Back when I was racing Dodge Neons, I got rather extreme with weight reduction. My 1996 DOHC Neon SPort Coupe that started out at 2500 lbs in street trim, eventually ended up at 1980 lbs in race trim, but it wasn't much fun to drive on the street anymore, and all of that weight reduction dropped me into the D Mod class for SCCA autocrossing, it sure was fast though. It would do the 1/4 mile in the low 14's. I took 150-200 lbs off of another Neon I owned that I ran in STS class. There were pretty strict rules as to what i could remove, so I did everything I could except take out the AC.

With my new MC, I'm very limited as to what I can do with racing it in H Stock, but so far I've found 50+ lbs of stuff I can remove and remain stock class legal.

FWIW I also went on a diet to improve my driver+car weight for racing last year. I'm 6'1" and started out late last summer at 245 lbs, three months later I had lost 30 lbs and was down to 215. I've gained some of that back since then, but hope to be down to 200 lbs before too long. I'm still at a strong disadvantage because of my size and build though scompared to some people. The most I could get down to without losing muscle mass would be 175-180 lbs, and that would be very difficult. Some of the guys I race with are short and built really small, and only weigh 120-130 lbs.

-Keith

 

I'm not so amazed by how much weight some folks lose, and, keep off by simply walking the dog...consistently. Walking is a great activity. Driving the Mini sure does get yer heart rate up though, Andy.

Wow Tony! You sure do take weight seriously!

 

The Motox fuel was mixed with 2 stroke oil, which is heavier then gas.

 

Soon enough being an autocrosser will be like being a horse jockey


Where in central ohio are you located? Do you auto-x in columbus? I have been meaning to go check that out...i'm rather new to central ohio, especially the autocross scene.

 

I'm a few miles west of Columbus in the London/Plain City/West Jeff area, only a couple miles off of I-70, out in the country.

I usually autocross in Columbus, but I'll hit events in Dayton, Cincinnati, and Toledo too if the opportunity arises. Our next autocross is tomorrow at Cooper Stadium in Columbus, where the Columbus Clippers baseball team plays. Here is a link to our schedule for the rest of the year:
http://www.ovr-scca.org/eventSchedules/solo.asp

I'll have my MC out for the first time tomorrow in HS, I picked up it about a week and a half ago. You should try and come out. I'll be in the Black MC with white top/mirrors.

-Keith

 

...Would I get taken out of the stock class? What mods are allowed for people competing as "stock", by SCCA rules? I want to move the battery, reguardless- I don't know why they put it in the heavy front on the non-supercharged cars. I'm going to make mine fast without any type of Kompressor- so I hope there are some out there who can answer my questions as they come up. -Jeffy.

 

Because of the spare tire.

There will be a lot of plumbing to do for this, and you might wind up adding a bunch of weight in electric cables. Heavy-gauge wire is, well, heavy.

A better choice might be to move to a Braille or other light-weight battery. If you relocate the stock battery, you'll spend as much on the routing and plumbing and cabling and sweat-equity as you would for buying a light-weight battery, and you'll still lighten the front end.

 

OR you could get a braille battery and route it out to the back. The wiring cant possibly weigh enough to counteract the weight savings of the new braille and you will still get the benefit of better weight distribution

 

Have you ever weighed a set of jumper cables?

 

Or just get a lightweight gel-cell battery (I assume that's what the "braille" battery is) and mount it in the stock location. Some of the Hawker/Odyssey batteries I've used in my cars only weigh 10-11 lbs each, at least 20 lbs lighter than stock.

Mounting one of these batteries in the stock location improves front to rear weight distribution and you don't need to add additional weight by running cables to the back of the car. Unfortunately changing the battery type/size or moving the battery is not legal in the SCCA stock classes, so I'm stuck with the stock battery in the stock location.

-Keith

 

For those interested, I just started a thread on O.T. related to personal fitness and weight loss.

Dave

 

Anyone try removing their airbags?

 

The longevity of SLA (Sealed Lead Acid) batteries is greatly decreased with heat exposure. Something to keep-in-mind if one is comtemplating an engine bay location... Here's a very resourcful link on these batteries:

http://www.stealth316.com/2-dynabatt.htm

I recently switched-over to the Braille from the Odyssey, which has been sitting on the floor for about 2 months now. Just checked it yesterday, and it still has 12.6 volts on it. If anyone wants to make me an offer, send me a PM...

 

well my MCS is around 2,550 last time i checked and it is still on stock rims and tires, but i weight 92 pounds so i guess i have saved more weight for the dollar then all of you.

 

That would be easy to do. Find a tree ....

Driving without them "might" be illegal depending upon your state of mind

 

My stock MINI with half talk gas and 16" X-lite/runflats weighed 2540lbs. I barely have any options added on that add much weight. I now have lighter 15" wheels/tires and single sided muffler exhaust system so it should weight a bit better. I'll weigh it sometime and see what happens, i'm curious what it's like now.

 

In 2003 I posted this very comprehensive chart of weight loss options on our beloved MINI.

Most of these possibillities where exercised on my "Mule".


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.

3. Ceramic Titanium brakes with super light weight calipers.
the difference in weight to a typical
brake system is breath taking. Weight savings 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 20+lbs.

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


__________________
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Sorry, this is gonna be long...

16x7 SSR Comps saved over 40lbs!
Yes, but when is someone going to step up and make one for the Cooper?
Who's making this, and what's the market for a $2 - 3K exhaust?
Where where where???
Surely you don't mean "remove them". The H-Sport arms are maybe a few grams lighter than stock. Where does the 2lb figure come from?
I haven't been able to find anyone selling after-market front control arms for well over a year. They used to be all over the place, but now the only guy who even lists them is in Hawaii, and I think that site is abandoned.
Someone (Pilo or Helix, I believe) was running with Carbon-fiber inserts in place of the sunroof panels. This should actually make the car lighter than one without a sunroof, as the structural steel is replaced with CF. Any idea where one might find such a treasure? M7, would you be interested in taking the lead on a project like that? I'm absolutely positive I could drum up some interest...
Again, I've been searching high and low for someone making CF door-panels. Where can I get some, or are you having them custom fabricated?

Thanks!

 

[QUOTE=meb]Then, 30-60 minutes of aerobic exercise a day smack in the middle of your Fat burning Heart RateZone. This is determined by a stress test and maximum heart rate. For most men in their 40's this HR value is approximately 125-130bps. At higer levels of exercise, 145 and above, fat is longer a suitable energy source...
The point? Most folks trying to lose weight work out way too hard. They end up in their lactic acid heart rate threshold or completely anerobic at times.
I'll help anyone who wants help...
QUOTE]

Meb,

This is an often-quoted fallacy. Calories are calories, period. It doesn't matter where the calories come from, fat or glycogen stores, as glycogen is burned up rather quickly anyway. At the end of the day if you've burned more calories than you've taken in and boosted your basal metabolic rate you'll lose. I'll qualify this by saying that highly-conditioned atheletes may benefit from VO2 measurement, but for most, getting them to do any execise at all is good.

 

I realize there are some potential compromises when using a small lightweight SLA battery, but I've had two of the batteries in two of my cars, one for over two years now, and they still worked great, even starting the cars in sub-zero Ohio winters. Even if I had to replace them every couple of years, I'd still do it for the weight reduction.

-Keith

 

I would say that I totally have to agree with ahamos here. I have not found anything carbon fiber here in the US other than a hood. And it is not even that great looking. I totally ask the question of where can we get ahold of some of this stuff. M7 you mentioned front control arms and I would love to get my hands on some but unfortunatley I have searched high and low as well and have found nothing. Do you have any answers M7? Thanks

 

The front control arms where re-designed to add more strength in the horizontal plane. We also using a new thicker wall chrome molly tubing, giving the arm some added strength thru out. The arms are now available on a custom order basis.

Price: $799.00 Painted any color (Epoxy paint)

Price: $849.00 Powder coated Red or Black

peter
Team M7
562-608-8123

 

I noticed that once I started using heroin, my weight dropped dramatically, but now I can't remember why I wanted to get lighter . . . and I can't find my keys

 

Priced per pair? And they're lighter than stock? Any difference in clearance at the wheel-carrier ball-joint? Thanks!

Glad to know such things still exist!

 

Yes, Yes. With some appliqations there will be a slight tire rubb at fully
cranked steering (only in a parking lot situation) depending mostly on tire/wheel width.

peter
Team M7