[tdi.phantom]

I'm looking to find out what I can do to help my bug "lose some weight". Any ideas on things here and there? Thanks

 

[NYBugman]

Here is everything that comes to mind. Some are more practical than others:

remove carpet
remove headliner
remove rear seats
remove passenger seat
replace your seat with a lightweight racing seat
remove engine cover
remove insulation under your hood
replace hood with carbon fiber hood
lightweight wheels
replace windows with plexiglass/lexan
remove passenger side mirror
drilled door handles
remove badges/emblems
remove interior trim
lightweight battery (braille, odyssey, deka)

hell, take anything that isn't welded onto the chassis out of the car!

Practically, ditch your rear seats and get light wheels and a carbon fiber hood and a lightweight battery. There's not much else you can do on a street car

 

[tdi.phantom]

lol thanks

 

[73standard]

Gut the car. Just leave a drivers seat and a roll cage. Dump the spare tire.
Of course you could take the doors off, the hood, rear hatch and all the glass.


So how much weight are looking to drop?

 

[tdi.phantom]

looking to lose about 150-200lbs without doing anything ridiculas. It's still being drivin daily

 

[bugasm99]

if you want to lose weight but still keep the car "looking practical". Pull up all the carpet and scrape/ heat off all the sound deadening material. You can then put the carpet back down on top of this.

Remove the back seat and buy some matching grey interior carpet from an auto parts store. cut to the shape of the rear seat pan to create a uniform look.

I would say pull out the AC system and just leave the compressor housing in place as your belt runs around the AC pulley. This may not be practical in NC though.

Light weight wheels will make a noticeable difference in the feel of the car driving as there is less unsprung weight for the motor to pull along.

remove spare and tool kit, but your risking it.

If you do get a light weight battery, also get a relocation kit and mount the battery in your trunk. This will free up some of the weight from in front of the front axles and create a slightly more balanced car.

You can remove alot of the plastic pieces and random items, but in all you will probably only get about 10 lbs out of that and will just make the car look impractical.

 

[diabolique]

Take out the full sized and damn heavy spare tire from the trunk!

 

[tdi.phantom]

thanks bugasm99. I've heard about pulling away carpet and removing all that stuff you were saying. Really apprechiated. Thanks Guys

 

[Jian]

why does your car need to go on a diet?

 

[NYBugman]

thanks bugasm99. I've heard about pulling away carpet and removing all that stuff you were saying.

Yeah, sound insulation is HEAVY. Peel it all up and you'll get rid of lots of weight, well into the double digits. Don't forget about inside your doors and 1/4 panels also.

 

[NYBugman]

why does your car need to go on a diet?

He drives a TDI. TDI drivers love to maximize their MPG. Less weight to drag around = better MPG

 

[Jian]

okay, seems extreme, but I like the enthusiasm.

how about
- shaved head
- drive around in boxers only
- go on a diet.
- light weight oil?

Seriously, how much mpg could you pick up? 100 lbs = .1 mpg ??

good luck,

 

[73standard]

More than you think.

 

[NYBugman]

okay, seems extreme, but I like the enthusiasm.

Seriously, how much mpg could you pick up? 100 lbs = .1 mpg ??

quite a bit, actually. Think of 200lbs as a passenger, or a full trunk of stuff. I know that when I have another person in my car of if I'm transporting stuff, I feel a loss of power and I know my mileage goes down by a couple MPG.

And what Jian said in jest is actually very important; install a lightweight driver. If you lose weight then you make the car lighter.

 

[tdi.phantom]

lol i'm only 18, i weigh 150 more or less. but thanks for all the info. i'll probably start shaving away the sound stuff this weekend. and my cars going on a diet so she can sprint faster

 

[Demo45]

I have 01 1.8t was around 3000 pound i brought it down to around 2240 give or take a few the scale i used went by 20s i tuck passenger seat out replacement of driver seat with a 12 pound uncomfortable racing seat removed some of back seat removed everything in the trunk including spare tire removed engine cover removed ac removed arm rest system removed plastic undercarriage replaced with spray on undercarriage replaced rims with lighter rims replaced steering system with lighter parts replaced back window with lighter replaced batter for lighter battery replaced front sides and rear bumpers with carbon replaced hood with carbon replaced cd player with AUX cord hook up removed both heavy exhaust mufflers for aluminize straight pipes removed a few more miner things i can notice way faster 0-60 times almost by 1.4 seconds on a bone stock engine 150 hp im getting around 40ishmpg at 55 mph 1.8k rpm range