So where's all the weight???

[HommerSimpson]

How much you think you could save in weight ? as i was thinking one day to do this myself..... 1 peace fiberglass ( tilt ) front end... Wack the firewall and everything fwd off and tube frame with light weight suspension and manual stearing....
Its been done thousands of times to hundreds of diferant cars.. ( pro street )

 

[Facime]

all those weights up there are great info, might be a good idea to compile that with the other weights list before this thread gets lost in time.

As I suspected the hood is far lighter than most people realize, even if you did take some bracing off. The doors were the thing I thought were going to be the worst and looks like thats the case. Too bad you cant just skin your cage and use window nets or lexan

The subframes are heavier than I thought they would be. Customizing your own with tube would be cool and I would love to see what you come up with.

I seem to remember a member here has their weight as part of their sig and its in the 2900lb range on a street car. I forget who that was/is but it certainly seems possible.

 

[tlo86]

sub 3000 would be ideal for me. since my car has not been dd status im keeping it that way i was taking off the rear tar and man that stuff really added up. our hoods dont weigh *too* much but its pretty heavy for a hood... especially after feeling a CF hood and if you eliminate the struts and have a light hood to boot its all the better.

thinking of getting rid of my passenger side door need ideas on everything else though heh.

edit: really not sure if i should keep the a/c stuff or not yet. as of now i havent had running a/c for 2 years or so.

 

[adampecush]

Complete front subframe just missing shocks and sway bars and on Sawblades with stock sized tires - 302lbs.

Complete rear subframe minus shocks and sway bars on 18x9.5 XT-7's with 235/40/18s and including diff, but also missing the e-brake shoes on one side - 398lbs.

I thought those seemed pretty heavy when lifting them off the workbench...

 

[Wiisass]

How much you think you could save in weight ? as i was thinking one day to do this myself..... 1 peace fiberglass ( tilt ) front end... Wack the firewall and everything fwd off and tube frame with light weight suspension and manual stearing....
Its been done thousands of times to hundreds of diferant cars.. ( pro street )

You could save a lot of weight doing something like that. But if you don't do it right and/or it's not designed well, it will end up just being a heavy paperweight or worse falling apart while you are driving. You would also need a pretty solid cage/rear half to build off of. But that's way past the car being a supra besides in appearance.

all those weights up there are great info, might be a good idea to compile that with the other weights list before this thread gets lost in time.

As I suspected the hood is far lighter than most people realize, even if you did take some bracing off. The doors were the thing I thought were going to be the worst and looks like thats the case. Too bad you cant just skin your cage and use window nets or lexan

The subframes are heavier than I thought they would be. Customizing your own with tube would be cool and I would love to see what you come up with.

I seem to remember a member here has their weight as part of their sig and its in the 2900lb range on a street car. I forget who that was/is but it certainly seems possible.

I will be compiling the weights and many more. I have another Supra coming sometime this week which is the one we will be building. So there's a lot of stock parts on there that will get weighed. So I can add them to the list.

The hood really isn't that heavy for it's size. It seems like most of the aftermarket hoods are the same weight or similar. So it's more of a looks upgrade than a weight one. I would love to see a proper CF hood. Like one or two layers of CF, aluminum or nomex honeycomb and then another layer on the bottom. Under 10lbs, stiffer than stock and would probably cost more than I have paid for any of the supras. But it would be sweet.

As for the doors being the heaviest, they are, but they aren't that bad. And most of the weight is because I want to keep it there. I could get rid of the windows and run nets if I had to and get rid of the speakers and then cut the door frame. That would save some weight. And I'm going to look into gutting the door a little, but I would still like the window to work, so we'll see what happens. I mean when the other supra gets here I will have 6 doors. So I could spare one of the banged up ones for some R&D.

The subframes were pretty heavy, I didn't think they would be that bad, but they were complete. I mean if you drop wheels from that, it would be 100lbs less. And then brakes weigh a decent amount. The diff is there in the rear and the steering rack in the front. And then the hubs and spindles. And then you're left with arms and the actual subframes and it's not nearly as bad. They'll be getting totally torn down and reinforced/modified/etc so I will take the chance to weigh them bare when that happens.

I would love to remake them, but it would be a ton of work. And being the suspension engineer nerd that I am, I would want to redesign the suspension points to make it perfect and it would just take too much time and it would be time that I wouldn't be able to make back. I don't think there are many people in the MK3 community that would pay good money for custom subframes, but if I'm wrong, maybe I'll push it up on the list.

2900 is possible for a street car. It's pretty bare, but it's possible. I'm pretty sure we were under 3k with the car setup the way it was before. And that was pretty much just from removing all the stuff we didn't need. And for this build, it's going to be a car that can be driven on the street, but it's really just going to be a race car that is registered and insured. So definitely not for everyone.

 

[tlo86]

exactly what i'd like to do or more of a weekend racecar kind of thing for the small, more local events though i think the real stuff will come later. i'll think though that the sub 3000 will be very doable and once i strip it i will weigh the car~

the tube frame stuff is interesting but i personally wouldn't do it.. the other replacable things are interesting though i would love an adjustable upper control arm with a balljoint thats easier to replace (and cheaper) than the oem one heh

 

[Nocheez]

What fun is that. The supra has a great suspension design and is a good chassis, the only downfall is the weight. And I don't really like the supra engines anyway, too heavy and too long.

And it may have been designed as a comfort highway cruiser, but that doesn't mean it can't be awesome at a lot of other things.

And trust me, I kind of know what I'm doing.

Hey, what do I know? My next project will likely be a Miata with an LS2

 

[Facime]

Sounds like a lot of fun wiisass, I'll keep my eyes open for updates.

I just cut about the same amount of weight from my supra...by buying a mk2 :naughty:

 

[Wiisass]

I thought those seemed pretty heavy when lifting them off the workbench...

Yeah, they're a little bit heavier than they look. What I want to know is how you got them up on the workbench in the first place.

exactly what i'd like to do or more of a weekend racecar kind of thing for the small, more local events though i think the real stuff will come later. i'll think though that the sub 3000 will be very doable and once i strip it i will weigh the car~

the tube frame stuff is interesting but i personally wouldn't do it.. the other replacable things are interesting though i would love an adjustable upper control arm with a balljoint thats easier to replace (and cheaper) than the oem one heh

Sub3000 won't be that bad as long as you can live without most of the creature comforts. Carpets, interior panels, stock seats, etc. And I also got rid of all the stuff in the engine bay that wasn't needed. So the emissions stuff, VSV's, and pretty much anything else I didn't see a real need for. We did get rid of all the AC stuff and later on the rest of the HVAC stuff.

Hey, what do I know? My next project will likely be a Miata with an LS2

Well that sounds like a sweet project. And I'm not saying you were wrong. I'm just saying that the car can be a very good platform for a lot of things and it just takes a little more work and thinking outside the box and it will come out pretty nice I think.

Sounds like a lot of fun wiisass, I'll keep my eyes open for updates.

I just cut about the same amount of weight from my supra...by buying a mk2 :naughty:

Buying a lighter car would be an easier way to get lower weight. But I have the S13 too. And I keep getting Supra's thrown at me. And I feel bad not taking them.

 

[Nocheez]

Well that sounds like a sweet project. And I'm not saying you were wrong. I'm just saying that the car can be a very good platform for a lot of things and it just takes a little more work and thinking outside the box and it will come out pretty nice I think.

I love the look of the Supra, but rather than fight to change everything I'd rather start with a platform that is more in line with my goals. More power to ya!

 

[Wiisass]

Yeah, I totally understand what you mean. But like I said in the last post, I keep falling into Supras. The first one was a good friend's and he needed to get rid of it. The second one was on a local forum and cheap and right near the same friend's school, so I got him to pick it up for me. And this one that's coming, the owner of Englishtown actually bought for me. And at our last event, I picked up the car, and had one of the other guys that was at the event, told me his friend had another one that he was trying to give away. So maybe when I have more space, I'll grab that one too. If I had the space, I would just stockpile them until more people realize how awesome they can be, and then sell them and make some money back.

 

[tlo86]

Sub3000 won't be that bad as long as you can live without most of the creature comforts. Carpets, interior panels, stock seats, etc. And I also got rid of all the stuff in the engine bay that wasn't needed. So the emissions stuff, VSV's, and pretty much anything else I didn't see a real need for. We did get rid of all the AC stuff and later on the rest of the HVAC stuff.

im to the point of taking it all out heh just about to move into a new house though but once im there its on. just need to buy another seat...

hopefully someone will buy my complete interior as i feel the gray looks much better than most of the other colors out there :biglaugh:

 

[fstlane88]

I would love to see a tubular subframe for the Supra. Just the front would be awesome, along with the weight savings it would create so much more room to work.

The shop I work for sells Mustang complete tubular front end kits with the K-member, A-arms, and a coil over kit, for $700. I've bugged them about making one for the Supra but we're just too busy, and from my understanding it's take a bit of time to create something like that.

 

[tlo86]

I would love to see a tubular subframe for the Supra. Just the front would be awesome, along with the weight savings it would create so much more room to work.

The shop I work for sells Mustang complete tubular front end kits with the K-member, A-arms, and a coil over kit, for $700. I've bugged them about making one for the Supra but we're just too busy, and from my understanding it's take a bit of time to create something like that.

im sure it does! one thing though as to why i wouldnt do it is because it would put you in a completely different class

 

[adampecush]

Yeah, they're a little bit heavier than they look. What I want to know is how you got them up on the workbench in the first place.

lifting with the knees....j/k.

I assembled both subframes on the workbench and went from there (of course I had my old man there to help me)

 

[Amontgomery]

As far as motor choices go, and I know I am going to get crucified on this, wouldn't the
3SGTE be a more viable option for a handler. It would move the weight back quite a bit with propper motor mounts. The A80s in JGTC ran this motor in GT300 class with good results.

For killing weight in the doors, doesn't S2 make carbon doors for the A70? And I think I also heard that they are working out interior panels as well.

And for getting some weight out of the subframe some of the flat sections in the floor pans could be cut out and replaced by riveting and sealing aluminum or carbon fiber sheets in their stead. Chamfering holes in places will remove weight without sacrificing too much in the rigidity department.

For someone who knows how to work carbon fiber check out eFFeTT in the build thread section. He is making a full CF intake manifold for a twin turbo 7M.

 

[7Mboost]

Race cars on the street ftmfw. That is all.

 

[Facime]

As far as motor choices go, and I know I am going to get crucified on this, wouldn't the
3SGTE be a more viable option for a handler.

someone put up the cross, I'll get the nails!

a 4banger in a supra is just plain wrong. (I think they called that a Celica)

 

[Amontgomery]

I have seen Fairlady guys put an SR20 in their cars with even better results than the factory VQ. It doesn't seem like too much of a stretch to me.

When I had my A80 I was thinking about doing the mother of abominations to it. An Audi 4.2 swap, the one out of the RS4 and R8, and Spyker C8 for those keeping score. 420bhp from and engine that weighed less than stock and was NA. Plus it moved the weight back just like I was saying.

Look at the way true track F/R cars mount their motors. Its almost always behind the towers, at least the bulk of the weight is anyway.

 

[MA70witBoost]

Subscribing to this thread. I've done alot of weight reduction on my supra. Im waiting to have it running to get the car weighed with a full tank of gas. Wondering what i've managed to get the weight down to.