weight reduction ideas 04 hatchback

[Shibbs]

Well I'm just looking to see how far you're willing to go with this. There's a lot you can do, and lightening the car usually doesn't involve much money at all. You can often MAKE money by selling off the stuff you're pulling out.

[thehunterooo]

True there shibbs

[gone.m]

Well I'm not going to cut off any limbs thats for sure. I will take it as far as keeping the car nice looking, but gutting out any extraneous items. I'd say this means I'm leaving the upholstery intact, but sound deadening means nothing to me. The rear seats might get removed, I'd have to make sure though that I won't be having regular passengers first.

I'm unsure what to do about the radio. I use it a lot. Might get rid of the rear speakers, with the possibility of replacing those channels with tweeters in the distant future. Actually it would be switching the current front channel to rear, and running the tweeters on front channel.

I really like having the privacy screen in the rear. I sometimes carry a very expensive laptop in my car and it's nice that I can stow it out of potential thieves' view.

As for the engine compartment, well I'd say anything that can probably will go. The AC would be the first to go, and if I can actually get money for it, maybe I can use that toward wheels or something. It's all just theoretical right now as I'm still waiting for the money to take my car for maintenance.

[MetroMPG]

Just out of curiousity - what's your main motivation for reducing weight?

[gone.m]

I'm basically looking for the cheapest way to get started ecomodding. As money allows I'll attempt more. In addition to this site I've been lurking around cleanmpg and ecomodder with the same user name. I've already gotten the hypermiling stuff going, so as I improve my technique my FE will go up I'm sure, but I'm also looking to supplement that with mods. Weight reduction seems like a cheap easy way to start.

[thehunterooo]

Ahh ok, yeah, get rid of the A/C and sell it, that is a good amount of weight, and you may get some decent money back.

I would still relocate the battery to the trunk to get that weight off the front, use the A/C money to get a re-location kit and a new under drive pulley

[MetroMPG]

Weight reduction seems like a cheap easy way to start.

Even easier when you drop the requirements that you not affect aesthetics or usability

Weight reduction is one of those mods that has multiple benefits - handling, acceleration & braking, economy.

Of course, you have read this article about extreme weight reduction...

How to get your Econobox into the 14's

Before:



After:

[thehunterooo]

That was a fun read

[xintersecty]

Not only a fun read damn educational too. F = MA hence A = F/M. The smaller the mass, the greater the acceleration. I am sure they started with a partial tank and as they made their runs, fuel was used up reducing the weight even further.

[petrified.rabbit]

if they took more time, had more tools, lift etc.. they could have kept going/continued to shave weight and probably got into the 13s.

the hvac is left in the dash, they are using the stock battery, all the accessories and bottles etc are still adding weight even though they are not hooked up to the drive belt, condenser and much of the rad support could have gone.

plus since they went really extreme the passenger floor pan (might have been left in because the fuel lines run to it, might have been made structural because of the way the cut the passenger side pillar), they could have taken a hole saw to the rest of the car.

but honestly just using something other than a 500 treadwear tire would probably helped too..