Evo442

iTrader: (1)

Too broad of a question, involving many intangibles, I know.

But how much could I expect to improve quarter mile times and 0-60 times by dropping lets say 200lbs from my evo?

How much does performance suffer when my 230lb friend is in the car?

Any ideas?

umiami80

iTrader: (1)

Good rule of Thumb, if you assume everything else being equal, is that every 100 Pounds yanked off a car, is 1/10th.

Shed 1000 Pounds, gain a full second.

Kayaalp

iTrader: (1)

Well, 200lbs is about 6% of the total vehicle weight (assuming 3285 lbs). So, dropping 200lbs should be equivalent to adding 6% to your hp...that nets you a 16hp gain. So, dropping 200lbs should theoretically give you the same acceleration as bumping your hp from 271 to 287.

In other words, it's a subtle improvement that might be tough to notice on the strip unless you're really consistent. On the street, I doubt you'd notice any difference at all. However, depending on where you remove the weight, it might make a pretty dramatic improvement in how the car handles at the limit.

Emre

whitet777

iTrader: (6)

Remember performance is more than just going in a straight line. Cornering G's and braking are also improved with less weight.

pgmike

iTrader: (27)

you should feel a big diff with a loss of 200lbs. big feeling may not transfer to big numbers however.

NEPA03ES

I've heard both, 100lbs./ 1/10thsec or 100lbs./ 10hp. either way they work out the same, but yes losing that weight does a significant amount for traction. That's why I also own a 1,600lb. 1 gen. CRX. Soon to have Integra engine/drivetrain.

arm07

Always been wondering. The hoods on cars weigh heavy as hell, probably like 80 pounds from what Im guessing. How much do CF hoods weigh?

MisterSpoot

Also keep in mind that where you lose the weight is what can really make a difference.

Suppose you lose 15 pounds from the interior of the car.

You'd see the same difference if you shed 5 pounds from the axles.

You'd see the same difference if you shed 3 pounds from the driveshaft, diffs, or flywheel.

You'd see even more difference if you shed that weight from the engine itself.

----- -----

I used to race nitromethane-powered RC cars a lot, and I was very meticulous about their weight characteristics. Heck, I was one of those odd birds who used a propeller balancer to balance his tires.

Getting the car to handle well at the 48 oz. weight minimum was one thing, but unlike some of the other folks, I made sure that as much of that weight reduction as possible was done to the driveline. I couldn't careless about having carbon-fiber or aluminum everywhere, unless I had already cut as much driveline weight as possible. I knife-edged my con-rod. I made hollow layshafts. I had my CVD-s and flywheel fabbed out of a magnesium alloy.

Fortunately, fabrication costs for RC parts were pretty minimal. The results though were impressive, and despite being a medicore racer stock (the car was based on an HPI Nitro RS4 Racer2), I turned it into a formidable machine that never failed to make the A-Main.

NEPA03ES

generally 50% of stock

Satori

Yeah, where the weight is can be more important than how much there is when it comes to handling. Say, you replace the 5.0 in a mustang with a turbo 4 engine that weighs nearly the same and has as much power. Since it’s smaller you can fit it more to the rear of the engine compartment. By placing the engine weight closer to the center of the car you reduce the polar moment of inertia – which means the cars resistance to turning. The inline-4 version car’s handling will be vastly superior in high speed cornering vs. the V8 whose engine weight will be putting more of its weight on the front wheels.

And all of this has very little to do with what you asked but I thought it’d be interesting to point out.