TargaTango

After reading a number of excellent Rennlist posts, here are my plans for lightening the car. This to me is so important and gets back to a historical Porsche strength. There is a sad tendency in today's cars of bulking up and trying to compensate with increased power. But this ignores the highly significant degredation to nimbleness in handling and braking. If you have any other suggestions or views, I would love to hear from you. I would particular appreciate guidance form the wight loss gurus like Robert Linton, Poorboy, ViperBob & Flying Finn. The car will be mainly used on the street with occasional track outings. Street use is not relaxed grand touring, but 2 hour or so blasts of full experience driving.

Deletes
-a few pounds off my body weight - strict healthy personal dieting & exercise (I have lost 6 pounds off an already light weight frame by giving up sweets, saturated fats and coffee & increasing exercise – I went on this partly because I had an argument with my wife as to how much sugar she is giving our daughter to which she retorted that I ate chocolate and ice cream – not anymore; a bad cholesterol reading; a desire to get really fit for karting; and because I was sick of not being able to control myself - but I still have a small control problem when it comes to Project Orange!)
-sunroof
-hi-fi
-interior sound deadening & carpet (replace with light weight RS style carpet)
-rear seats and rear seat belts
-headlight water nozzles, pump & reservoir
-underside protective coating a la RS
-passenger airbag
-rear Carrera badge (bound to save at least an ounce!)

Replacements
-RS aluminium hood
-RS hood support
-Carbon fibre doors with RS style door panels (part of weight saving lost by the need to install a roll cage to give side protection and added rigidity)
-Recaro alcantara seats
-RS windshield water reservoir
-light weight battery
-fixed rear spoiler and light weight rear lid to replace extending spoiler system & lid
-Volk Racing TE37 wheels
-RS steering wheel (this has no airbag)
-Porsche crest decal in place of front bonnet metal crest (another ounce saved!)

Temporary
-leaving the tool kit at home

Possible
-light weight flywheel (I am very new to driving manuals so I may leave this for a while)
-electric mirrors (I drove cars in the days when mirrors were manually adjusted and had no problem - I probably will change this. I assume I will then need new mirrors)

Discounted
-deleting rear and front metal bumpers (I understand that their removal exposes the car to significant damage in relatively minor shunts)
-spare tire (I understand that this is part of the safety crumple system)
-airconditioning (I only use it when it rains, despit Hong Kong's warm & humid climate, but then it seems a good safety item - I am still tempted to save those 45lbs though)
-electric windows (since I plan to use a harness, this will be handy)

All the best,

Bill Verburg

If possible the cat should be eliminated, it's an anchoer sitting in the wrong place.

pcar964

That's an awesome plan. I don't even want to ask what the CF doors cost!

Good luck with the build, very exciting project

Flying Finn

+1. That or headers without the heating & racing cats will save you a bundle from the great locations.

jdistefa

Since cost is obviously no object, how about a set of Dymag/Rennworx carbon fiber wheels? Lighter than the Volks....

I would also get a light weight flywheel (think rotational mass as well as absolute weight savings) and yes - think twice about removing the metal bumpers and spare tire.... IMO.

Eat some ice cream

jdistefa

It's a good think you're not driving a British car!

Don Plumley

Great Project - keep us posted!

axl911

Anyone ever completely take out the rear spoiler mechanism and replace it with a mesh?

Like in this pic. Saves weight an allow better airflow into the engine.

chris walrod

Are you adding a cage or other side impact protection? Love to follow this project! Great planning!

TargaTango

Bill & Flying Finn,

Thanks for the suggestion. I take it that without cats the car will be very loud maybe too loud? Hong Kong has strict environmental protection laws (what a joke - it is like making it ilegal to **** in a lake when hundreds of factories are dumping crap into it upstream - we suffer greatly in Hong Kong from the pollution coming from the factories producing the world's consumer items just over the border) so their removal would be a little naghty and would also require cats their reinstatement for the annual registration inspection.

Matt,

I briefly considered these wheels but discounted them as from memory they were only coming in 19 inches and I do not want to go over 18 inches (I am still to be convinced about the benefits of an ever decreasing tire sidewall); that they have not been around for long enough and the price (I estimated that they would be at least double the price for the Volks and unfortuinately money is a consideration and I am being as carefully reckless as possible).

Thanks,

TargaTango

Chris,

Thanks, I am adding a cage for side protection and to give some additional rigidity. And of course I never considered that a cage will look really cool in orange!

All the best,

H20NOO

Not so... I ordered a set of 18" DyMags for my 997S. They should be here next week. 18x8.5 Front and 18x11 Rears. Still expensive though but at 15lbs front and 18lbs rear, they are incredibly light.

Love the weight loss program. What's the collective total of your effort?

MC

TargaTango

I hope you enjoy the wheels. I had no idea as to their durability on the street. Maybe this is not an issue, but I would not want to have the problems that some have had running magnesium wheels on the street and there are questions raised about how carbon fibre will react to a significant pothole impact. A search has just revealed a Jason Andreas post pointing out that they have been successfully using this technology for truck wheels for a few years, so this probably is not an issue.

Even if I went for them, I estimate I would save 4lbs a corner over the Volks. This is very worthwhile especially given all the advantages of lighter wheels, however with shipping to Hong Kong I think that they would cost 3 times the USD2,460 I am paying for the Volks and would prefer to spend the money elsewhere.

On the weight saving I am estimating that I will save around 400lbs. This estimate is based on info from previous Rennlist posts.

Flying Finn

If you keep the stock mufflers it won't be that loud.

I had no cats and supercups but I changed the whole system and now have headers without the heat exchangers and racing cats with no mufflers.
Same weight (maybe little less) and sicne I now have cats (even though they are racing) I assume I'd pass the emission test. It's light and when you don't have no heat exchangers, natural thing is to remove the heater blower from the engine copartment and all the plumbing from engine to where everything goes into the car. Saves more weight from rear again.

How about sound insulation inside the engine compartment? More weight off from the rear and you end up with much better looking engine coimpartment (& little more room to work) and more mechanical, better sound.

3rd brake light, is it required in Hong Kong? If not, you can remove that.

And I'd opt for the carbon fiber hood instead of aluminum, lighter and cheaper.

Bill Verburg

Cat by pass w/ stock mufflers is louder than stock, but not loud enough to cause a problem. Bummer about the inspection requirement, but as long as the bolts are frequntly moved changeing exhaust is pretty easy. I swap my RSR and stock mufflers on occasion just for fun.