Weight saving

[Howard-]

Can I do any practical weight saving in my 1990 MX-5? I don't want to go too mad so things like removing the entire dashboard are out, but stuff like sound proofing (if there is any? Where?) is fine, I'm not aversed to a bit more engine/transmission noise - every little helps.

[Sleekitman]

Tell the wife to get out!!

[Howard-]

I would if I was married, or even had a g/f!

[Munter]

Something to do with pies and the word less is kicking around in my head....

I'd start with the spare wheel and seat.

[Raify]

There was an epic thread somewhere (USA IIRC) where an enormous amount of time and money was spent. He even went on a diet himself at the end. Can't find it now, but:


Unlike something like an Elise with aluminium chassis + plastic body, there's not really that much point in the MX5. Because it's quite a heavy chassis, the bits you can change will not make a huge difference.

That said, it wouldn't harm the handling at all to remove the a/c and fit lighter wheels...

[vx220]

has anyone weighed a standard bonnet against a carbon one?

same for boot lid?

and how much does a standard seat weigh, can you save much with fibreglass buckets?

[Howard-]

Munter said:

Something to do with pies and the word less is kicking around in my head....

Oh don't


Spare wheel and associated clobber is gone. It does weight a lot I removed the tie down hooks which are heavy little buggers too

[MX-5 Lazza]

Not a great deal to be honest.
You can remove all the carpets, air-con (if you have it) stereo & speakers, spare wheel, fit lightweight alloys, make sure you have no junk in the car but that's about it.

[MX-5 Lazza]

Makes a small difference on a track car but not worth the discomfort on a road car.

[Raify]

Here is a page with a list of parts and their weights (in USA lbs): http://www.sportcompactcarweb.com/projectcars/0704...


For example:

Driver's seat = 34lb. Racetech seat = 22lb.
Bonnet 17lb. APR Bonnet 9lb.
A/C = 36lb

[maz8062]

I've done a few lightweight mods to my 1990;

- Lightweight wheels 8.6lbs each
- 8lb flywheel
- 7.5kg Elise seats
- FRP bonnet (lighter than stock)
- A/C and spare wheel removed
- Soft top removed and replaced with carbon fibre hardtop(7kgs)

Wheels and flywheel make the most difference.

[OnlyMX5ives]

Lightweight Miata is the site to look at...

the guy is a nutter !

I'm currently building a trackcar but am keeping it sensible as I don't want it to look too stripped out - as it annoys those you overtake even more if it looks like a daily driver.

Some pics of sound deadening are found on my thread here:

http://www.phoenixfives.org.uk/forum/viewtopic.php...

[Herman Toothrot]

Air Con & Everything associated
Heating & everything associated
Stereo & everything associated
All carpets & sound deadening
Spare wheel
Seats changed for buckets
Charcoal canister & everything associated
Light weight wheels
Heat shields
Electric Windows

[kevham]

I've stripped my car fairly much as far as I can within the rules I have to adhere to for sprinting and the bits I've removed nearly compensate for the 20kg+ of the roll bar I added.

My car currently weighs around 1020kg which is 5kg lighter than the listed kerb weight.

I've still to do the following:
Change the battery for a motorcycle job (-6kg)
Change the airbag wheel (-2kg)
Remove the soft-top and fit a removable hard top (-xxkg?)

So I reckon I could just about get below the tonne, if I'm lucky.
I'd be better going on a strict diet (I could lose 20kg and still be overweight!)

[OllieWinchester]

What are Mk1's supposed to weigh then? I had mine on the weighbridge at the local scrapyard when I got it (Don't scrap it! Was wary of the crane just picking it up....) and with half a tank of fuel, and loads of crap in the car I'm sure it was under 1000kg. Have taken the A/C unit off though, well taken it out of the boot where it was residing, broken....

[Raify]

Mk1's are around 980kgs IIRC.

[OnlyMX5ives]

Mk1 1.6's are slightly lighter.

Smaller (weaker and lighter) diff, smaller brakes, no chassis braces etc.

So whilst they are lighter the weight of the 1.8 is due to having desirable kit added.

[Herman Toothrot]

When I got my mk1 1.8 '97 S-Spec I just pulled the AC out and put it on the weighbridge with brimmed petrol, oil & washer fluid it came out as 960Kg I think with no other mods. Since then I've stripped loads out, but also added a bit in the form of a roll bar and turbo.

[OnlyMX5ives]

One thing to bear in mind is that scrap yard weighbridges aren't that accurate and tend to read a little low.

[Herman Toothrot]

OnlyMX5ives said:

One thing to bear in mind is that scrap yard weighbridges aren't that accurate and tend to read a little low.

So use a VOSA bridge