dismantle 3rd brake light; twist bulb assembly 1/4 turn and remove cover
- Pull out rear deck around seat belts - be gentle; it's on clips, so take a screwdriver covered in black tape and rub behind to pop free
- Pull out rear deck rubber padding - be gentle; it will tear
- Remove seat belts (3 total)


I put the 3rd back light back together. I also put the speaker covers back on as I want to retain the speakers yet. I believe it you want to remove them it's just 3 screws from the top and disconnect the wiring harness.

Here's some quick pics I took. The stuff in the trunk are the tools I haven't put away yet.