Hey guys, I have a 2003 base model MINI Cooper with just sport seats. I finally decided to take out my rear seat (very easy) and my spare tire. All I can say is WHAT A DIFFERENCE! The car is acutualy quicker now and handles slightly better. Feel like the car revs faster and more free. But there is a downside to removing the rear seat. ROAD NOISE! I do like the louder exhaust note though! Will a rear seat delete kit reduce the noise and also much weight you guys think I took out the back of the car? (60-70 lbs?)

 

on the weight - why not throw it all on a scale and you tell us.

No doubt a rear seat delete kit will drop down the noise - it will all depend on materials used. There is nothing stopping you from adding sound deadening material on your own.

 

I put a piece of rigid foam, very thin, in where the seat bottom went. I've got some bamboo wedged in holding it down with a beach towel over the setup for color. Cuts the added noise back to near original. My plan was to use the foam as a template for some permanent material, which will probably go over the foam, but it works so well the prioirty of the task has fallen away.

 

I don't think the rear seat delete drops much. A thorough search will find an exact number I guess, but I recall it's only about 30lbs. Of course, it's a pretty cheap way of losing even that much weight! I personally didn't experience any performance improvements, but I'm pretty insensitive in that area.

 

best way to shed weigh of the car is for the driver to lose weight lol...i have a miata so weight is everything......yet i still weigh 200lbs lol

 

You can get acoustic insulation batting here. It helps in the cavity where the seats were.


I did a rear seat delete on an R56 MCS, but I probably added more weight than I took out. The seats don't weigh much and I put in Dynamat, birch plywood floor and cabinet. For more photos see this thread:

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ad.php?t=11745

 

I could feel a big difference when I removed the rear seat too. If you want to reduce some of the road noise, but not the exhaust sound, just put the lower cushion back in. It weighs next to nothing, and is cheaper than one of those kits. heh heh. Plus it blocks road noise.

 

I have an 04 MCS and have weighed the back seats after removing them. The bottom was 8 lbs and the backs with the head rest are 14 lbs a piece. The cargo cover thing is 2lbs. I didn't weigh the center bracket and bolts that hold the backs in place so that's right about 40 lbs for all of it. Add the reduction of the spare and that's a pretty good weight savings.

 

Gotta be careful with the weight balance on the cooper...soon you'll have no weight in the rear and all the weight up front

 

yea guys, I am pretty happy with my free and easy mods! What else could I do to shed weight?

 

Drain the gas tank.

 

Removing the rear wiper and replacing it with the little plug (like the GPs) will drop a bit more. A light weight battery will also loss some(Helix says it's around 25lbs less than stock).