in regards to the cloth seat's weight, I have no idea how much they weigh. I have a G and I know our seats are stupid heavy

 

hopefully end the whole power equation deal....

this thread is about lowering the weight of vehicle, ergo trying to lower the power to weight ratio.

He who has the least amount of weight per 1 hp will perform better.

And if I remember right, a good race car will have a power:weight ratio of around 1:12 or 1:10.....if I remember right.

 

I don't know if there is a specific wt:HP ratio that is ideal. NASCAR race cars are about 5:1, and they are fast, my 300ZX is ~4:1, and it's not faster than a NASCAR around the track. My track 350 is 10:1, and it's faster around the track than my 300ZX. Miatas are much higher, like 15:1, and they can be stupid fast around the track.

 

YOu are talking about different cars, on different road courses, with different suspensions, different tires, and different power bands.

Im talking same car to same car.

As for NASCAR having a 5:1, thats awesome, but their power is all on higher rpms, compared to your 300ZX which prob has its power around mid range.

And you are saying your 300ZX has a ~4:1 ratio?
Wikipedia says the 300zx weighs about 3,300lbs. And if your ratio ~4:1, are you saying you have ~825hp on your 300zx Im a little confused here Given your 300zx is probably modded and lightened, but that ratio seems off.

 

I agree

Saw the Spec Miata's running around Laguna a few years back, damn those guys are fast and crazy!

 

It's a little OT, but I'm happy to elaborate. My 300ZX makes most of its power up high given the twin turbos, but it has an 8k rev limit. I rounded down from an approximate 4.4:1 ratio given a 15% drivetrain loss and 3280#. I expect it'll be about 4.1:1 once I get a final tune on it before the drag racing season this spring.

A friend races his spec Miata, and we were in the same run group at Thunderhill one day. I was amazed when I gave him a point-by and he was gone in 1/2 a lap.

 

what a brilliant thread, wish I had seen this before I started removing bits from mine...

The car is a race car

Here it has the wet set of wheels on:



so far i have done:

removed:

air con
all plastics
both seats
all interior trim and i mean everything minus the dash
engine plastics
Scraped all sound deadening out
boot struts
spare/tools etc
air bags + air bag ecu
seat belts
parts off the inside of the front bumper, directly in front of rad
horn
im sure things i cant remember

I have replaced with lighter products:

Wheels/ nismo lmgt3's 18" and a wet set of Rays (work nicely for track work)
Doors are carbon fibre
boot/hatch is carbon fibre
windows both boot and side windows are lexan
exhaust is motordyne dual ti
driver seat is carbon fibre with custom fia rails
steering wheel

I did drive it in this state on the road for a while, which was quite noisy but the difference was certainly noticeable above 2200 rpm

However as its a race car it has had to have

AP racing brakes
cage added
fire extinguisher
5 pt harness
(removeable ings+1 wing)

Next on the weight saving list is the wing mirrors and head lights, couple of candles might work? anyone with any suggestions please let me know!


obviously a host of other mods but this is just weight related

 

Sweet! So - uh, what does it weigh as it sits?

 

Weighs about 3025lb's in your money but that was before the carbon fibre doors, wet carbon as apposed to dry carbon.

the car was weighed wet, full fluids, half a tank of fuel, without me in it, im currently trying to loose some weight as well

with me in it you can probably add another 195lb's to that

the class min weight i race in is 2358lbs which is very low but the car seems fairly competitive none the less

 

Very nice, MrLizard. Very nice. I like what you've done to the car.

 

thanks, there were a few moments when i was wondering what i was doing to such a nice car but seems to have worked for the best

testing at mallory last week wet again

 

I was rather agressive with lightening my Z.....

I removed the Z kept the 350......

Total weight 2400lb. Hence it flys so well.

 

The mechanics of the device itself is fairly simple. The difficulty posed would be in making it not look like a "hack-job." Given that the "crank" windows are a fairly simple manual machine, it's possible to rig up and make it aesthetically passable, but then one begins to question the return-on-investment.

 

you can remove the window motor, and the window, and in fact the door.

I got some lexan side windows made and in the pic below you can see how we have created a frame (light weight) to pull the top of the window in, really simple, it actually pulls the top too far in so when you close the door it pushes it out and is, wait for it, water tight!

How to play with scoobs

http://www.youtube.com/teamlizardmotorsport

 

Great vid - I really enjoyed it! You catch people in the same place that I do - braking zones! You had the white car, and it looks like you almost hit him at 7:27!

I don't follow how you did the lexan, but would love to hear more about it. PM me if you'd like. Thanks!

 

the lexan was made by a company in the uk, i can send you the details, the shape is the same as the standard window once its out of the door. next time im in the car ill take a picture of the frame, the company that runs the car for me Abbey Motorsport designed them

 

Another 16lbs+ taken off...my new XXR 518 wheels are 4lbs lighter than OEM. I weighed and verified myself on two separate scales. Best of all, its rotational mass being removed, that's the BEST kind of weight reduction. =)

 

This is a quote from Importtuner June 2010 on the article CATfight 350Z vs 370Z

"USDM Zs didn't come with the 2+2 design the Japanese ones did that included rear seats," Costa explains, "but the sheetmetal reinforcements and mounts for hinges and seatbelts are still there." Removing them, along with harmonic weights mounted at points on the Z's chassis to decrease NVH-a 6x6x6-inch square chunk of steel in the right rear corner of the trunk, another on the front core support, and a smaller one attached to the trans mount-shed another 100 pounds.”

Does anyone have hear something like this? Does not make sense but…

 

I read that as well, I wanted to go hunting in my Z for the items described but my car is 6,580 miles away

 

The quote is simply incorrect. Whether the author was mistaken, or it was incorrectly edited, who knows. No 350Z's, no matter where they are, Japan, US, Europe, or anywhere else on this planet or any other, have rear seats, or provisions for rear seats. Previous generations of Z's did have the option for a 2+2 configuration however.