JPP928

I'm trying to reduce the weight on my 928 track day project car and was wondering what weight saving parts are available to those of us in the UK. Ideally, I'd like to replace the doors and tailgate along with the glass as I think this should save something in the order of 40-50Kg's. Does anyone know of a UK supplier or am I in for a trip stateside?

BIG 928

i work for club autosport in the uk. we manufacture and supply many uk firms and also race teams in the pcgb series.

i know we do early panels then s4/gt gts stuff ie front wings, tailgate, front and rear bumpers, sills gts rear quarters, strosek front bumper,strosek sills, strosek tailgate. strosek rear spoilers and mirrors.
polycarb window kits. we have just had a enquiry about doors so might be making them soon. the ally doors are still quite heavy, even when you strip everything out of them. i race a old gts so might have some doors myself if i get two minutes.

message me for our phone number to discuss prices etc

regards mark

The Fixer

Front fender, doors and hood are so light when compared to 911 anvils and can made even lighter. Personally I cannot see the cost to benefit there.
Now the 'tailgate' or hatch is heavy.

I plan to drill mine and replace the heavy glass with lexan. But a FB unit would be very nice if the quality was good. I have had bad luck with IROC bumper valences bought for my Carrera, bad, bad fitment.

Stock seats and exhaust a big one where weight can be saved.

This Is the Porsche hobby to me. I find lightening the car almost addictive.

JPP928

Thanks for the info guys (and Mark, will contact you later in the week). I've already binned virtually all of the interior, all sound deadening gone (boy was that a thankless task), sunroof metalwork gone (just got to weld the single sunroof skin back into the roof), Cobra Immola Pro seats ready to go in (massive weight saving compared to the original Porsche seats), air con gone, air pump's off at the moment although I'm unsure what effect leaving this weighty lump of metal off will have on the running of the car. I'm thinking about taking a mould for the dashboard so that I can make a fibreglass unit but that may have to wait untill after summer.

I'm not sure how much of a weight saving can be made by changing to fibreglass front/rear bumpers. Can anyone advise? Any other suggestions?

I have a simple philosophy - the power to weight ratio is everything!

RKD in OKC

Had some friends lighten up a 944 Turbo, and tub out the wheel wells to put some really wide tires on. Ended up with such wide tires and so light the tires would not heat up enough to get sticky.

Cortina

Hmm ........
start the thought process again. This time the rules are : a) start with nothing (bare shell ... and I mean BARE shell) , no brackets , no underseal , no nothing !
b) anything that goes back on either must have a purpose (a sensible purpose) .... so for example your idea of a dashboard ?? .. what purpose does a dashboard have ? (ans ... none , so it does not go in !) ... or it must bear stress.
c) anything you are putting in should be as light as possible to do the job intended.
Do this , and you'll build a light car.
Bumpers are already plastic , so changing to GRP is sort of pointless (P for plastic) ... but you don't need the 4 shock absorbers behind them , you don't need the big aluminium brackets , etc etc ... so lots of weight to be saved there , you just need to find replacement front indicators and side lights , and if you want to be legal , a method of attaching rear fog light.

have fun !

PS lack of airpump will have no affect (? providing system is "plugged")

Tom. M

The hatch without the glass isn't heavy at all....hardly any weight savings with a fiberglass one..

Replace your glass with lexan..and you'll be good to go.. just make sure you swap out the hatch shock for hood shocks..because the first time you open up the hatch with lexan..it'll take you out...

Mike Simard

I find the rear hatch to be very heavy even with Lexan.

A CF one would be nice. I think there's someone in Germany that has made one, maybe he'll chime in.

77tony

Hatch glass weight 25lbs. T

jheis

You could try the Colin Chapman school of design:

Build a strong tube frame and then remove one tube at a time until the frame collapses under its own weight - then put one tube back in....

BC

That is some good low hanging fruit, as is the aluminum bumper structures, the collapsible bumper shocks, and the ancillary wiring.

IcemanG17

okay a simple "gut it to the bone" on a 16V 928 can be around 2600lbs with cage etc....mine weighs 2825lbs with just under 1/4 tank and my 200lb self inside.... The front-rear inner bumper assemblies are quite heavy....same with ALL the glass...I have all lexan except the windshield

The early 928's are the lightest....so starting there ends up with the lightest car...the wiring harness of a later car is 150lbs!!!! You really need to start with a clean chassis-cage and only install FRESH wiring as needed......this is how mine was built in 2008.....all I did was remove bumpers-battery box...however If I was doing it again I would leave the battery box in stock location since that provides better weight distribution...I lost about 15lbs removing the box with a small sheet of aluminum but it cost 1% more weight on the nose...

I do think a real CF hatch assembly will save weight...but sounds VERY pricey....remove everything before spending big $$ on custom stuff

As for tires....simple fender flaring will provide PLENTY of space for tires.....305 wide all around is possible, but too much for all but the most powerful 928's ever.....I run 275 all around and find my rear tires heat up perfect....my fronts are near 40F cooler, just at the minimum to work properly

RKD in OKC

They were trying to run 315s or wider on a car under 2300lbs and nothing but stock aero.

The Fixer

This should inspire you
Yellow 1984S against the modern Porsche world

Sounds wonderful in there.

My battery box contribution; You can remove the batter box lid as i did, drill out the box. Small battery obviously too
There is so much drilling you can do if you have time. I plan to do this even to the lightweight hood and to the hood hinges. remove struts in their place simple aluminum stands. Look at old RSR articles..This was done by Porsche a lot over the years as most know.
There is just so much that can be done, depends on how dedicated a person is.
But nice thing is you can continue to lighten your car as you race it.

Best
Matt

archer

why the passenger ?