Weight Reduction

Mr. Shine · Post by **Mr. Shine** » Tue Feb 08, 2011 9:58 am

Hey guys,

New member here and looking to (hopefully!) pick up my first MX-5 (an NA6C) this week

I'm looking at using this as a combined daily driver and weekend car (as I really do love my driving) with an eye set on getting it suitable for track open days. To that end my first thought goes to weight reduction and I'm wondering what advice you guys can give for doing so.

I'm well aware of the obvious ones like removing carpets and the like, but I'm just wondering what the MX-5 has in the way of sound deadening (I assume very little) and how feasible it is to convert electric windows to manual for example. The car I am looking at has a shagged soft top so that will be removed, as it comes with a hard top. Also have read about removing exhaust heat shields both from the manifold and the muffler heat shield.

What/where else?

WideOpenThrottle · Post by **WideOpenThrottle** » Tue Feb 08, 2011 1:28 pm

Hi MR Shine-i have removed the soft-top & air-con,no power steer pump & hoses,auto to manual window winders[easy],no tow brackets,no air filter housings, no carpet underlay,no front or rear bumper plus several other engine bay & boot plates & brackets, no exhaust or cat no wheels & most importantly no dirt

.
This was to make way for new paint, turbo,intercooler, pod filter, tuned manifold & exhaust,body kit,boot spoiler,15 & 17 inch mags so one day i will weigh it again as i know its original weight!
Still to get a racing seat, bigger brakes & lowered suspension plus engine management.I did have only one fan for a while but now i have it in series with the other for that extra cooling.

Gravelben · Post by **Gravelben** » Tue Feb 08, 2011 6:24 pm

I wouldn't worry too much about it for road driving and a few trackdays, just make sure the brakes are in good condition (fluid and pads) then get out there and have fun. Oh get the alignment sorted too, they're very adjustable and who knows how long since the previous owner had it done. You should be able to search for an older thread on here about good alignment settings, otherwise start a new one for that and we'll give you some hints.

I'm sure there are performance gains to be had from lightening them, but even bog standard they're fantastic fun.

A few ideas for weight reduction:

Standard seats are pretty heavy, swapping them out for buckets will lose a good few kg as well as giving much better lateral support - with standard seats you have to brace with your knees and elbows in fast corners! Momo T-frame seats bolt easily onto the factory rails which is nice.

You could probably lose a bit more weight removing speakers and stereo if you don't want them.

If you convert from power windows to manual then remove the wiring harness that runs from the dash to the window switches, its surprisingly heavy and just plugs in at each end so you don't have to cut anything.

There is a layer of sound deadening stuff under carpet on rear parcel shelf you could ditch if you don't mind the extra road noise. In fact you could remove the parcel shelf altogether.

Mr. Shine · Post by **Mr. Shine** » Tue Feb 08, 2011 7:51 pm

Thanks for the replies guys, confirmed I'm picking it up on Thursday so I can't wait!

Glad to hear the electric window loom is a simple job of unplugging, as I had imagined having to cut it all otherwise. Not a big deal, but much easier to simply unplug! Certainly a driver's side bucket seat is on the cards, and I've found a few different guides to what aftermarket seats actually fit in

I'm probably not going to remove the sound system but I will be replacing what is already in there, so I may remove all the factory wiring anyway just to be tidy, as I'll be likely replacing it with my own.

Once I've got a bit of cash free I'll pick up some wheels and proper tyres. I'm thinking of picking up the bigger brake upgrade too and getting some decent pads - plenty of information on what pads people are using floating around, so that shouldn't be a problem. Definitely will be booking it in for an alignment too! Suspension upgrade won't be for some time yet, so I don't mind forking out for getting it straight now

sprsta · Post by **sprsta** » Tue Feb 08, 2011 9:31 pm

pitty about not wanting to upgrade the suspension yet as i know of a good set of konis that need to be sold

Mr. Shine · Post by **Mr. Shine** » Tue Feb 08, 2011 11:04 pm

sprsta wrote:pitty about not wanting to upgrade the suspension yet as i know of a good set of konis that need to be sold

Shame to hear that because I'd love to, but I've got to get my current car fixed, WOFed and sold first before I can think about actually spending money on modifications. Konis are definitely what I have in mind for shocks though, probably straight after some slightly wider wheels and decent tyres

Euen · Post by **Euen** » Wed Feb 09, 2011 10:03 am

Be careful when you start looking for wheels and tyres that you get the lightest rims you can. The standard rims are really light and any increase in rim weight increases your unsprung weight and can upset the suspension dynamics.

Donovan · Post by **Donovan** » Wed Feb 09, 2011 1:47 pm

If you can bear the cost of the of going to an Aluminum 4 pot caliper, these are a lot lighter than the standard caliper. I can let you know the difference soon, as I am about the replace the mine next weekend with Wilwood 6 pots, and will be weighing the new and old ones.

Have replaced my standard KYB suspension with Tein adjustables, were pretty much the same weight as each other, Teins on the front 100gram more each.

Ditch the seats, JAMEX have got a pair for $210 each, that are 7kg, plus of course the rails from the original seats.

Can vouch for the weight of the tyres, replaced my little 14" 175 with 17" 205's which ended up being 5kg a corner heavier (should have gone 16").

Weight of the car standard was 965kg, but it is the model with windup windows, not aircon, no powersteer. Wouldn't have thought there would have been much weight saving with the manual over the electric windows.

Ditch the soft top, those frames are damn heavy.

Of course for using on a track you will need to put in a roll over bar of some sort, so that is going to add in a bit more weight.

Mr. Shine · Post by **Mr. Shine** » Wed Feb 09, 2011 3:25 pm

Will I need some form of bar even for open days? I'm sure I've read people going without needing one. The main reason I'd like to switch to manual windows is that the driver's side currently isn't working anyway, so I figure I might as well. Once I get my hands on the car I can probably get a much better idea of things though

Donovan · Post by **Donovan** » Wed Feb 09, 2011 8:05 pm

I do my track days via playday (http://www.playdayontrack.co.nz/index.php) and they won't let any open air car out on the track without roll over protection.

If you are doing it via a privately organised event, I would suspect that they wouldn't care whether you had roll bar on or not.

But for the sake of $300-$400 and 20kgs weight, I would rather have the safety of one on the car, than not. Put one of these things on it's roof without one, and you are gone burgers.

Gravelben · Post by **Gravelben** » Wed Feb 09, 2011 9:16 pm

Donovan wrote:I do my track days via playday (http://www.playdayontrack.co.nz/index.php) and they won't let any open air car out on the track without roll over protection...

...But for the sake of $300-$400 and 20kgs weight, I would rather have the safety of one on the car, than not.

Same here, they also tighten up the chassis nicely.

Mr. Shine · Post by **Mr. Shine** » Wed Feb 09, 2011 10:37 pm

Looks like I have to bump a roll bar up on my list, then. After seeing pictures of how they hold up in crashes I knew I'd be getting one, but I think I might look into it sooner! First things first will be to pick up the extra braces on later models though

Weight Reduction

Weight Reduction

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