Unofficial weight reduction thread

[tsuchiya]

richard hammond failed to mention that the nsx-r visors are also mesh

I was wondering if it was feasible to just remove the stock ones (I don't have an nsx)

how much weight would be saved? (they are up top too, so extra points for lower COG)

(sorry if it was mentioned already in the thread, but I have read through almost all of it, and never saw it)

peace,
IK

 

[tsuchiya]

also, how much does a stock door weigh?

I saw some carbon doors online for 53500 yen, and on best motoring I think it said they were 3.5kg

how much weight would be saved?

or if we wanted to retain all the interior components, how much would be saved?

btw, this is my favourite thread on prime

 

[nsxotic911]

the number we weighed was 18.5 and our replacement was 8.8lbs...

but others will say different..... I also thought 1997 was the first year...

Regards

The bar is heavy as hell on my 98. 18.8 lbs is right on the money. Why replace it and get something else less "safe." The bumper beams are there to limit the chance of the car having frame damage - why would you want that? Just get a new car. New cars are always better.

The bumper beams add no safety, they crumble up pretty easily and your frame will take 95% of the impact at anywhere passed 10 mph (though 10 mph could kill you, if you're sitting in front of the car that is)

 

[StmpoRaceProducts]

The bar is heavy as hell on my 98. 18.8 lbs is right on the money. Why replace it and get something else less "safe." The bumper beams are there to limit the chance of the car having frame damage - why would you want that? Just get a new car. New cars are always better.

The bumper beams add no safety, they crumble up pretty easily and your frame will take 95% of the impact at anywhere passed 10 mph (though 10 mph could kill you, if you're sitting in front of the car that is)

Actually... your correct as to the bumper is designed to hold the frame rails in place... but the bumper foam and the material of the rear bumer itself is what helps on the 5-10 mph impacts.

Any impact will destroy the frame rails... by design. The original steel and then the extruded aluminum are only there to satisfy US DOT safety standards for car makers. Replacing it with a lighter bumper is simply a performance decision... performance desicions rarely follow US DOT safty standards.

Funny thing is... you could replace the rear bumber with our lighter bumper beam... and at the same time add our Rear Strut Tower bar... the combo would equal less weight all around and you would be safer in the event of an accident (I'm living proof since I was clobbered at 45mph while siitting at a red light with the RSTB installed and my car lived.

Targa RSTB info on this thread

http://www.nsxprime.com/forums/showthread.php?t=119414&highlight=stmpo

please refer to post #22 on this thread for pics and an explination of the car accident...

http://www.nsxprime.com/forums/showthread.php?t=119420&highlight=stmpo

Regards

 

[TURBO2GO]

Well the only reason I asked is that I know the later years use aluminum instead of steel, and wanted to know if the weight savings is as much as we talked about Ross. Its some labor to pull the bumper cover on/off, so I wanted to make sure its not for 3 pounds only. I have seen some different figures on the alu rear beam (factory), so I was wondering if anyone knew for sure. Hurry up and make a front one, will you?

 

[StmpoRaceProducts]

Well the only reason I asked is that I know the later years use aluminum instead of steel, and wanted to know if the weight savings is as much as we talked about Ross. Its some labor to pull the bumper cover on/off, so I wanted to make sure its not for 3 pounds only. I have seen some different figures on the alu rear beam (factory), so I was wondering if anyone knew for sure. Hurry up and make a front one, will you?

working on it man.... gotta pay bills so life is a little rough with the economy turning slowly...

Thanks for the support... it's worth the effort!!!!

Regards

 

[tsuchiya]

also, how much does a stock door weigh?

I saw some carbon doors online for 53500 yen, and on best motoring I think it said they were 3.5kg

how much weight would be saved?

or if we wanted to retain all the interior components, how much would be saved?

btw, this is my favourite thread on prime

no insight for carbon doors?

im sure i've seen a handful of them on prime

 

[WingZ]

richard hammond failed to mention that the nsx-r visors are also mesh

I was wondering if it was feasible to just remove the stock ones (I don't have an nsx)

how much weight would be saved? (they are up top too, so extra points for lower COG)

(sorry if it was mentioned already in the thread, but I have read through almost all of it, and never saw it)

peace,
IK

Wow I don't think anyone on prime has ever mentioned this either.

 

[tsuchiya]

Wow I don't think anyone on prime has ever mentioned this either.

yeah, I was surprised to find out

do you know how heavy the stock visors are?

are they such that can be simply removed, or is there a wire attached?

 

[mlambert890]

what are the acceleration figures for weight reduced nsx (that are otherwise stock)?

if anyone has some off hand

thanks

You can kind of guess it. I think 100lbs is usually the equivalent of 10HP roughly IIRC.

So a 2200lb NSX has about 1000lbs of weight reduction or, roughly 100HP equivalent more. So 390HP at the crank equivalent assuming a bone stock car, but to get to 2200 you cant be bone stock so power equivalence would be a good bit more (figuring cat delete, headers, straight pipes or lightweight exhaust, etc)

The Turbo NSX clearly has more power, but I think the point that for a real track, weight savings is superior to adding power makes good scientific sense if you think of the physics.

300+HP is a ton of HP for a 2200lb track prepped car.

 

[Sudesh]

Among loads of other weight reduction things I've done and tryin to stay on the NSX-R route,

I discovered after fitting the NSX-R Steering colum covers that the lower middle one is lighter than the stock one, as the NSX-R cover doesnt have the metal insert.

more here: http://www.nsxcb.co.uk/testvb/showthread.php?t=5371

Pics:

NSX-R cover on the left

more here: http://www.nsxcb.co.uk/testvb/showthread.php?t=5371

 

[tsuchiya]

why is this thread so dead?

seasonal thing, or are nsx owner just not that interested?

 

[spase]

Maybe its coz we have probably covered everything...:biggrin:

 

[tsuchiya]

delete stock seatbelt system - that's got to be pretty heavy?

carbon fiber headliner?

thin race glass windsheild?

lightweight battery bracket? (after replacing stock with braille 6.6lb race unit)

titanium bolts and engine mounts?

lightweight alternator?

delete passenger SRS?


there's still a lot of areas where weight can be taken off

until we start considering paper tail lights like on the supermadonna car, we are only half way through

 

[Olyar15]

delete stock seatbelt system - that's got to be pretty heavy?

carbon fiber headliner?

thin race glass windsheild?

lightweight battery bracket? (after replacing stock with braille 6.6lb race unit)

titanium bolts and engine mounts?

lightweight alternator?

delete passenger SRS?


there's still a lot of areas where weight can be taken off

until we start considering paper tail lights like on the supermadonna car, we are only half way through

No. There is losing weight for a purpose, and then there is losing weight simply to boast the lightest car. Just like the difference between losing weight to improve your health, and becoming an anorexic.

 

[tsuchiya]

No. There is losing weight for a purpose, and then there is losing weight simply to boast the lightest car. Just like the difference between losing weight to improve your health, and becoming an anorexic.

didn't I just say that until we hit the edge of diminished returns that there is still a lot of fruit to be taken?

and did you consider that my own goals may be different from yours?


anyways

what I want to do is make a consolidated chart grouping $/-(lbs)

no surprise if there are a handful of modifications while overlooked, are more rewarding than previously considered

 

[nsxotic911]

No. There is losing weight for a purpose, and then there is losing weight simply to boast the lightest car. Just like the difference between losing weight to improve your health, and becoming an anorexic.

Dang, I must be anorexic! But yeah, after two years, I am starting to put some stuff back in :tongue:

 

[tsuchiya]

Which kinds of suspension work would be required to calibrate the car after shedding ~500lbs?

I'm not too familiar with suspensions and suspension geometry, so I'd appreciate if someone could enlighten me on this.

 

[lightguy]

richard hammond failed to mention that the nsx-r visors are also mesh

I was wondering if it was feasible to just remove the stock ones (I don't have an nsx)

how much weight would be saved? (they are up top too, so extra points for lower COG)

(sorry if it was mentioned already in the thread, but I have read through almost all of it, and never saw it)

peace,
IK

Best result of removing the stock visors are that they are a pain in the ass for me.
Perhaps a next to nothing weight wise external decal/heavy tint.

 

[lightguy]

Which kinds of suspension work would be required to calibrate the car after shedding ~500lbs?

I'm not too familiar with suspensions and suspension geometry, so I'd appreciate if someone could enlighten me on this.

For street I dont see a big deal.
For track, and I'm assuming radical weight reductions are primarily for track reasons, a quality coil over would be nice.

 

[tsuchiya]

For street I dont see a big deal.
For track, and I'm assuming radical weight reductions are primarily for track reasons, a quality coil over would be nice.

(?)

500lbs is not a big deal?

even 100lbs is a big deal

enough to substantially throw off the balance

and to cause nightmarish understeer

lol

and actually, it's only for street driving

 

[bradofflorida]

I have spent the last three weeks of my life at a weight loss resort in Utah with little to do but diet and exercise. So far I 26lbs into improving the power to weight ratio of my NSX.

While making myself lighter, I have spent a great amount of time planning the weight loss procedure for my NSX. What I ended up with is a Excel spreadsheet that calculates the following:

Net loss per modification, including replacement part if any
Total loss to curb weight after all modifications
Total cost of modification including parts and labor
Total cost per pound of weight lost by doing a particular modification
Total hp increase for all the modifications
Total cost of parts on the project
Total cost of labor on the project
Total parts plus labor
New weight of car
New HP of car
An open place to put a theoretical curb weight and HP to calculate a projected power to weight ratio

I have included 33 common upgrades that I plan on doing myself. There is space for another 10 or so to be added, and any of the items listed can be changed.

If you want a copy of the spreadsheet to play with, just send me a PM.

Thanks

 

[bradofflorida]

I am going to a tuner in Orlando this coming week and starting my 1991 on a diet.
Total weight loss is just over 260lbs and power is going up a little from headers, intake, more open exhaust. My power to weight ratio is going from 11.2 lbs / HP down to 9.4 lbs / HP. One more trip to the tuner for the items at the bottom of the email and I will be at a 357 lb loss and a power to weight of 8.7 lbs / 1HP. I think I will be riding high and need to get the coilovers soon.

REMOVE SPARE TIRE 31
REMOVE JACK 4
REMOVE TIRE COMPRESSOR 3.25
REMOVE TIRE CRADLE 2.5
remove cat from exhaust and replace with test pipes 16
SIDE VENT REMOVE AND REPLACE WITH CARBON FIBER 4
REMOVE BRAKE SPLASH SHIELDS 3.2
SPLASH DEFLECTORS(FRONT LOWER A-ARMS) 0.5 0.5
Remove rear bumper beam(and use stmpo aluminum 14.9
Remove steel beam from front bumper 18
Battery swap: Odessey PC680 replaces summer diehard 24
Momo wheel, hub , & quick release. 15
Remove cd player 8
remove antennae and motor 2
remove oem stereo headunit and fill the hole with something 4
remove door speakers 8.8
remove passenger footwell sub 1.4
remove all trunk carpet 7
remove all of the sun visors
oem engine cover removed 14
trunk struts removed 2
remove front and rear tow hooks 3
intake? Downforce Air Intake Scoop? ARC airbox?? 0
top speed headers, see below 12
remove passenger seat 40
replace drivers seat with racing seat 20
remove three sunvisors 2
total total lost lbs 260.55

Enkei Racing RPF1 17x7 and 17x8 15.2
SOS JIC Coilovers 9.3
Na2 brakes w/2-piecs rotors: 12lbs 12
Caliper upgrade spoon?? Anyone that fits 97-05 upgrade kit? 12
Toyo T1R (205/45/16 19lbs 255/40/17 24lbs) 10
ABS upgrade to newer 14.5
total lost lbs 73

 

[PoohBEAR]

I don't about others, but I think you people are nuts!!! If you wanted to save a few pounds a go faster, get a turbo. The car will look freaking ugly!!!!

 

[fullracehonda]

richard hammond failed to mention that the nsx-r visors are also mesh

peace,
IK

i would shoot someone in the face for a set of those!