if a person has a smaller build or is a woman .. do they have a significant advantage over a large sized person. Take a person who weighs 130lbs and a person who weighs 200lbs .. does this make much a difference? We are all comparing and contrasting the Z's weight but seems to me that an individuals weight is just as important factor in performance

 

I do not know how true this is but I have read that each ten pounds added to a cars weight takes one horsepower more to keep the performance the same. Every four pounds of rotating weight added takes one hoursepower more to keep the same performance. Removing the same will free up the horsepower. This is one reason you see electric cooling fans on cars now days. As to the drivers weight yes it does make a diff. Take the car you now drive and start adding passingers. you should notice the extra weight. more so if the car is a four cylinder one.

 

You are absolutely correct. I weigh 284 lbs(dropped a few recently) and I would expect it to effect my acceleration adversely. Just wait until I get down to a svelte 230lbs, watch me go!

Boomer--power to weight ratio can tell the tale. The heavier I are, the slower I go.

 

Now take my friends Fat Bastard and Mini-Me. Who do you think would win a drag race?

 

Yes and no. Look at all the F1 drivers, most are like 150ish. I think Nigel Mansel was a big guy, but I doubt many are over 200lbs. The weight matters. In F1 they are always going on about how the car is picking up speed as the fuel level drops, or how this driver is only putting a few gallons in and will have a huge speed advantage because of it. and remember these cars have like 800 hp, not some measley 287hp. But that's the race track with the best drivers in the world.

In the real world of stop and go driving I doubt you will notice if you have an extra 100 pounds on board (I mean if you have 2 gallons vs only 18 gallons you won't be saying "My where did this extra kick in the *** come from?")

You may have noticed the effects of weight if like me you had a weak car (VW fox 98 hp) and are used to driving alone, but once in a while you have five people on board (like 800 pounds) the car feels slugish. Well the less weight you are talking about and the more powerful the engine you have the less you will notice any performance degredation.

Even at the track or at the drag strip, you will find this weight difference to be only a small factor next to driver skill.

Let me give you an example. I'd put Michael and Ralf Schumacher in one 350Z (We'll let michael drive). Then I'll put the lightest member of this forum in another Z. Put the two on a track and I'd put my money on the Mike every time.

 

I just saw a comparsion like that except it was NASCARS Tony Stewart vs a unknown dirt track driver using the dirt track drivers stock car. Stewart is a champion driver but the unknown driver beat him on every lap time. I belive this shows that how familure you are with the car is important too. Before anybody flames me about NASCAR you need to know that I love all auto/motorcycle racing and appericate each type for the skill required to be competitive. In fact I will spend the next three days watching the IRL/Infinity pro classes race here in Nashville(Gladesville really).

 

Well, we have to keep it in perspective. When I load up my 140hp 4-cyl minivan with seven adults, you bet it feels sluggish! But when I lost 15 pounds, did I notice any difference? No way. Every bit counts, but a few pounds is negligible, barely measurable, and not detectable (except psychologically, like how much faster your car feels after it's washed and waxed.)

That's why the argument for leaving off the side impact airbags -- which could very well save your life -- to save a couple of pounds of weight seems so ridiculous to me.

 

I think you have backwords on this one bud (anyone correct if im mistaken). More rotating weight matters much more than weight that'll be on the suspension.

I wouldnt bother you with statistics that i'd be pulling out my *** but i believe im right. if not, some please correct me.

 

Read his post more carefully -- that's exactly what he is saying: 4 lbs rotating mass is equivalent (in effective horsepower-reduction) to 10 lbs other mass. That means rotating mass has more of an effect. So adding 40 lbs in heavier wheels is just as bad as adding 100 lbs of other crap (unless it's a supercharger! )

 

Mmmm.... I'll have to disagree with you on that somewhat... in my silverado, even with a fairly torqe heavy engine, I never fill it up more than halfway because the damn thing does tend to feel slugish with a full tank. Well, full on this thing is 26+ gallons.

Strange though, because i dont realy get the same effect with a passenger in the cab. Maybe the weight distribution is a factor?

 

When your car weighs only 2135 pounds, every few pounds counts. I can tell a huge difference between me driving by myself and driving with a passenger. In fact, it makes a second difference in my times on autocross courses.

Now, the portly 350Z (sorry, it's portly, deal with it) will probably have a larger window of noticeable difference. I don't notice much difference in our 02 Maxima SE if my wife is in it with me or not. I sure didn't notice a difference in the ZO6.

 

I notice a BIG difference in my 300ZX when its has about 3 gallons left in the tank, then I fill it up (18.9 gal tank). Gasoline weighs about 6 lbs, so roughly a 100 lbs were added to the car.

 

i see. My bad, i made that post late last night. I probably wasnt thinking strait.