It depends. Yes, 20lbs wont make a huge difference in acceleration. I can make a huge difference in handling depending on where you are taking it off. For example, the 8 lb difference in the aluminum roof vs steel roof on the IX makes a visual and noticeable difference in the attitude of the car. The other thing to not is that no one part is going to make the massive difference. It a cumulative affect of adding those reductions up, and in that respect, 20lbs is very significant. Especially when if it comes without a driveability compromise like removing interior parts or sound deadening

 

I'm pretty sure the front bumper beam in the X is aluminum as part of Mitsu's internal weight saving measures.

Most of the additional weight in the X is centered in and around the passenger compartment for added structure to impact zones. I guess if your going to add weight the best place would be to keep it as centered as possible, which is what Mitsu. has done.
BTW, on a side note. Those little Xenon headlight ballast's that everyone wants weigh in around 7 pounds a piece. There's 14 pounds off the front end right there by not optioning the SSS pkg.

 

I'm not complaining or ragging on the X at all. I think Mitsubishi has done an extremely good job in centralizing the weight on the X. Look at the details, like putting the engine "backwards" with the turbo towards the passenger compartment moved a large amount of weight that hung out past the front axles. Moving the battery to the trunk and even better putting it by the rear wall forward of the rear axle along with putting the washer fluid tank there (instead of the passenger fender) was an excellent step as well. You can tell Mitsubishi did it's homework with the weight distribution on the X, but that doesn't mean it can't be improved. And I'd bet that even though the bumper beams are now aluminum, they're still probably quite a bit heavier than whatever they get in Japan. Lighter than those in the IX though, I'm sure.

- Patrick

 

Also, I wanted to mention that you probably will not see much weight savings with carbon fiber parts over the stock aluminum and urethane, unless you go to extremely expensive dry carbon pieces. But even then most dry carbon structural pieces require some sort of rigidity added usually in the form of fibreglass frames which adds weight.

I know when I put on a standard wet carbon hood on my STi it was pretty much the same weight as the aluminum hood. The difference was not significant enough, you'd be better off removing the underhood insulation and hoping your paint doesn't bubble A CF or FRP bumper isn't going to save much over the urethane bumper especially if you remove all the 5mph foam and other unnecessary (if you want to save weight) pieces from the stock urethane. Plus keeping the urethane means less problems with cracking and repairs from minor damage. Removing the plastic undertrays and things like that will save weight at the expense of aerodynamic advantage which could decrease your fuel mileage.

- Patrick

 

do the wight reduction right and nice ,is expensive.
Lightening up the rotational mass, and replace the factory /already light/ panels = alots of money. Pluss when you finish ,you need a corner balancing too, wich is not alot but still....

but he said he dont want to be too crazy about it. So then only option he have, remove those part , wich are will compromize safety or useability.

 

from what i understand, the US bumpers are steel and the JDM are aluminum. i would have no problem switching to JDM. they are safe they just don't meet the bumper standards here as far as slow-speed damage is concerned. so, switch the bumpers and put on a titanium exhaust, remove the spare and jack, that's probably 100 or so pounds, and you WILL notice a difference with that, and as long as you have AAA you won't be any worse off except for waiting 45 minutes on the rare occasion you get a flat. road trips just toss in the spare, but you aren't going far with the donut anyway.

 

I'm not sure what kind of ballasts you've seen, but I can assure you the stock ballast don't weigh anymore than 1 pound or so each.

 

+1 They are just little boxes under the headlight. Not much to them...

 

You would be surprised on the bumpers. Taking off our evo 8 bumper and using the lightweight APR evo 9 front definitely saved us some weight. Urethane is heavy, but does have the advantage of being durable. As for carbon hood and trunk, it depends on what you use and how heavy the stock one is. On our evo, we used a pretty normal replacement for each and only save a few lbs total. Robi for example makes a wet carbon hood and trunk that are actually quite light and something like half stock.

 

the factory hood with out the heatshield and so , it is very light. I personaly never saw or heard any carbon hood was even near to half the weight. The trunk is a different story.

 

The Stock Hood and Trunk are heavier than the Evo Vii/ix

 

oh oke , i'm sorry then . I thought they are very close about weight.

 

-dry carbon roof, hood, trunk, bumpers, doors, quarter panels
- acrylic windows (might want lexan windscreen for safety)
- carbon-kevlar seat (just driver seat) and racing steering wheel
- titanium turboback pipe ending at quarter panel, lighter/smaller/more efficient intake and exhaust manifold
- forged magnesium wheels and aluminium lugs
- strip everything, no ac, no radios, useless wires (this saves a lot), even lights if you dont race at night
- coilovers (high end ones not only provides much much better handling with good tune, they are generally like 20lbs lighter than stock ones)
- clutch and flywheel, lighter and more durable driveshaft
- lightest battery you can find

This is of course, is only possible if your wallet can afford 3 evo's easily but want to spend all one EVO.

All these idea are available on pretty much any auto shops for any car, or just look at race cars.

Do it at your own risk, now your 'mutilated' car doesn't worth a whole lot, and all the expensive parts you bought may get you back like 1/3 of original value when you try to sell. Not really worth doing imo unless you plan on racing the car at a competitive level and/or goto shows to win prizes.

Lastly, leave your kid out of EVO , EVO = too much trouble on road, even if it isn't from your decisions, the negative attentions it is bringing could make someone else bring misfortune to you.

 

I don't even know where to begin.


FWIW, I'd start with a reduction in rotational mass, as I found it to make the biggest difference on every car I've owned. Lighter rotors, wheels and tires would be first on my list. I shed ~33lbs of rotational mass on my IX.

 

What's the stock front to rear weight distribution? Around 60/40 right? If you can take around 175lbs off the front of the car, the weight distribution would be somewhere in the ballpark of 57/43 weight distribution. That can make a big difference...but finding 175lbs will be tough.

Also, the SAWC program was designed around the current weight distribution of the car so that it helps to dial-out understeer. Many have discussed how they like the feel the way it is. How will SAWC feel if the weight distribution is more rear-biased? Will the system automatically adjust itself to account for the new weight distribution? Or would it very heavily oversteer (much like a squirrely RWD muscle car)? Or, would someone have to hack the ECU and reprogram?

I think the affects on SAWC and AYC are the biggest question at hand.