[tuRBy]

Ive searched for a thread on weight reduction for the skyline, but not really found what im looking for.id like to shed 100kg off the r32, 200kg if possible, i have a target weight of the car to be 1250-1350kg. As of course weight reduction improves braking/handling/fuel consumption/speed and puts less stress on certain parts of the car.

im going to take it to a weigh plate at a builders yard to find out the actual weight of the car with me in it as a starting point. The car will stay comfortable inside which includes keeping the standard seats and roof lining/carpet and dash as is. I may carefully remove the rear seats if it doesnt increase noise too much.

Would be usefull to have a detailed thread on how to reduce weight for the r32gtr [as well as seperate threads on the R33 & R34 as all weights will vary]. Including exactly how many KG's saved, for what cost removing each item and replacing. This is also to find out which parts are the best value for money,
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weight reducing items:-

Carbon doors £600 - 5.5Kg each / xxKg less than standard
Carbon Bonnet £600 - ?Kg / xxKg less than standard
Carbon Boot lid £400 - ?Kg / xxKg less standard
Carbon spoiler £? - Kg[various]/ standard spoiler weight xkg?
Carbon Mirrors £ - ?Kg / xxkg less than both standard mirrors.
Lightweight Battery - Kg / xxKg less than standard
cusco perspex windows £ - saving xKg over standard (all except windscreen)
Lightweight Front headlights- saving xxkg (legal?,Dip+Vent lights, trade 4sale )
remove spare wheel saving xxkg
Remove rear seats - saving xxKg
standard wheels weigh xxkg each?
standard brakes, front xxkg each, rear xxkg each

please add more items i have missed........
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Can anyone continue the boxed list and fill in the cost, item make and XXkg gaps with as accurate details as possible. not guesstimates!

 

[Cord]

Fit Hicas lock bar, and then remove all the associated piping etc, handles better and a fair bit of weight removed.

 

[MADsteve]

remove rear windscreen wiper/mechanism (if you have one)

Titanium exhaust

Carbon propshaft

Carbon doors

remove stereo and speakers.

carbon steering wheel:chuckle:

I'd go for some plastic DTM-style wing mirrors, as carbon OE style aren't that much of a weight saving, and neither is a carbon bonnet, come to think of it.

 

[GarethK]

The rear seats weigh next to nothing, if you want to keep them it'll make no difference. Removing the air con and associated bits will save a few kgs and give you a bit more room. As Steve said there's not much in most aftermarket carbon mirrors or bonnets as far as weight saving goes. Most of the time carbon is used for the look - i've never seena carbon bonnet which is much thinner / lighter than an FRP one by taking advantage of the extra strength.
A lot of aftermarket wheels will also weight more than std!
I'd be interested to see what you get out of replacing the glass, it made a big difference in an E36 M3 we helped prepare for the Kumho series but i can't remember the exact figure.

 

[EvolutionVI]

Id leave it as it is,because what you get out in weight,will cost you comfort(carbondoors without a cage??) and brings next to nothing,as long as its cheap,and if you want to spend $$$$$$$$$$$$ on weightsaving,then you spend it on the wrong side of the car.Buy a better brake and do some powermods first.

 

[bazgtr]

Keep your money on carbon products and spend it on some bigger tubbies.

If you really want to lose weight then ask keith cowie, There's nothing in his drag car.

 

[knight]

The R32 GTR bonnet is a nice light aluminium one, so getting a c/f one will not make that much difference

 

[davewilkins]

I have my original back spoiler in the garage. Do you want me to weight it?
No idea how much my carbon N1 spoiler weighs but it was really light:clap:

 

[fabianGTR34]

if you want to lose a lot of weight on a car, you will have to remove / replace a lot of things, since the weight reduction per part is not so much, nissan allready tried to reduce the weight a bit by the alluminum bonnet, and such things.
So for example oly removing the aircon wouldn't help much. But if you remove spare wheel, carpet, sound insulation, aircon, lighter seats, etc you can save a descent amount of weight. It's about the packedge..

 

[ChristianR]

why don't you just go on a diet instead??

 

[vase]

The R32 GTR bonnet is a nice light aluminium one, so getting a c/f one will not make that much difference

A real cf bonnet would weigh at least 50% less than the aluminium one.

Standard R32 GTR boot lid weighs 9.4kg without the rear wing and the locking mechanism. My cf one is under 3kg. However, it is a true cf item not a show piece.

 

[Jim27]

Wheels. Reduce the unsprung weight of the car and you'll see a massively improved drive & performance. Fit the lightest 16" alloys you can possibly afford (magnesium are best but don't last too long as they're very brittle), lightweight brakes and suspension components. After that I'd say carbon propshaft as a priority.

You should REALLY notice some pleasant improvements in acceleration and handling with those sorted

 

[tuRBy]

I have my original back spoiler in the garage. Do you want me to weight it?
No idea how much my carbon N1 spoiler weighs but it was really light:clap:

dave if you can weight it would be much appreciated :bowdown1:

 

[tuRBy]

thanks to all who posted above so far, jim your advice is sound as i know unsprung weight is crucial, so will be looking into getting wheels and brakes next, think the cheapest carbon propshaft ive seen is £1600 +del from japan, also a lightweight flywheel might help acceleration a bit.....

edit:

was looking at an old 'best motoring 2wd v 4wd' tuning show, and saw the combined total of 102kg weight saved for the amuse s2000. the biggest drops came from:

titanium exhaust -45lbs
carbon bonnet -11lbs
carbon boot lid - 12lbs
seats -38lbs
wheels+tyres - 39lbs
piping deletion -10lbs
remove spare tyres + mats -44lbs
lighter battery - 9lbs

102kg saved while keeping aircon

 

[tuRBy]

found out the base weight today as a starting point, car itself was 1510kg weighed on a builders yard weighplate so it should be quite accurate. 1/4tank of fuel.

next step is probably going to be some lightweight doors with perspex windows, and perspex rear window/quater windows with lightweight bootlid. also remove spare wheel and boot carpet. rear spoiler will probably just be the nismo lip, but may get a low level carbon wing if i need the downforce,

will then go back and weigh it with 1/4 tank of fuel, and post the results....

 

[metropolis]

I don't know about the R32 doors but a complete r33 door with all the kit in weighs well over 30kg.

Going from a medium twin turbo setup to a single with a tublar manifold is a big weight saving.

 

[lightspeed]

Later type starter motors are almost a kilo lighter than the ones fitted to early 32's.

 

[daytona]

tuRBy, when you weighed your car at the weighbridge i am assuming that included all fluids + the 1/4 tank of fuel you mention but is this with or without driver if with............and it's not to personal a question:chuckle: what do you weigh? just to get a true baseline figure of a fully laden R32, also what year is your car? the very early R32's did'nt have side impact beams in the doors, over the lifetime of the car if i remember rightly the R32 gained approx over 30KG's.

 

[tuRBy]

1590kg with me, do you know what date the 32 gained weight? would be very useful to know!

weighed 1/4 tank, full running fluids, all seats, spare wheel


next weight in late jan, keep you posted

 

[daytona]

I beleive the lighter GTR'S were from 1989 through to earlyish '91, i had a look at some early roadtests where on average 1430-1450KG's seem's to be regually quoted in and around the date above, whereas 1500KG's starts being mentioned from approx '91/'92 onwards. As i said in my earlier post the only difference i am aware of were a lack of side impact beams, i'm also fairly sure that some car's came out of the factory without ABS. tuRBy keep us posted on the progress/stages of the weight loss program