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well, i'm not proud to say that I might have a little heavier weight to motivate.
power to weight ratio I would win if heavier lbs to hp is better......not
I am enjoying this thread ... at elp_jc I hear you on the driver weight ... I don't know how tall you are but I am barely 5' 9" and haven't seen 160# since high school ... decades ago
Mainly out of curiosity, I had my Spyder weighed yesterday at a local scale that is DMV and military certified, as well as being licensed by the California Dept. of Agriculture and Weights and Measures.
Prior to doing so, I had estimated my car's weight to be roughly 2,999 lbs. given how it is configured with A/C, radio, LWBs, steel brakes and the larger fuel tank. I arrived at this figure by taking Porsche's 2,899 lb. stated curb weight for the Spyder, which we know is based on the lightest configuration possible (i.e., PCCBs, LWBs, small gas tank, radio delete, A/C delete, etc.), and then adding 100 lbs. for the following options on my car:
Radio = ~ 9 lbs. Bose = ? lbs. A/C = ~ 20 lbs. Fire extinguisher = ? lbs. Large fuel tank = ~ 20 lbs. Steel brakes = ~ 40 lbs.
My estimate of 2,999 lbs. was high as the car weighed in at2,960 lbs.
At the time it was weighed, the car had minimum fuel with the gas gauge showing less than half a bar and a remaining range of 19 miles.
Assuming the gauge is accurate, there was only a gallon or so of gas in the tank. We know that gas weighs in the neighborhood of 6.2 lbs/gallon and my car has the 16.9 gallon tank so if the car had been weighed with a full tank that would have added roughly 100 lbs.
While I knew prior to weighing it that the car, based on how it is equipped, didn't weigh 2,899 lbs., I feared it might weigh much, much more if Porsche significantly understated the Spyder's weight as had been suggested. Being an admitted light weight junky, I have to admit that it was psychologically significant to me to have the car come in under 3,000 lbs.
For anyone in Orange County interested in weighing their car on a certified public scale, this place I used in Anaheim charges $15 and you're in and out in 5 minutes: http://www.alexmoving.net/commercial...tified-scales/
And for anyone at home who perhaps wants to compare their Spyder to mine for purposes of estimating the weight of their own car, here's the full spec of my car:
085 64-litre fuel tank
087 Spyder Classic Interior Package
24 Spyder Classic Interior Package
446 Wheel center caps with colored Porsche Crest
509 Fire Extinguisher
551 Net-type wind deflector
572 Manual Air Conditioning
581 Storage net in passenger footwell
583 Smoking package
630 Light Design Package
680 BOSE Surround Sound System
696 CDR audio system
CPE Leather key pouch
EFA Pedals and footrest in Aluminum
P11 Full bucket seats
U2 GT Silver Metallic
XLG Storage Compartment Lid in Alcantara with ‘PORSCHE’ Logo
XLS Sport Tailpipes
XXR Tinted Tailights with Clear Center Element
XYB Fuel Cap with Aluminum Look Finish
the Spyder weight does not seem to be that much lighter than boxster S
You're right, it's not. The 981 Boxster S was just 11 lbs heavier. But don't forget the Spyder came with a bigger engine, bigger brakes, and bigger (standard) wheels. For the Spyder to still come in lighter than the S is quite an achievement IMO and it was only able to do so because the Spyder's roof is 24 lbs. lighter than the roof on the S. There is 11 lbs. less sound deadening material in the Spyder and the lack of PASM in the Spyder saves another 11 lbs. over the S. These and other weight savings measures kept the Spyder free from the kind of bloat that normally accompanies more powerful cars with bigger powerplants.
I'm shocked myself, using a meal replacement my doctor suggested but the truth is better eating habits and portion control have really worked for me. Thanks for the props truly, I'm on a mission now.
Thanks for checking, Nick. Good to know it comes under 3000 lbs (a psychological benchmark), albeit with vapor in the tank.
It would be very difficult to cut weight given the regs and certifications. You could reach for traditional low-hanging fruits such as top, seats and stuff. Beyond those, the underlying platform is "not" light weight! Porsche can not pull off what Lotus can, because Porsche always shoots for a livable, wholesome package that combines luxury, performance and handling. The target group expects such a package (well, except for a fringe group loonies). It would be a great accomplishment if they can maintain around 3000 lbs-mark through succeeding iterations. I would be happy with that, though I am part of the aforementioned loonies!
The difference alone is maybe 2 lbs max of extra plastic. The 20 lbs difference would be with both tanks full (when filled more than the smaller tank's capacity). And yes, you should have filled up the tank. You'll probably drive the car with that amount of fuel probably less than 0.01% of the time you own it.
The Spyder has a 66 lb. weight advantage over the 2,965 lb. 981 Boxster GTS.
And recall that the Spyder is 56 lbs. lighter than the GT4. Normally convertibles suffer a weight penalty over their hard-top cousins due to the reinforcement that must be added to maintain structural rigidity in light of the missing roof, but not in this case.
Originally Posted by the_rider
Thanks for checking, Nick. Good to know it comes under 3000 lbs (a psychological benchmark), albeit with vapor in the tank.
Even with 5 - 6 more gallons in the tank it still would have weighed in sub-3,000 lbs.
Originally Posted by elp_jc
The difference alone is maybe 2 lbs max of extra plastic. The 20 lbs difference would be with both tanks full (when filled more than the smaller tank's capacity).
......... Normally convertibles suffer a weight penalty over their hard-top cousins due to the reinforcement that must be added to maintain structural rigidity in light of the missing roof, but not in this case.
Likely because, Boxster is bespoke open top. The tin top was added later. So, it didn't need any additional reinforcement. Ferrari is another marque that designs their V8 models open top from ground up and then close the top. I thought Porsche once claimed 991 was designed Cab-first. Probably not accurate as they did add reinforcement, I believe; and, S-PASM couldn't be spec'd because of open-top.
07-11-2017, 08:38 AM
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