Carrera Mike

I just took the car off of jack stands after 6 months. Sure enough, the OEM battery is dead..as in not even a trunk light. So I thought this is the perfect time to get a lighter battery. Reading a recent thread about lightweight battery, the considerations were:

Optima Red =33.4 Lbs
Odyssey PC1200 =38.2 Lbs
Optima Yellow =44 Lbs
Porsche OEM Batt =46 Lbs

I decided to get the Optima Red Top 75/35. We'll see how it takes the 993 challenge of weeks of non drive. I probably should get a battery tender.

Anyways, with that 12.6 lbs of weight savings in the front, I decided to seek few more items I could take out to save more weight. Reading on the 997's not having a spare tire(and off course the air pump), just a can of 'fix-a-flat', I thought I try that.

The spare tire and the air pump weighs 34.6 lbs.

Total of 47.2 lbs off.

I know thats a lot of weight off of the front. I'll report on how the car handles, not that I'm an expert. Any oppinions from the the handling experts out there is appreciated. I ordered the RS splitters thru our GB from MA Shaw and hope that helps pin down the front end in high speeds.

I have already taken off:
rear seats
rear carpets
rear speakers
engine bottom tray
trunk carpet
trunk forward plastic liner

Here's what's left in the trunk.

jbuchsba

There were a few threads about the front wheel being part of the crash protection of the front end......something to think about.

JB

jrgordonsenior

I have always felt that my 964, previous 993, and current 993 handle better with some weight up front. I've even gone so far as to add some soft scuba weights up front.
JRG

David in LA

If you don't mind a loud exhaust, Supercups will shave off an additional 25-35lbs or so from the rear, which would help balance off the weight reduction from removing the spare.

Any idea how much your car weighs now??

Dbltime

I agree with JR. When I gutted my car I added ballast to the front and reduced lap times on tracks with elevation changes especially. I think the single change to drop 80# (if memory serves me) is remove your doors and buy a set of factory steel RS doors. Your stock door is a struggle for one person to lift. The RS doors without the crash bar, electric motors and thick glass are a huge weight savings.

The mufflers and cat is a close second.

kkim

Hey Mike, welcome home!

No advice on lightening up the front end, however, as I have been going through a LOT of alignments lately, trying to get the car set up properly, one trick I've noticed that helps the front end is to get an alignment (set camber) when the tank is empty instead of full as recommended by Porsche. I noticed as the front gets lighter due to the gas being used, the handling suffered due to the camber being lessened. Last time I had the front end worked on, I did it with the tank almost empty. Sure enough, when the tank is full the car feels very secure and managable due to the increase in camber. As the tank load gets lighter, handling becomes more "nervous". After I fill up the tank, things get back to the settled feeling. Just thougt I'd pass that along in case you notice your car feeling different after you take out all that weight.

Have fun, and again, welcome back!!

Bruce SEA 993

I agree that you need the spare...also, the battery will drain if the car sits for more than 2 or 3 weeks. Most use a trickle charger of some sort.

Kelly, is your drive to work a repeatable course to check the changes you have made, or what? It reminds me of the Acura commercial where the guy buys the house without looking inside 'cause it has a great road leading up to it. I'd buy it too!

kkim

Bruce,

The only way I have of "checking" the changes is by the butt dyno and feel, so take whatever I suggest for what it's worth.

I know the commercial you speak of... my GF sees it and looks at me funny, too. Truth be known, that road to work was one of the incentives for me to take the job at the end of that road. That being said, after 27 years of driving the same road to work, I can feel changes that are done to my car and can evaluate it based on how the car behaves on my trip to work. You notice the biggest change, of course, after it is first done and the previous settings are still fresh in your mind. But, the best way to see if a mod has made a difference, IMHO, is to install it, get used to it and then remove it. After you remove it, you'll really see how much of a difference that part has made.

My trying the alignment w/ the tank empty came after searching threads on alignment settings and reading comments made about how people could feel the difference with the tank full/empty. Most complained about how light and bouncy the front end felt w/ the tank empty. I too noticed that on mine and tried a number of alignmnet settings before I finally tried the tank empty alignment. Seems to work for me and love the way the car is handling now. Just my $.02.

Carrera Mike

Thanks for all the good info. Since I haven't driven it for 6 months, I have to familiarize myself back to it's handling. I'm gonna drive it like that for a while and then put back the spare tire and air pump(35lbs) back in the trunk(bonnet). I'm sure you guys are right in having more disadvantage with a lighter front. I read that in the old 911s, they counter the tail spin with some ballast weights up front.

nman413

Mike, could you weigh just the spare tire and tell me how much that weighs? Thanks.

Carrera Mike

Jauder, Just the spare tire alone, it's 29.4 lbs.