Houston G35

What can be done to lighten the G35 Coupes?

My thoughts are carbon fiber hood, lighter wheels, smaller battery, drive shaft.

What other things are there, and how much of differance do they make.

Finally, what are the approximate costs of these mods.

havabooz

there is no cost effective light hood...the ones that are relatively cost effective arnt that much lighter

then again lighter wheels arent cost effective either..

maybe you should clarify what "cost effective" means to you

ares

iTrader: (2)

cost effective? theres alot of interior that weighs alot. pesky power windows, power locks.

and that damn AC weighs a ton.

all of that is free and you could drop 1-200lbs easy. of course you wouldnt wanna drive it.

light weight battery, rims; their a good start, not big gains, but no sacrifice. cf sounds good, but its not a huge impact for its price. hood least so since the stock one is aluminum.

PoWeRtRiP

you could always pull out the passenger and rear seat, free mod for ~100lbs

Eagle1

iTrader: (2)

Weight losses that give substantial performance returns are probably the most cost effective, unless you are prepared to dramatically alter the comfortable driving experience, and I assume you are not.

Of course the first thing you do is eschew the weight additions of bling, like chrome wheels and exotic stereos.

I think that many aftermarket mods, if you are doing them, can save weight. A good aftermarket exhaust system, cats and catbacks, can save you 20-30 pounds. And you should pick up some hp from those two, be conservative and say 10-12hp. Headers are probably a push as to weight, and the hp gain is marginal anyway.

A lightweight flywheel and clutch will save you perhaps 20 pounds or more of deadweight, but really gives a performance punch that is equivalent to almost 20 pounds of deadweight for every pound of flywheel. Talk to Jason at Perf Nissan about his Tilton (of course you have to want to drive that twitchy fella and it is noiser under certain conditions).

Wheels and tires can be a lot. Drop the stock wheels (on the G35 coupe anyway) for nismos and you pick up almost 6.5 pounds per wheel, and that is unsprung weight, which will definitely have an impact on acceleration, braking and corner turn in response.

Throw all that together, if you are doing the mods anyway, and you are getting 66-70 pounds off, some more ponies and better responsiveness.

After that you have to start stripping, and if that is what you are prepared to do, you probably have the wrong car to start with. Better to have a wrx or evo where the stuff is so cheap you can't wait to toss it out anyway.

Zmeflyby

Why would u pull out the seats?
Might as well trade it in for a Z.

shiva

Go for the Optima lightweight battery, I believe that saves around 20lbs..

TheBigShow

iTrader: (2)

my odyssey pc680mjt has an advertised weight of 14.7 lbs.

bwzabodyn

iTrader: (2)

Eagle1's post is spot-on (like always - always enjoy hearing your insights) - You definitely have to consider what car you're driving before you start stripping up the interior... unless you're going to go with a strickly race set-up, there's no need to start stripping the carpet, seats, sound insulation, etc... but also as Eagle stated, if you're going to be doing certain mods anyways, keep in mind the ones that lose weight while gaining HP - Exhaust system upgrades, clutch/flywheel upgrades (doesn't apply to me - AT), wheels/tires, maybe battery - there are also a few things you can do to assist in performance for "certain" situations (ie track time) - lose the spare tire, only run w/ 1/4 tank of gas, etc...

and Eagle1, why didn't you happen to mention that the ProCharger probably added back 15 lbs or so... lol

TheBigShow

iTrader: (2)

i'm thinkin about takin out my spare, but was wonderin if it would have an adverse effect on daily drivin (handlin)?

al503

iTrader: (4)

All the mods I've done to my car were with the idea that weight is the enemy. Here are a few things that I've done:
1. crank pulley: -6lbs. of rotational weight
2. 19" CP-F Tuned wheels: -13.5 lbs. of rotational weight
3. optima battery: -12 lbs.
4. jic y-pipe: -5 lbs.
5. greddy sp2 muffler: -23 lbs.
6. rays lug nuts: -1.5 lbs rotational weight
7. RSR Ti springs: -5 lbs. unsprung? weight
8. Misc removal (engine cover etc.) ~10 lbs.

I've seen figures for the effect of rotational and unsprung weight as x7 and x3 respectively to get a deadweight figure. If they are close, then I've taken off about ~190 lbs. of deadweight off the car.

However, since this is my daily driver, I've added a few lbs:
1. aftermarket stereo: ~+30 lbs after deleting 3 sets of stock speakers and stock amp and replacing with 1 set of components up front, 1 sub, and 1 amp.
2. dynamat: +~20 lbs.

I can remove the sub and amp though for the track. I'll also lose ~25 lbs. of rotational weight (compared to the stock wheels) with a dedicated set of 18" track wheels and tires that I'm contemplating. I believe another 40 lbs can be found by taking out the spare and tools also. I'm also contemplating the amuse ti exhaust that will save around 45 lbs compared to stock.

ares

iTrader: (2)

no adverse affects... but a few things.

first, its not the optimal place to loose weight, when you have a choice your better to remove weight from the front. not that it wont help, just wouldnt go out of my way to do it.

next up, unless you intend to carry a satelitte phone and a never ending supply of batteries, take a second to think about this, for daily driving, does 45lbs or so really matter. I mean, your not timing your quarter miles that you shouldnt be running on the streets anyway. I SURE hope your not taking corners at such a point that 45lbs will make or break your turn(OH NO A PEBBLE *CRASH*) roads just arent secure enough places to test the extremes of your car. so why take the risk of getting stranded with a flat tire, cell phones dont work every where yet, and the Z doesnt have onstar.

I guess this can not apply if you have aftermarket brakes and your spare wont clear them anyway(get a 5th rim that will IMO), or if you have runflats, in which case, thatd be a great way to lose weight. definitly faster with lighter tires than no spare.

scubasteve

iTrader: (6)

go running a few hours a week!!!!!! It's free and good for you!

Z1 Performance

iTrader: (564)

I was going to say Atkins

frenzee

iTrader: (1)

I don't know if the G is the same way but the Z had a 5 lb. counter weight in the hatch that can be removed without adverse effects.

ares

iTrader: (2)

it doesnt have a hatch. doubt its there.

zuff

Just remember when removing weight from the Zed it's not a rear mounted engine so you NEED weight on the rear to help with traction. Taking 80 lbs of the rear would be worse that leaving it on imho.

redline350ZZ

iTrader: (1)

just stop eating....i am 126lbs.......

al503

iTrader: (4)

Very good point. You could also take the ~40 lb. battery and relocate it to the trunk, which would more than offset stripping the entire trunk and help F-R weight %.

PoWeRtRiP

try to take even amounts of weight off the front and rear. but if you have nice tires ~100lbs lost from the rear wont make a huge difference in traction issues