great info !
Weight Reduction Specifics
- Thread starter IronTerp
- Start date
Anyone know what the insulation under the carpet is worth?
I got my seats out of my car and been thinking about pulling out the carpet to pull weight from under it.
I got my seats out of my car and been thinking about pulling out the carpet to pull weight from under it.
A lot...... sound deadening material is very heavy. I'm not sure how much is used in these cars, but if it's like most other cars, I'd guess you could get anywhere from 20 to 50 pounds of it.
Just the insulation on the back of the carpet itself is worth 10lbs. If you were to scrape the sound deadening material off the floor it may be another 10. Not as much as you might think, but every little bit helps.:beer:
new info on wheels!
15x4 jegs stars with radials - 29lbs
15x8 jegs star, no tire - 18lbs
15x10 greg weld dragstar, no tire - 16lbs
17x4.5 greg weld prolites with m&h 26" front runners - 28lbs
17x9.5 greg weld prolites with 26x11.5x17 et streets - 46lbs
ill report back with the 15x8 prolites with 27" hoosier qtp's.
15x4 jegs stars with radials - 29lbs
15x8 jegs star, no tire - 18lbs
15x10 greg weld dragstar, no tire - 16lbs
17x4.5 greg weld prolites with m&h 26" front runners - 28lbs
17x9.5 greg weld prolites with 26x11.5x17 et streets - 46lbs
ill report back with the 15x8 prolites with 27" hoosier qtp's.
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AWESOME Thread!! Thanks Dwight and GUYS!!
I have not been much of a drag racer as of late, ever since selling my 1952 428CJ powered F1 Ford pickup back in the day, it seems I had become pretty spoiled by the C6 automatic. It was pretty much floor it and go. It ran high twelves.
My new Terminator in 04 however was not fun to drag race for me, as a drag car it had a lot to be desired in stock form.
But I may try going back to the drags with #539 again now that wheel hop is no longer an issue and I am now going to be looking at maybe doing something different for an open track car...something MUCH lighter possibly an ex race car, S197?? or a P car??)
The weight of this thing makes it an absolute tire and brake pad eating PIG when you are open tracking. I'm only in intermediate group and the consumption is already OFF THE HOOK! The faster you get the more rubber, fuel and pads it eats!
I had remembered Dwight making this thread and searched it down.:rockon:
There is some great stuff here.
Some peeps were asking earlier(years earlier actually lol) what is the difference with the sprung weight and unsprung weight issue.
It was kind of addressed but I thought I would put up some observations about the effects of the different weight categories.
Static weight, most of this thread has been addressing mostly static weight.
Unsprung weight, not a very big deal here.
Rotating weight, anything that has to be rotated while moving the car.
For most in this thread, IE DRAG RACERS, unsprung weight has almost no impact AT ALL.
Rotating weight however is FREAKING HUGE and will be a VERY big concern, more on that later.
Road racers have to be concerned with unsprung weight because recovery after a bump that shoves the wheel, tire, rotor, caliper, knuckle and axle up is important so that you get your grip back as soon as possible.
The more mass that gets shoved the more difficult it is to control and recover from.
So a stick axle is a heavy always moving suspension component that the springs do not bear the weight of. They still have some control over it's movements but they don't bear it's weight.
With the IRS the lighter moving components recover more easily and the bulk of the assembly is carried by the springs and shocks and therefore the overall mass is somewhat more easily controled.
For drag racing this really just doesn't matter much at all.
Rotating weight's effects are dramatic however and are amplified by the diameter that the weight is rotating in.
The larger the diameter the more profound the impact on power demands to get it rotating.
Heavier steel flywheels provide more inertia for powerful launches but rob horsepower for the rest of the run, since they resist being accelerated more than a lighter Aluminum flywheel would. These are also one of the largest diameter areas of rotating mass on the car.
The wheel and tire combo is also a huge diameter, massive weight that must be accelerated. The more it weighs and the larger the diameter is, in which the bulk of that weight resides, the more it resists being accelerated.
This also comes into play BIG TIME on a road course as well. Anytime mass has to decelerated the same forces are resisting.
Trying to get mass to change direction... same deal the lighter it is the easier it is.
Hope I didn't crap up this thread for you guys, just though I would try and simplify the whole weight category thing.
I have not been much of a drag racer as of late, ever since selling my 1952 428CJ powered F1 Ford pickup back in the day, it seems I had become pretty spoiled by the C6 automatic. It was pretty much floor it and go. It ran high twelves.
My new Terminator in 04 however was not fun to drag race for me, as a drag car it had a lot to be desired in stock form.
But I may try going back to the drags with #539 again now that wheel hop is no longer an issue and I am now going to be looking at maybe doing something different for an open track car...something MUCH lighter possibly an ex race car, S197?? or a P car??)
The weight of this thing makes it an absolute tire and brake pad eating PIG when you are open tracking. I'm only in intermediate group and the consumption is already OFF THE HOOK! The faster you get the more rubber, fuel and pads it eats!
I had remembered Dwight making this thread and searched it down.:rockon:
There is some great stuff here.
Some peeps were asking earlier(years earlier actually lol) what is the difference with the sprung weight and unsprung weight issue.
It was kind of addressed but I thought I would put up some observations about the effects of the different weight categories.
Static weight, most of this thread has been addressing mostly static weight.
Unsprung weight, not a very big deal here.
Rotating weight, anything that has to be rotated while moving the car.
For most in this thread, IE DRAG RACERS, unsprung weight has almost no impact AT ALL.
Rotating weight however is FREAKING HUGE and will be a VERY big concern, more on that later.
Road racers have to be concerned with unsprung weight because recovery after a bump that shoves the wheel, tire, rotor, caliper, knuckle and axle up is important so that you get your grip back as soon as possible.
The more mass that gets shoved the more difficult it is to control and recover from.
So a stick axle is a heavy always moving suspension component that the springs do not bear the weight of. They still have some control over it's movements but they don't bear it's weight.
With the IRS the lighter moving components recover more easily and the bulk of the assembly is carried by the springs and shocks and therefore the overall mass is somewhat more easily controled.
For drag racing this really just doesn't matter much at all.
Rotating weight's effects are dramatic however and are amplified by the diameter that the weight is rotating in.
The larger the diameter the more profound the impact on power demands to get it rotating.
Heavier steel flywheels provide more inertia for powerful launches but rob horsepower for the rest of the run, since they resist being accelerated more than a lighter Aluminum flywheel would. These are also one of the largest diameter areas of rotating mass on the car.
The wheel and tire combo is also a huge diameter, massive weight that must be accelerated. The more it weighs and the larger the diameter is, in which the bulk of that weight resides, the more it resists being accelerated.
This also comes into play BIG TIME on a road course as well. Anytime mass has to decelerated the same forces are resisting.
Trying to get mass to change direction... same deal the lighter it is the easier it is.
Hope I didn't crap up this thread for you guys, just though I would try and simplify the whole weight category thing.
might be a dumb question but i am a noob, the upr k member alone saved you 65lb? or was it in combination with their coilover kit?
It's the whole setup that saves 65 lbs. Tubular K member, tubular A arms, coil overs.
That thing weighs the same as about a gallon of gas, no pressing need to remove it!
Well there is no "pressing need" to remove any of it, but it all adds up. You would be surprised at how much the little things add up and make a big difference in the end weight and why one car with seemingly the same mods as another is much faster than the one that ignored the little things.
Totally agree....and is one of the reasons that I'm anal about running no more than 4 gallons of gas when I'm drag racing.
I went with the QA1, which I thought was a bit heavier than the UPR, but I saved 62lbs with the full kit, over all my stock pieces.
working on getting the teksid block finished, and trying to find some nice, cheap race seats also..
Hope to report back in about a month with a new weight.. 3200 w/o me is the goal.
bump, anyone know the best way to get get that tar like sound deadener out? a heat gun and a scrapper?
Actually if you freeze it it comes off a lot quicker and is 10 times easier to clean up. Use dry ice or even nitrous.
So what, buy a bunch of dry ice put where it is let it sit for a few mins the tap with a hammer until it breaks apart?
So what, buy a bunch of dry ice put where it is let it sit for a few mins the tap with a hammer until it breaks apart?
Yup, should just be able to smack the floor pan and it will all pop right off nice and clean.
we use dry shots, you don't want the smell of fuel stinking the crap out.. oh and a 100 shot would get the job done, ain't that right ole man?
:lol:
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