It's definitely functional, which means a car that's very stable while cornering hard. Without strut braces, when you corner hard, the body of the car will flex/roll which will negatively tweak the geometry of the suspension. The bar minimalizes the flexing and keeps the suspension true.

As far as the holes, some of the holes serve to hold the plastic interior in place, and some of the others are strategically located to help when it comes to taking the panels off. It is still a very solid piece and serves an important function.

Thanks. I've had mine for about 2 1/2 years so the new has worn off a bit... partially gutting her wasn't as hard to stomach as I thought it would be. In retrospect I'm still glad I did it.... and I actually think I didn't go far enough..

We could remove our brains too, but that wouldn't be much fun, would it?!?

Are we talking about the same cheap plastic interior?

I purposely bought the base model for this exact reason. If I could have bought a more stripped down model, I probably would have. A sports car is not about luxury.... if I wanted luxury I would drive a cadillac!

In the 2 1/2 years I've owed the car I can't think of one instance the rear interior served me any purpose(or ever would for that matter). The panels are pretty to look at and help muffle sound, but that's about it. I don't ride around in the trunk, and I actually like being able to hear things better. It makes me feel more connected with the car.... the lighter car, that is.

It's still my daily driver... that's the only reason I haven't gone completely mad yet. (keyword: yet )

 

Z's look so much sexier stripped! However, do you plan to get the car corner balanced?

 

They really do! (I'm trying real hard not to make a sexist comment here)

As far as corner balancing... I don't have coilovers yet... so probably not until then.

 

ah wait... let me change a previous statement....

 

If my memory serves me correctly, I believe its more like 3-4 lbs.

roast - here's a little warning for you if you gut the whole car. DON'T TOUCH THE SOUND DEADENER! 3-4 days worth of scraping, grinding, and chiseling and it all only weighs ~10 lbs.

 

 

You need a "sealed" battery if you're gonna put it anywhere inside the passenger compartment. Sulfuric acid vapors can escape from a regular battery. I once had a Miata with the battery in the trunk and it required a special battery to prevent vapors from flowing back into the passenger compartment.

 

I noticed that when I took out the spare and all the excess out of the trunk, I lost grip mid corner and at the exit, especially when the car was light on fuel. The car seemed to be much happier with the spare in the back. It's easy to remove the weight from the rear of this car, but you have to balance it out by removing weight from the front, or else it's not going to make your car go any faster (except for straightline acceleration, I guess).

 

Are you sure someone didn't break into your Z and strip it?

 

nice job - I have a lot of respect for someone who takes the time to maximize thier cars potential before throwing a bunch of money at the engine

 

When I ran at the track earlier this year, a fellow Z owner recommended this. He said it was ok for drag racing and maybe auto-xing, but for more neutral balancing, it was better to leave it in.

 

No way. Just not worth it to me.

 

^Speak of the devil.

 

Luxury??? where?

Is it hidden in my glove box? Or maybe I can hear it in my world class OEM stereo system.

 

Nope..... Definately in the world class transmission

 

Good points. I have removed my spare, tools, rear mats and floor mats (about 50lbs). I have also removed the heavy 43lb stock battery and installed a 11lb Braille. So I got rid of 50 lbs from the back and 32 from the front. Where else can one remove front end weight from????

 

That's the conundrum. Where do you take off additional weight in the front? The battery is good, draining the wiper fluid helps (that sucker holds a lot of liquid), but besides those two, there really aren't that many places to take a solid amount of weight off the front. You could take off trim like the engine cover and some brackets, but it'll only save you a couple pounds tops.

The hood is already pretty light, so you're really not going to save much weight unless you go dry carbon. The fender is really light too, so that won't save you much weight either.

 

I've lost 10 pounds (228lbs to 218lbs) in 3 weeks, if i keep this up i should have great 1/4 mile time by december. He He He, I think swapping batteries and pulleys in the front and spare and tools in back should be a good balance, i dont think i will ever do more than that, maybe C/B hatch after she isnt my daily driver..

 

Forged rims and aluminum calipers help a lot. First, it is unsprung weight, second, stock calipers are iron and are very heavy.