[Focus_Pocus]

Thought it would be a good idea to centralize ideas about how to reduce the weight of the RS. What have you done, or are thinking about doing to shave weight?

 

[Focus_Pocus]

I've seen discussion on rear seat removal, installing different wheels, etc, to reduce the weight of the RS. What are your ideas and experiences you've used with the RS or other automobiles?

 

[Focus_Pocus]

Here's a useful thread for the ST, thanks to RocketRS for this:

The Omniphil Chronicles - Shedding Weight

 

[mofoRS]

Titanium ehxaust. Carbon fiber pannels including doors and hatch ( not cheap ). Remove sound deadning bla bla bla. I like the idea of losing weight, but at some point the car becomes too race car for the street. Ditching weight also has less stress on drivetrain components. I like this simple formula, minimal mods and tune minus 175-200 lbs = all time performance.

 

[Focus_Pocus]

Seems like 200 lbs is achievable with minimal $$, mainly by removing rear seat & belts, trunk stuff, lighter wheels, front intercooler plate and other misc items. Is the engine cover necessary for anything? Oh yea, and a lighter battery like an Optima, or this line of batteries: http://shop.antigravitybatteries.com/antigravity-batteries-atx20/

 

[Evo]

You can get hardcore and remove crash bars etc. One guy has an evolution x down to 2900. Seats are mostly foam, not like removing thick steel!

 

[Hank]

*Can we merge threads with this one? [link]

Weight has to be taken off the front end of this little piggy to really reap the benefits. Not sure how one does that since I don't have my RS yet for R&D purposes.

Ideas:
1) Turbo back exhaust including catless downpipe
2) Tune+ FMIC & piping (lighter than original?)
3) Smaller battery from Braille = 15 lbs [link], 7.5 lbs [link]
4) Ditch the rear seats, seat belts, etc. and replace with something that's tasteful. [similar to this mustang kit]
5) Lighter wheels for racing
6) 2 piece aluminum/metal rotors available?
7) Rear hatch area floor tray and contents
8) Titanium lug nuts
9) Ditch the fake noise generator
10) Maybe switching to lighter seats, but I have the RS2 package so I don't know if I'm up for that...

 

[Focus_Pocus]

Yes, I didn't know this existed. Now, how to merge... Maybe a moderator can respond, I've looked in the FAQs, how are threads merged? I'd like to keep the title of this thread since it's more active right now, and merge the thread to which Hank refers above.

 

[eyes4eveRS]

I'm going to be focusing on mostly rotational weight. The car basically has 60% of the weight at the front, so I always figured I would try to avoid taking all my weight from the rear of the car. Plus, I need a back seat...

If you don't need rear seats, and you're really serious, you should change your seating position to something like this:

 

[bcRSguy]

If I quit eating at McDonalds I can shave off 50 lbs

 

[Biz]

If I quit eating at McDonalds I can shave off 50 lbs

I had to drop 20 to fit into the seats

 

[Triple Zero Racing]

I have a friend that is prepping his car for the track right now.. my car does not land for another two weeks but the weight issue is one I have considered due to my dedicated racing purpose..

For street cars reducing large amounts of weight can be an issue without height adjustable coilovers.. once that weight most of which will come from the rear comes out you will unsettle the rear causing some oversteer not to mention you wont like the look of it's bum sitting up high.
He has done corner weights on the car and I have been told that the balance is the best on the corner scales he has ever seen on a production car.. so think carefully about removing weight ..

A good start is a quality lithium battery.. which are 1.7kg or just under 4lb and have 700 crank amps.. In my other cars I have placed a breather tank in the empty portion of the battery tray.

In short you can reduce some but until height adjustable coil overs are installed you will find things a bit awkward

 

[Evo]

I have a friend that is prepping his car for the track right now.. my car does not land for another two weeks but the weight issue is one I have considered due to my dedicated racing purpose..

For street cars reducing large amounts of weight can be an issue without height adjustable coilovers.. once that weight most of which will come from the rear comes out you will unsettle the rear causing some oversteer not to mention you wont like the look of it's bum sitting up high.
He has done corner weights on the car and I have been told that the balance is the best on the corner scales he has ever seen on a production car.. so think carefully about removing weight ..

A good start is a quality lithium battery.. which are 1.7kg or just under 4lb and have 700 crank amps.. In my other cars I have placed a breather tank in the empty portion of the battery tray.

In short you can reduce some but until height adjustable coil overs are installed you will find things a bit awkward

A focus has the best weight distribution he's ever seen?

 

[Grimlock]

A focus has the best weight distribution he's ever seen?

Doubtful. You want a rear weight bias in a real performance car. Or he's never worked on a race car.


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[Focus_Pocus]

What were the corner scale weight readings?

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[Austin]

The RS is nose heavy, I wonder if he meant side to side?

 

[MNC5]

His friend must be legally blind ?

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[The Dr]

CF/Aluminum hood, lightweight battery (with rear relocation), exhaust, lighter wheels, and especially this driver's own weight reduction (I could shed 20-30lbs) will go a long way on this thing.

 

[RedBaron80]

I've seen 300 lb guys talking about their $400 lightweight batterys(saving 20 lbs).... I'm like.. well......(im not the lightweight i used to be, but still)

 

[shakeweight88]

As a self-proclaimed weight weenie, I'll be doing some light-weighting on my RS for sure. The first 100 lb will be easy to remove without getting too extreme. I don't plan on removing any sound deadening at this time.

Probably plan on adding 10 lbs back for a larger intercooler too.

Questions:

• Has anyone done a balance shaft delete on an RS yet (or EB mustang?) Do we need to add a baffle to the oil pan like recommended in the ST?
  
• Has anyone confirmed the presence of this NVH mass damper that was a common FoST delete? Save weight. Remove a ridiculous steel block from your rear subframe.