3000GT weight reduction

kielbasa16

I have a 93 3000GT VR-4 and the thing weighs over 4,000 pounds and is slowing me down. What are some helpful and somewhat simple weight reduction techniques for this car? Thanks.

lancerfixer

People often don't realize how much weight an AWD system can add, in addition to drivetrain friction. Unless you want to get radical and lose stuff like the A/C system, seats, carpeting, etc...you're stuck with a porky car, I'm afraid.

kielbasa16

Way to be creative, how about lightweight rims and wheels, and taking out the seats isnt too radical, anybody else got some ideas?

stever

Leave the spare in the garage.

Steve, Host

Mr_Shiftright

Lessee...well wheels and tires do weigh quite a bit, so you can save some pork switching to lighter ones. Also it's unsprung weight, which is great to get rid of.

I guess you could trade your battery for a smaller gel type unit, that might get you 10-15 lbs (just guessing here)---yep, leave the spare at home (who gets flats anymore anyway?).

I rather doubt anyone is making carbon fibre body panels but you could check into that.

Probably 100 lbs less weight would (so they tell me) give you 10 hp at the flywheel....so shaving weight is expensive and the results won't be dramatic.

I don't recommend a lighter flywheel because on a heavy car a light flywheel can be a real chore to drive on the street.

kielbasa16

Thanks guys,
Also I'm looking into a boost controller which according to 3Si.org should be a great performance upgrade. I was wondering if a 93 with 100k miles can handle that and what mods could be taken for safety.
Thanks again.

Mr_Shiftright

It works like this---IF there are any weaknesses in the engine, regarding ring wear or head gasket or leaky valves, a turbo will find those weaknesses and amplify them. And the more boost you add the more the weakness will show.

So if I were you I'd do a cylinder leakdown test and determine quantitatively what the condition of this engine actually is at the moment. And if you are going to raise boost you will have to thinking about additional cooling of the air/fuel charge and also bigger injectors---or you will run way lean and then KABOOM.

kielbasa16

Thanks alot.

kielbasa16

Ok, I took out my backseats and lost a dissappointing 30-40 pounds. My next step is changing my rims. I have the stock Mitsubishi VR-4 (17'' x 8.5'') chrome rims and they weigh a ton. Does anybody have any suggestions for some lightweight rims (as inexpensive as possible) or at least a good website. I checked out superbuytires.com but for some reason they only have the SL (17" x 7") wheels. Thanks alot, this forum has been a real good help thus far.

Mr_Shiftright

YOu can ask your wheel/tire questions right here...we have a forum for this very thing on another board:

Ask Connor At the Tire Rack

He should be able to give you some answers!

MrShiftright
Co-Host

kielbasa16

The tirerack.com website was very helpful and informative. I like how they provide colors, an example of how it would look on the specified car, the weight and everything, however I only came across one 17 x 8.5 wheel that I really liked, and it was priced at over 300 dollars, so the 4 would come out to over 1,200 dollars. Am I being naive hoping that there is something less expensive out there that would meet what I'm looking for?

kielbasa16

Hey,
Now I'm wondering about an intake system (haha one step at a time). I was told that for a twin turbo a cold air intake system is not necessary and won't make too much of a difference. This same person told me to just go with the RAM intake. Is this true? Any information is always appreciated. Thanks.