i wanted to know that how much weight people are actually carrying in their cars and how does it effect their gas mileage and performance without them knowing....my max's weight is 3360 lbs ( 3540lbs me sitting in ) and about reducing the weight, please share your opinions how can we reduce weight of the 3rd gens to get better gas mileage and performance without sacrificing essential ''STUFF'' in the car

and yeah i have big box of two 12 woofers in trunk which a single person cant carry them alone, that's how heavy it is and i took that out of the car and my gas mileage was dramatically increased...but now i cant live without them but i gotta think of something to reduce weight somewhere else in the car to overcome their weight....

EDIT: oh and don't forget to post ur 3rd gen's current weight ( if u can )

 

1340kg (2954lbs)
Carry close to nothing in the car.
Right now, lots of excersize and less **** food is the weight reduction Im working on.

Without removing "the essential stuff", you can only really experiment with aftermarket parts I guess, see if they bring down the weight.
Your subs sound heavy....I'm not exactly strong, yet I can move double subs in their housing, by myself easily (I used to work in a car sound store). Get rid of them and find lighter subs with the same performance....or just buy speakers with really good bass and treble tollerance. Either that, or go drifter style...single racing seat, tacho+speedo, steering wheel, hand-brake and a shifter.

 

About 2000lbs..

 

hmm i wonder why my 3rd gen is more than 300 pounds heavier than urs...
no engine and tranny

 

fixed...

 

1340 is the registered kerb weight, that was taken...early-mid 2004, when it was re-registered (interstate transfer). One of the previous registration documents from years ago says its 1200 (something)....weird. I always thought they weighed in about 1.2 tonne tops...weird that yours weighs soo much.

Anything left in your ride these days Greeny?

 

Just a FYI: Stock 3rd gens with nothing removed for weight reduction weigh around 3300lbs.

 

Your a guru at this Maxima stuff, but I swear it's less than that dude....you sure?

Do the VE's weigh much more than the VG's? what about whatever else comes standard / optional on the SE models? ABS, SRS, US models even have that 'lazy-man's-seatbelt' thing, electronics like that add a little bit of weight.

 

edmunds.com shows a 92 weighing in at 3129
93 it jumps up to 3165
A canadian max should weigh less (no automatic seatbelts, but add in DRLs)

 

DRLs are simply a relay under the dash.

My car was 34xxlb back in the day, but I had a pretty big stereo in it and lots of sound damping material, as well as large wheels and brakes and etc etc etc.

One of the ways to reduce weight is to dump that huge sub box and install some free-air subs. They're not quite as loud as sealed/ported/bandpass subs, but they play lower and weigh MUCH less.
The pair of 12" free-airs in my car are plenty loud for me (about 130dB), and weigh about 35lb compared to the 160lb of my old set of 10" subs and sealed enclosure.

Plus my subs and all 5 amps fit in the same space as the old sub box!

 

I've ran my car across the certified scales at the recyclers, with me in the car it weighed out @ 3438lbs (i weigh 170lbs).......


You have account for a gasoline/engine oil/ weight...+ a few lbs of crap in the trunk. fluids weigh in @ 8lbs per gallon. I had nearly a full tank of fuel @ time of weigh in..( approx 120 lbs)

 

same here, but mine was on a set of corner scales at a road race track...

roughly 1150lb on each front wheel. about 675 on each rear wheel, with me in the car (200lb)

 

ya these cars are heavy. Whats the lightest anyone has ever seen, or even their own car got?

Im curious what the VE could do if the car weighed as little as them damn civics.

 

I'll run ya next year with the M5...


ibgreenycrashestryingtopassmatt

 

Greeny... You bring a ringer, so will I.

I'll borrow my buddy Kuah's car..
http://splparts.com/main4/splash/news/news.htm#SPL

Edit.. Aww hell.. I'll just bring my S14. That'll be enough to take you....

 

Aaron92SE had his very light, maybe in the 2500 lb range? Do a search for it...He has had the fastest VE in a lot of different configurations.

Personally, I had mine at 2950-3000 on a truck scale (50 lb increments) with only the driver seat and about 1/3 tank of gas. No one in the car. No jack or spare and I had my Centerline wheels (forged, 14 lbs each) on there back then.

 

not the 240!!

 

isnt there anyone who makes carbon fiber hood, front fenders, bumpers (both front and rear), trunk lid for 3rd gen? that will help alot i guess...( too much? )

how much those things will weigh together anyways?

 

no one currently makes them. you may be able to get a CF hood as it has been made before.
if it were all available, then yes you would have some serious weight savings available.

 

agreed. I thought CF was a crock, until I worked on my sister in law's Prelude. I could lift that thing and position it on the car by myself.

but finding a CF hood is going to be near impossible. you may want to go ahead and find a local shop or craftsman that would mold you some parts, mainly hood, trunk lid (consider a custom wing/shaved), and maybe fenders.
since you would be at it, CF door pannels, and dash. (of course, all this would probably cost more than your car, my car, and brian's current and last cars, combined...)

unless you want it kept stock looking, gut it.

 

hwww, well you can stiffen the chassis with 4130 steel tubing and start cutting as much sheet metal out of the car as possible. you can fiber glass the holes to keep water out. but the place to loose weight is the nose, maybe getting some suspension parts replaced with aluminum parts, CF hood and fenders. removing the seats and replacing them with something lighter. all brackets under the dash replaced with fiberglass and aluminum. lots to sawz all!

by the time you finish i think getting a 240z would be more worth while, and drop in a the skyline engine.

 

don't even bother with a skyline engine in a Z. more cost and complication. Just turbo the stock engine and megasquirt it. t3/t4 in it is good for 350ish hp in a 2500lb car. Fast as sheit.

 

good point. i was thinking, "hey looky what i got!" affect.

 

They're neat and can support a TON of power... But you can do the same power with much less money with a stock engine. build the stock engine and you can get a ton of power out of it...

BTW.. drool on this car. Built RB26. About 650hp at the wheel when running right.
He was putting down mid-400s on pump gas at the track last month. (He couldn't get away from my bolt-ons-only S14.. )

 

don't replace brakcets, just swiss cheese them. that way you keep the strength in most cases and lose weight

 

i love that car. S14s are great cars no doubt about that. ive seen one, and im sure most people have on youtube the 240 with the LS1 shoved in it. great tire smoker.

 

yeah, but who cares about smoking tires. Tires are meant to make the car stick to the ground, not slide. So if your tires are smoking, you're doing something seriously wrong.

 

3242 lbs at emmissions test December 2005 which was the last emmissions test I got

 

this is the best way to mod a car! Topgear style

youtube

 

Lots of money in that car, 2nd rb26 I think. I wants.

 

john, you know there are no scales at the test centers. that is a weight that nissan claimed for the car.

 

I don't know if i could give you any new ideas about reducing weight... aluminum wheels seemed to increase my gas millage.

 

I had been thinking...has anyone ever tried to remove some excess metal from our hood and trunk lid bracing?

I don't have any pictures...but in theory you could use a hole saw and cut out sections of that bracing on the underside of the hood/trunk...

I'm not sure how much you could get out...but I'm sure some is better than none...

Anyone ever tried this?

 

Remove your all seats and install one light weight driver's racing seat, all the carpet, remove wires intended for options you don't have, lose your a/c system, fiberglass or carbon fiber fenders, hood, trunk, remove all glass and install lexan...all interior door trim replace with aluminum or sheet plastic...you'll basically have a freakin uncomfortable street car but it will be light as hell.

 

+1 on swapping all the glass...get someone around the joint to cut you some, odds are it will be lighter (0.5x or less) than the stock glass weight. I replaced my back quater panel after my ride was broken into, I actually asked the guy at the parts counter "....there is GLASS inside this bubble wrap yeah?...I need GLASS....this weighs like 75 grams???". Same goes for alot of interior materials and engine parts (a VQ engine swap would save you like 85'000lbs).

 

correct, lower rotational mass = easier to start rolling hence better MPG.

 

you forgot removing the sounnd deadening under the carpet that is glued to the floor. Matt did it, and the sound deadening ended up being 50 pounds or so

 

I think it was closer to 50lbs brian..but still, quite a bit..

 

corrected.

 

It was about 50lb, IIRC..

But don't waste your time. just buy a lighter, faster car. You people are trying to polish a 20 year old turd.