Take Out the Spare Tire?
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Joined: Jan 2003
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From: rehoboth beach, de
On the more extreme side, my roommate has an 89 mazda 323 gtx. It is a kinda cult awd turbo rally car. Anyway he took EVERYTHING out. Rear seats, all the trim, soundproofing, spare, jack, radio, speakers, amp, carpet. When he weighed all the stuff it was 311 pounds. Talk about driving a racecar. Loud, rough, and fast. Not in z territory, but a huge improvement for what probably started as maybe a 2800 pounder or so. Not my cup of tea.
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Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 734
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From: Arizona
Weight reduction
HFM, Yes, I am going to work with this next Saturday. Although I am now throwing a monkey wrench into the mix as my new wheels (18" Privat) are going to change things from my present 17". They will be shod w/235/40 front and 275/40 rear. I am installing the Eibach Pro kit at the same time for a drop of .8 front and 1.2 in the back. As soon as I get confirmation, I am installing the rear gears from the 6MT for some more low end grunt. So, I have lots of changes coming up in the next 10 days or so. Following these changes, I head out the second week of April for an extended 5 week road trip in the Z from here in AZ to Fla and then up the east coast to Montreal, Canada and back thru the middle of the US and home to AZ. Regards, Jim
Originally posted by hfm
Yes, good point. This is what I'm experimenting with. I need to confirm if I can launch effectively without the spare without losing grip. I'll tell you what Jim, can you try this:
1) Get to track with 1/4 tank or less and take out the spare. Do a few runs.
2) Go to the gas station, fill up, put the spare back. Do a few runs.
I'm very curious as to the result. Regards, HFM.
.
Yes, good point. This is what I'm experimenting with. I need to confirm if I can launch effectively without the spare without losing grip. I'll tell you what Jim, can you try this:
1) Get to track with 1/4 tank or less and take out the spare. Do a few runs.
2) Go to the gas station, fill up, put the spare back. Do a few runs.
I'm very curious as to the result. Regards, HFM.
.
1/4tank vs full is 15gallons, at almost 7lbs a gallon thats 105lbs, THAT will make a difference, obviously. but 30lbs wont, Im not questioning the tank of gas, drive with a quarter tank if you want. I would, but honestly, Im too lazy to have to fill up every 100miles or less.
but if you want to be fair, do runs with the tire and without, no other changes than minor loss of weight due to fuel used in the run.
see if theres any difference. I bet you can not find any noticable change since the times will vary by WAY more than 30lbs could do.
obviously 15gallons plus spare, jack, towhook, your looking at 150lbs, thats a substantial amount, a whole person actually. but then again, you could lose atleast that much if you strip down the interior. where do you draw the line?
but if you want to be fair, do runs with the tire and without, no other changes than minor loss of weight due to fuel used in the run.
see if theres any difference. I bet you can not find any noticable change since the times will vary by WAY more than 30lbs could do.
obviously 15gallons plus spare, jack, towhook, your looking at 150lbs, thats a substantial amount, a whole person actually. but then again, you could lose atleast that much if you strip down the interior. where do you draw the line?
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Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 734
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From: Arizona
Where do you stop?
Ares, Well put, I couldn't agree more. Regards, Jim
Originally posted by ares
1/4tank vs full is 15gallons, at almost 7lbs a gallon thats 105lbs, THAT will make a difference, obviously. but 30lbs wont, Im not questioning the tank of gas, drive with a quarter tank if you want. I would, but honestly, Im too lazy to have to fill up every 100miles or less.
but if you want to be fair, do runs with the tire and without, no other changes than minor loss of weight due to fuel used in the run.
see if theres any difference. I bet you can not find any noticable change since the times will vary by WAY more than 30lbs could do.
obviously 15gallons plus spare, jack, towhook, your looking at 150lbs, thats a substantial amount, a whole person actually. but then again, you could lose atleast that much if you strip down the interior. where do you draw the line?
1/4tank vs full is 15gallons, at almost 7lbs a gallon thats 105lbs, THAT will make a difference, obviously. but 30lbs wont, Im not questioning the tank of gas, drive with a quarter tank if you want. I would, but honestly, Im too lazy to have to fill up every 100miles or less.
but if you want to be fair, do runs with the tire and without, no other changes than minor loss of weight due to fuel used in the run.
see if theres any difference. I bet you can not find any noticable change since the times will vary by WAY more than 30lbs could do.
obviously 15gallons plus spare, jack, towhook, your looking at 150lbs, thats a substantial amount, a whole person actually. but then again, you could lose atleast that much if you strip down the interior. where do you draw the line?
Originally posted by ares
1/4tank vs full is 15gallons, at almost 7lbs a gallon thats 150 [sic] lbs, THAT will make a difference. where do you draw the line?
1/4tank vs full is 15gallons, at almost 7lbs a gallon thats 150 [sic] lbs, THAT will make a difference. where do you draw the line?
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Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 5
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From: phoenix, AZ
weight distribution
I autocross a lot. (lots of edge-of-grip turns.) I don't have a Z yet; my current car (guess what it is: 260hp, 302ft-lbs) has 435 more lbs in the front than the back (with a full tank of gas and spare tire in!) and is rear wheel drive.
well one time I went to autocross without filling the gas tank up first. that was a bad day. the back end was way more eager than normal to go sliding out. ruined all my runs.
granted, the Z is only c. 200 lbs heavier in the front than the back, so it's probably not as bad. when I get one I will probably try autocrossing it both ways (full tank with spare, and 1/4 tank no spare).
on the street I (usually) don't drive aggressively enough to worry about it.
well one time I went to autocross without filling the gas tank up first. that was a bad day. the back end was way more eager than normal to go sliding out. ruined all my runs.
granted, the Z is only c. 200 lbs heavier in the front than the back, so it's probably not as bad. when I get one I will probably try autocrossing it both ways (full tank with spare, and 1/4 tank no spare).
on the street I (usually) don't drive aggressively enough to worry about it.
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