[rcl4668]

I'm always interested in reducing the weight of the ST, even though I realize it's relatively light for a modern, airbag and safety compliant car. My goal would be to reduce the weight of the car by about 100 lbs to get it in the range of European 3-door Fiesta STs. (The European cars are about 100 lbs lighter than our 5-door cars.)

I plan on adding lightweight rims and tires (could potentially save about 32 lbs total by going with the Mountune/OZ Racing Alleggerita HLT rim in 17 x 7.5 with a reasonably lightweight extreme performance tire like the Yokohama Advan AD08R in 215/40/17.

Mountune also sells a brake upgrade that saves about 3 kg per axle, see:

www.mountuneusa.com/mountune-Fiesta-ST-Big-Brake-upgrade-p/2364-mfbkr-aa.htm

So there's a bit over 12 lbs saved there. So we have about 44 lbs right there.

Any ideas other than removing door panels and/or my legs to get the other 56 pounds? (And yes, I am hitting the gym to reduce weight from the nut behind the wheel.)

Thanks for any ideas!

 

[gtkat929]

Light weight car battery, lighter exhaust, carbon fiber or fiber glass hood and/or trunk.

Could do one of those a/c delete kit, you don't need air conditioning anyways. And if you take out the a/c, not only do you lighten the car but if it's hot out, you will lose weight from sweating.

If you're feeling adventurous, you can get a smaller, lighter weight fuel tank. And you could cut out the spare wheel well and patch the hole with some light weight material. And while you have the angle grinder out, you can cut the roof off and replace that panel with carbon fiber or aluminum.

 

[rcl4668]

Thanks! I did a quick scan online and found the following web forum post from a company called Ice Nine:

"FINALLY!!

We have been working really hard on the pricing part of our carbon fiber products and we are stoked to say we are ready to go live!

Keep this in mind: Our carbon parts are a bit more pricy than most other mass produced parts. If you look closely at the other parts out there, the direction of the weave, the weight and finish are all things that take a hit when the parts are made when a lower retail price is the only thing that matters.

That being said, our parts are of the highest caliber quality we can get. This means even amounts of resin, no air pockets, the weave is true and straight. We would rather produce the best possible product we can rather than sell a bunch of second rate parts.

Now for the pricing:

Fiesta ST Hoods come two ways. We offer them exactly like our rally car which is just the outer skin and needs to be pinned at all four corners. The hood is extremely light, approximately 4-6 pounds. Retail is $850 plus S&H

The street version: Same carbon fiber outer as the race weight one but our street version comes with a fiberglass inner structure and M6 RivNuts for a bolt on set up. We are prototyping the inner right now and are a couple weeks away from having them ready. Retail is $1250 plus S&H

Grill: We are offering our GT500 inspired upper grill, the exact same one we used on our SEMA Rally Car. This part requires modifications to the crash bar. We cut ours down and modified it to mount our PIAA lamps. Retail is $600 plus S&H

Rear Wing: We are also offering our full carbon fiber rear spoiler from SEMA. This part is a labor intensive piece to make and we are currently working on a new design , one that is bigger, more WRC inspired and yes, cheaper to make. The current spoiler retails for $1500 plus S&H

Sunroof Plug: This is one of those part we really don't plan on selling many of to street guys but those of us that race our cars we are offering our full carbon fiber sunroof plug for $550 plus S&H

Fender Flares : We now have bolt on fender flares that are 2.5" wide per side. We are now making a CNC wheel adapter that is a direct bolt on piece and really gives the car an aggressive look. The complete kit pricing is coming but should be in the $1000 range.

If anyone has an idea for a cool ST part they would like to see in carbon let me know! We are always looking at different items…kinda like our quarter window fillers…"

Anyone know what the ST stock body panels weigh (hood, rear wing etc)?

Also, you raise an interesting question about removing the full size spare tire. I wonder ho wmuch of weight savings this would compared to putting a can of fix-a-slat in the back and a small, portable air compressor?

 

[rcl4668]

Correction to my initial post: The Mountune big brake kit looks like it is only for the front axle so we are looking at just slightly more than a 6 lb weight savings, not 12 pounds as I originally thought. So the total weight savings thus far is appr. 38-39 pounds.

 

[reddog99]

There are some plastic panels attached to the underside of the floorpan that would weigh a few pounds.

I've puzzled over why they're installed at all. The floorpan is pretty flat there even without the panels, so it doesn't look as if they would add anything useful to the aerodynamics.

 

[rcl4668]

Thanks, I'll check it out next time I have the car on the lift.

 

[Golfguy11800]

How "bare" do you want to go?

 

[djdennehy]

Removal of spare wheel and jack...Removal of rear seat...Removal of stock seats to be replaced by fixed back buckets...

 

[rcl4668]

Not so bare that the key functionality or safety of the car is compromised. That being said, I am open to any and all ideas, even the funny/sarcastic ones.

 

[rcl4668]

Regarding the seats, would removal and replacement with a race-type seat like a Recaro SPG or similar fixed-back seat compromise airbag functionality?

 

[captainmorbid]

Regarding the seats, would removal and replacement with a race-type seat like a Recaro SPG or similar fixed-back seat compromise airbag functionality?

Yes. The oem recaros have airbags in them for side impact protection. Plus the passenger seat has an occupancy sensor for the front passenger airbag. If you want to lose weight from seats, just pull the rears, they'd likely take you to your total weight loss target by themselves.

 

[Klink]

some ferraris/posches sealed Helium in the chassis to "lighten the car" In other news, Alfa Romero is trying a weight reduction plan for their sports cars but tying 500 birds to the car, so when they fly, they lift the car, reducing weight. :thumbsup:

 

[Golfguy11800]

If you wanted to replace the front seats and steering wheel with race versions, you'd have to (well, should) add cage, harness, and helmet.

Car safety will still be 100% OEM as long as you keep the front seats, the airbags, and don't cut stuff off the car with a plasma cutter.

 

[ghostwhite]

I removed rear seats/bench/jack and spare and it adds up to about ~100lbs. There's no safety being lost unless you aren't in the front seats lol. Car feels just as you would expect, faster, nimbler more fun

 

[sourskittle]

Side impact beams and front crash bar are two options to remove, but of course, def reduces safety by a huge amount. Hoping someone builds us a new lighter front 5mph bumper.


http://www.fiestast.net/forum/showpost.php?p=43233

 

[rcl4668]

Interesting idea but I am wary of mods that would compromise structural integrity or safety features.

 

[Dyn085]

Crash beams are over-rated.

 

[captainmorbid]

Damn! Poor FoST...

 

[Dyn085]

Damn! Poor FoST...

You can't tell due to the damage, but that is just a regular Mk3. Still a pretty brutal hit. Either way I'm pretty sure the owner thought, like many do, that his car wouldn't be in this severe of an accident. Use a lot of thought before making safety compromises simply because #racecar. His crash-bar did a lot of work to keep that engine out of his lap. Anyone that has tried to drill one knows how strong they are.

 

[captainmorbid]

You can't tell due to the damage, but that is just a regular Mk3. Still a pretty brutal hit. Either way I'm pretty sure the owner thought, like many do, that his car wouldn't be in this severe of an accident. Use a lot of thought before making safety compromises simply because #racecar. His crash-bar did a lot of work to keep that engine out of his lap. Anyone that has tried to drill one knows how strong they are.

The rad hanging out the bottom looks like an inter cooler. Brutal either way.


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