max weight reduction while stayng street legal
- Thread starter Ms3geo
- Start date
In Maryland I just need windows and lights otherwise I can gut whatever I want
I can tell you my 07 MZ3 is 3180 lbs 1/2 tank of gas, me (195), stock interior, stock front crashbar, fmic, stock wheels 225/40x18 tires, stock interior, no cats downpipe, tube exhaust manifold and stock exhaust, full carbon fiber hood air ductwork deleted (huge difference), carbon fiber rear hatch (stock window) no rear crash bar and fiberglass rear bumper/lower fender.
thx for the reply, i am going to start to strip out my gen1 when i get around to it and lets see how much weight i can remove, i was debating to keep it a daily or a weekend car but screw it
damn thats pretty light for a car with full interior
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I got my Mazdaspeed6 down to 3,150 lbs; sub 2,900 lbs in a Mazdaspeed3 should be easily doable without going completely Code Monkey.
aceleration according to newtons 2nd law equals force divided by mass, if we reduce the weight by lets say 10% it will accelirate 11 % faster from 0 to top speed, now this is a very oversimplified example and there are a lot more that changes when you reduce the weight of a car like the friction between the road and tyres reduces, car lifts up so there is more aerodynamic drag whitch reduces aceleration etc.
I feel like the old drag racing line was 100 lb = 0.1 sec in the 1/4
Interesting. I can feel my Speed6 slow down with every additional person that gets in it. When 4 people are in there it feels fairly draggy (relatively). I would imagine that weight slows it down more than 0.5 seconds 
So I was just curious what kind of improvement I could feel based on weight reduction, and now I’m starting to think about what non-invasive things I can take out to save weight…
So I was just curious what kind of improvement I could feel based on weight reduction, and now I’m starting to think about what non-invasive things I can take out to save weight…
If you're keeping it as a street car keep in mind the fact that weight does reduce damage in an impact. If you truly wanted weight reduction you'd gut the doors, install plexiglass windows, weld in door reinforcement, strip sound deadening from under the carpet, strip the wire harness of unused wire for things like radio, HVAC etc.
It's going to be incredibly noisy without interior panels and other misc things you remove. You'll hear rattles, rocks/debris hitting the undercarriage, and tire noise constantly.
Things like carbon fiber doors, hatch, hood, panels can make a big difference and still maintain rigidity.
It's going to be incredibly noisy without interior panels and other misc things you remove. You'll hear rattles, rocks/debris hitting the undercarriage, and tire noise constantly.
Things like carbon fiber doors, hatch, hood, panels can make a big difference and still maintain rigidity.