Sensible lightening for a (mostly) street car...

[jlegelis]

With my '01S is in hibernation, thoughts have turned to 2010 projects.  First and foremost is a diet to remove some excess weight, keeping in mind that this is primarily a street car, so removing soundproofing and carpeting is not on the table.  Here's my short list of candidates:

1) Remove spare tire (~30lbs), replace with a can of flat fixer (never had a flat... fingers crossed)
2) Switch from 18" factory Turbo look wheels to already-owned 18" BBS RS-GTs (23.26lbs [total unsprung weight difference])
3) Switch from factory PSE exhaust to NHP exhaust (or similar)  15lbs

That's about 68lbs of 'bolt on/off' weight, or about 2.2%, about half a person, or almost a tank of gas - not much, but likely noticeable, .   What else to suggest?   Lighter battery??   Suggestions appreciated!

[savowood]

Making the car lighter is a series of small increments which eventually result in a large improvement.  Very few single items will save a lot of weight.

Depending on where you live, you could remove the soft top and go only with the hard top for inclement weather.  That's not helpful on the sudden afternoon rain storm.

Other options:  Change out the seats.  Some of the pseudo-racing seats are still comfortable, lighter, and will hold you in place on a nice day at the track or a twisty back road.  Removing the center console stuff could be a bit of an improvement.  There's a console delete package some people have done.  Check with Suncoast to see if they still have it.

-Michael

[Lightning]

1) Remove spare tire (~30lbs), replace with a can of flat fixer (never had a flat... fingers crossed)

That's all the 2004+ Porsche owners have (plus a roadside assistance card for the first couple of years).

Another suggestions is if you have rear speakers in the storage bin, you could take the whole unit out, but it is easy enough to take it out and put it in for driving events.

Probably the most noticable difference  will be switching out the Turbo-looks (they are not that light). Make sure you're replacing it with something lighter (Y2000 17" "Boxster" wheels are really light)...

[Mike Foxtrot]

I saved 35 pounds by using a light weight battery.  However, I think the battery on a 2001 is smaller/lighter than the 50 pounder that comes on a 987.  Also, if you don't mind stopping more often for gas, drive around with the tank half full/empty depending on you personality.  Eight gallons weighs almost 50 pounds and except for the added trouble of stopping for gas, it's free.  Be sure to remove the jack and tire tools along with the spare tire, and make sure all the storage areas are empty. 

Mike Foxtrot

[ToSi]

Wanna sell that PSE exhaust? PM me..

[jlegelis]

Finally got around to the following 'upgrades':

- Remove spare tire, jack, etc (actual weight as measured with bathroom scale): 29lb removed
- Switched from factory 18" Turbo-look wheels to 18" BBS RS-GT:  28lb removed (front wheels each saved 5lbs, rear wheels each 9lbs!)
- Install lightweight Odyssey PC680 Battery:  35lb removed, compared to the old *monster* lead-acid battery

That's 92lb gents, or 3% of the weight of the car (car now reads exactly 3000lb on local dump scale, with full tank of gas, and no driver - scale only reads in 20lb increments).   The car definitely spins up a little quicker/harder, though I'm sure most of that is due to the 28lbs of unsprung weight off the wheels, although the other trimmings sure help.   Turn in is also a bit quicker - can't wait for my first DE.

Next step is a lighter exhaust (I've got the PSE, which is lovely, but large).  Hope to save about 25lbs there - not sure what else to do after that.  In any case, its a nice 'freshening' for spring.

[Brian Paulsen]

Removing the center console will save you less than one pound, so don't bother unless you like the look without it.

Seats will be the next big savings and it is something you should do anyhow if you are doing DE's often.

Muffler is next but I'd save that for last. There is just too much of a chance that you'll get hit with CEL errors.

FWIW, I have my car down to 2945 including the driver (nearly empty tank).

[jlegelis]

Cool - any recommendations on seats?  Something that will accommodate harnesses, but still allows reasonable ingress/egress would be great, as 95% of the time this car is for the street...   

[Brian Paulsen]

Cool - any recommendations on seats?  Something that will accommodate harnesses, but still allows reasonable ingress/egress would be great, as 95% of the time this car is for the street...   

I had GT3 seats for a few years while I was doing lots of DE's and also daily driving the car. I found them to be more comfortable than the stock Boxster seats and didn't mind doing 8 hour trips to DE's.

I got rid of them after a couple of years of racing because I wanted something more snug. I got the Recaro Pro SPG's and they would be extremely impractical for a street car. 

[Trygve (127K+ Arena Red in Alameda)]

I just swapped my factory seats back in for a few weeks until my next event, and took the opportunity to weigh them.

The factory 1998 seat with heated seat option (but no memory or super adjustable stuff) is about 45 lbs. This includes all the factory floor mount / slider hardware -- using the four bolt all-in-one removal procedure.

The Sparco Evo with all of the attachments is about 33 lbs. I had assumed it would read lighter, but then this includes all of the following in the weight: Brey-Krause floor adapters, Sparco sliders, Brey-Krause side mount rails, and now a rather heavy Brey-Krause sub strap bar, plus the sub belt with cam lock. One place I found online listed the seat itself at 19 lbs.

So I would guess that when you factor in the mounting hardware, a racing seat swap is at most a 20 lb weight savings. Unless you go ultra-expensive carbon fiber or super light seat bolted right to the floor without any sliders or adjustability.