what are the best ways to loose some weight
i got aftermarket seats wheels and no rear seat what else can come out. any of you racers out there got good ideas?

 

>>what are the best ways to loose some weight

For you:
1. Regular cardiovascular exercise
2. Subway diet
3. Avoid alcohol and fats when possible. Limit carbohydrates.
4. Drink lots of water

>>i got aftermarket seats wheels and no rear seat what else can come out. any of you racers out there got good ideas?
For your MINI:
1. Lightweight rims- 16" about 11 pounds each for a potential 50+ pound loss.
2. Single sided exhaust like Alta, NRP, or Quicksilver. Save about 20 pounds.
3. Use the Alta tubular rear swaybar and lightweight control arms. Maybe 5 and 2 pound loss
4. Remove your stereo/speakers. Could save 10-12 pounds.
5. Remove your spare tire, jack and tools. Could save 25 to 30 pounds.
6. Get a smaller battery.
7. Remove your headrests.

 

remove:

the carpet
all the plastic panels from the passenger compartment
the motor for the rear wipper
the rear wipper
the spoiler
the A/C
the rear seat belts
those driving lights

 

>>what are the best ways to loose some weight<<




Cheers!
Clover

 

Peter from M7 provided the most comprehensive list I saw a few weeks back. You might want to do a search. It was quite impressive! An SLA battery at 13.5 lbs saved me like 20 or so pounds... The stock exhaust is portly at 42+ lbs...

 

hahaha. :smile:

 

Floormats 8 lb
seat bottom 10 lb
cargo cover 2 lb
driver side rear seatback 16 lb
passenger side rear seatback 16 lb
jack 6 lb

 

I have the rear seats, with belts and hardware at 47 lbs. Yank out the rear grab handles as well... If you are willing to part with the medicore sunvisors, you shed another 2 or so lbs...

There are peformance enchancements that also have as and added benefit, weight loss. An H-Sport Comp rear sway bar will get you a MUCH stiffer bar while losing a pound. While not the lightest rear cntrol arms, H-Sports shaved another pound. A QS exhaust will shave 20 over stock, while adding 10 or so hp. Tire/wheels can in some cases save as much as 15 lbs per corner. Coilovers can save up to 4 or 5 lbs a corner as well. Even some brake upgrades can lighten the load on the corners. I suppose a bored throttle body would be lighter, but that would be getting very ****, even by my standards

Some performance upgrades will have you gain a little, but it is more than worth it given what it offers: Alta 15% SC reduction pulley and the Whalen shift **** are the only ones that come to mind...

A lightend flywheel, if you have money, would shave like 15 pounds...




_________________
2003 IB MCS

 

Hi Guys here it is again enjoy......



1. Lighter wheel tire combo makes a huge difference both in handling
and overall feel of steering and to some extent acceleration 20lbs

2. carbon Fiber hood saves 16lbs and looks fab.

3. Ceramic Titanium brakes with super light weight calipers....now this setup
is **** (sorry girls I couldn't say *****) the weight difference to the typical
brake system is breath taking. it will be available soon 20lbs.

4. Coilover shocks are lighter and the springs are smaller 12lbs.

5. Titanium coilsprings another unbelivable product soooo lightweight
and so much better then then steel 10lbs.

6. Titanium exhaust system you could save 35+lbs doing this!

7. light weight battery save 20lbs.

8. Carbon/Kevlar seats look business and saves tons of weight plus the
added benefitt of holding you from sliding arround in the seat, you could
lose 50lbs right here.

9. Take back seat out and all hardware (seatbelts, anchors etc.) 30+lbs

10. Take out airbags 15-20 lbs.

11. Gett rid of the Ac system......easy 20lbs.

12. Stereo and audio system 15lbs or so.

13. Carpet 10lbs.

14. Door panels 2pcs replace with carbon fiber 10lbs.

15. Roof liner 5lbs.

16. rear controll arms 2lbs.

17. Replace rear swaybar with hollow H-sport 5lbs.

18. New front controll arms save 8lbs.

19. front swaybar to hollow 7lbs.

20. Carbon fiber body kit 8lbs

21. Light weight bolts and sqrews 8lbs

22. Lighter pistons ????

23. Lighter connecting rods 200 grams

24. New air box .5 lbs

25. lighter flywheel 15lbs

26. Acrylic windows 15-20lbs

27. Get rid of sunroof 50lbs

28. Take front rear bumpers out replace with lighter units 40lbs

29. replace doors and rear hatch with carbon fiber units 120lbs+

30. Get your fat *** into the gym 10-120lbs.

As you can see at some point you will grasp for straws for weight savings
buuuuut.......if you want a sub 2000lbs car thats going to kick ***,
Don't wait run down to the car tear all the goodies out of the car then.....

Call your Dr. for some perscription drugs

 

You could also hire an off-season jockey to pilot your MINI.

(That would save me at least a 100 lbs and I wouldn't have to tear up my car–but then how fun would it be to watch some midget race your car around the track while you stay on the sidelines.)

I think the best thing anyone can do before they tear there car up or down, modify it, or crucify it is to take it to driving school. Not only will it make you a better driver, you'll learn your car's limits as well as your own. You'll learn how to be a faster driver–you'll learn exactly how your car transfers it's weight, which although a little portly at 2600 lbs, it's almost perfectly balanced and then you'll know exactly what you need to do.

 

thanks guys those were some great lists.
coop

 

>>28. Take front rear bumpers out replace with lighter units 40lbs

Dear M7-

This is the one that caught my eye on Mini2. There I think it read Front Bumper save 40 lbs. - cost 150.00

Could you please elaborate on this one. Who makes the replacement covers. I assume you lose the 5mph bumper. Do you lose anything else like airbag sensor?

Nothing this car needs more than to lose 20-40 lbs. off her nose.

TIA

 

Dear Blue..........You know the dear part feels good, thank you!

A replacement front bumper could be made of tig welded aluminum, replicating the outline of the bumper.
It will not be as sturdy, and you might have a problem finding someone willing to take on the liability
of replacing the original one with this light weight version.
As for the impact sensors they seem to be on the frame not the bumper, so you can still enjoy the explosive force
of the airbag hitting your face

peter horvath
562-712-3270

 

as I recall, the existing bumber is made out of aluminum extrusion

 

What about always have the gas on 1/4 not full.

 

>>>>what are the best ways to loose some weight
>>
>>For you:
>>1. Regular cardiovascular exercise
>>2. Subway diet
>>3. Avoid alcohol and fats when possible. Limit carbohydrates.
>>4. Drink lots of water

Seriously, if Mike lost any of his body weight, he'd blow away in the wind. :smile:

Mike, a carbon fibre sunroof insert would be a great starting point.

 

The Zone!!!! Cheers

 

>>
>>A replacement front bumper could be made of tig welded aluminum, replicating the outline of the bumper.
>>It will not be as sturdy, and you might have a problem finding someone willing to take on the liability
>>of replacing the original one with this light weight version.
>>peter horvath

Peter -

Well, I finally did the front bumper trick as the lure of removing significant weight from the nose of this beast was more than I could resist.

By cutting away all but the top girder of the welded aluminum front bumper support and removing the 2-5mph frame extensions you lose 14 lbs...for free. I picked up another pound by losing the fog lamps which did nothing and were blocking my brake cooling ports. There is probably another pound or two if you would trim the mounting brackets but I wanted to save some bumper protection. Removal of the entire aluminum structure and replacement with a simple drilled aluminum angle support could save another 5 but protection would be nill.

Thanks for the idea!

 

Blue, I'm intrigued. I can't quite visualize what you did. Any photos? Would love to see...

You can unbolt (torx) the dual horns and save maybe two more pounds. I thought about this while installing the new Ultimate Grille over the weekend. I've never been a horn honker come to think of it, but I left them in, at least for now...

 

Dude.......

Totally FAB Blue, there's a kind of perverse feeling of satisfaction when you start to rip out the heavy stuff from the
car knowing your going to be able to go faster, stop faster etc........

Look for some light weight go fast stuff fro M7 very shortly

peter horvath
562-712-3270

 

>>Blue, I'm intrigued. I can't quite visualize what you did. Any photos? Would love to see...
>>
>>You can unbolt (torx) the dual horns and save maybe two more pounds. I thought about this while installing the new Ultimate Grille over the weekend. I've never been a horn honker come to think of it, but I left them in, at least for now...

Pull front bumper, 2 torx bolts in front, 2 - 8mm accessed from the wheel wells, 3 bolts underneath.
Remove 5 mph aluminum bumper assembly, 3 or 4 bolts a side.
Remove frame extensions, steel, two bolts under each one.
Use cutting torch or sawzall to remove all of the aluminum assembly below the top girder which supports the front bumper. Grind sharp edges smooth.
I left the rear side brackets with which it bolts back on but removed the extensions on both sides which appear to provide some level of protection to the headlight assemblies in a light touch.

It takes some time but one doesn't get a chance to totally destroy a beautiful hand welded assembly like this very often. You can't screw it up unless you remove the brackets with which it bolts back on as the bumper in its current configuration hangs from this support.

Weigh your son on the bathroom scale. Tell him to hold out his arms. Place all of the pieces in his arms. The weight difference should be 14 pounds.

If you are removing the fog lights this is a good time to do it because they unscrew from the rear and come out the front....now that makes sense.

I'm not looking for the world's lightest Mini but this does help weight distribution and air flow to the radiator. Besides, with the car lowered, if anybody backed into it they would hit the scoop not the lower bumper.

 

Got it! Thanks. I just had the bumper off, so that should go fairly fast. I'll check my reciprocating saw blades tonight. I want to see what you are talking about just to make sure it is nothing integral. It sounds like it is not though... If you can post a shot of what you removed, that would be fantastic, but then I'm not sure how to post a photo here... Thanks again.

 

I would post a pic but it just looks like a pile of scrap. You will see when you pull off the aluminum bumper. All you need is the top girder and the mounting plates. The lower frame supports are removable probably to allow for other countries bumper requirements.

Oh, yea...this may void your warranty or create an unsafe condition for you or your passengers so if any of you splatter youself due to this mod remember, I told you not to do it.

 

I put a little how-to here if anybody is interested.

http://www.mini2.com/forum/showthrea...137#post638137

 

That link did not work.