Just for those that are interested in weight reduction.

I removed the rear seats from my MINI.

Each seat back is 15 lbs and the bottom is 12 lbs. So 15X2+12 = 42 lbs

If you went crazy and removed the belts there's prabably another 5-10 lbs in there that could come out.

Oh, and the car sounds so nice with the seats out.

 

Interesting info...but I still want/need my back seats in there. I actually like them a lot. I guess I like to share my "Motoring" with other 2 or 3 people in the car.

 

Dave

Are you autocrossing? I'm wondering what prompted this and what else have you done in the way of weight reduction?

 

Well, the seats came out as part of trying to find out what it would take to turn the MINI into a two seater with a totally flat rear cargo area.

I have also changed wheels and tires. That saved 70lbs of rotating weight. I previously had the 17" runflats on the car. Now I have the MINI R84 wheels and the 16" yokohama AVS ES100's. That had a very noticable change in ride quality and acceleration. Plus there isn't any 1st gear bog any more.

 

Dave:

How easy would it be to put the seats back in? I'm thinking that if it's just a couple of bolts, then this may be a great idea...but if it's more than that, it may be more trouble than it's worth to me as I will need the seats from time to time. But frankly, once my kids get beyond todler stage, I may lose the seats altogether as despite what I've heard elsewhere on this site (and from MINI), I really can't see putting one or two normal-sized adults in the back seat for more than a couple of miles. I tried it last week and everyone had fun in the MINI, but no one thought that they'd want to ride back there for any length of time. And no, I'm not over 6 feet tall or over 200lbs (and therefore don't need to keep my seat too far back). It's just that the back seat REALLY IS a shelf and there's no useable foot well room back there. IMO.

Also, can you describe the improvement in ride quality that you got with the 16" wheels/tires?

 

A question still remains??? What is the purpose, Auto crossing? MINI Van? Add floats a MINIboat? Maybe even some additional fold out wings to go with that aerodynamic rear spoiler A MINI PLANE?? Modified MINI MEGA SUNROOF???? You guesed it a MINI helicopter car!!!! Sorry got taken with the moment. I hear they are cutting the rear window area out and considering a factory MINI pickup. Why not wait for that?

 

jsun:

here is a thread I posted with pictures of the seats removed

It's pretty simple. If you lay down the rear seats, there is either an 8mm or a 10mm (I can't remember) bolt in between the seat backs at the base. You remove that and then flip up the little safety catch.

Start with the left side and lift the seat out of the center while being careful not to lift it up too far. now rotate the seat to about 45 degrees and the seat will come out of the wall of the car (there is a pin that has to slide through a slot to release the seat from the wall). Be careful as that pin doesn't look to robust (you're not removing the pin, just sliding it out of the slot).

Repeat the process for the right side.

The seat lower is just clipped into place. A good tug on each corner will lift that out of the way.

EDIT: to cut and paste pictures from other thread into this one

 

This is something I want to do when I get my car later this week -- did you even out the back with a piece of plywood /carpet??

Gidget

PS. do you have a Cooper or an S? -- re: 1st gear bog.

Pepper White/Pepper White/Sport Package/DSC/NO Sunroof Cooper

_________________
if I can't find parking...i'll just pick my MINI up and put it in my pocket"

 

Yeah I need my back seats, too.....my friends love motoring in the Mini with me and I can safely say that my boyfriend, roommate, mother or any of my other friends that ended up in the back without the seats would NOT be a happy camper.

 

Gidget: All I've done is yank the seats to see what was involved. But yes, that's the plan - even out the back with wood. Then cover it with either carpet (****?) in Lapis Blue OR put some kind of non skid surface back there so stuff doesnt slide around.

 

Single 8mm bolt. The seat and the seatbacks can EASILY be removed in under 3 minutes. Nice trick for auto-x.

R

 

Hummmm...thanks though for the pics. I don't know, it does do a job on the aesthetics; and I'm not liking the idea of wood and **** carpet ("If this van is a rockin' Don't come a knockin'&quot. Some pics once you finish it out would be great.

The fact remains though that unless I make friends with a bunch of midgets (not that I have a problem with that), I'm not going to have many back seat riders in the MCS. So, the thought of losing 40 pounds of dead weight is still kind of attractive.

 

Yeah, that's the same position I'm in. Not really putting anyone in the back seat, so why lug that around. But removing them wreaks havoc on the interior appearance, so time to cover it up. My serious plan would be to go with some kind of rubber mat with ahesive backing to keep things from sliding. But with the weight of the deck and the rubber and what not, it really might not save all that much weight. So the seats will probably stay in. I still want to research this a little more and draw up some plans.

 

A true engineer at work

 

You know if you drive the car while you're naked you could probably lose another 5 pounds.

 

[quote]Originally Posted By: ficcion
[b]A true engineer at work

 

>>You know if you drive the car while you're naked you could probably lose another 5 pounds.
>>


Heh heh.. and if you evacuate your... err... let's not go there afterall...

Rocketboy_X

 

Do you think it's possible to order the car with 16" tires instead of the 17" wheels, even though I want the sport package? 16" sounds like the better way to go with the weight reduction and slightly better handling? The only benefit to the 17" seems to be looks (and I do think it looks better, filling out the wheel well better).

I have a few months before my options really matter and my car is built. Any other opinions? I know the 16/17" has been debated to death but I haven't really found someone who has tried both, but you've appeared to have done so Dave! If I got the 16" wheels from Mini with the runflat still, would I still gain the big weight advantage? Can you post a pic of your wheels? (I'm going to go look for your pics now).

 

Fooo:

You can order all the other parts from the sport package seperately. That would allow you to keep the stock 16's. You would order Xenons, Fogs, and DSC seperately. Then you'd end up with the R84 v-spokes (the same as are on my car).

Here's a picture of my car with each set of wheels.

The 17" R90's with Dunlop 205/45 R17 Run-Flats


The 16" R84's with Yokohama AVS ES100 205/50 R16