Brendon

iTrader: (1)

First off, hi everyone! I just registered here. I'm not a complete noobie to the Lexus club forums; I've been a member of the Lexus Owner's Club Forums for the last 2 years.

Well, for the last few months, I've been endlessly hunting ManBearPig (weight) on my SC400. Weight reduction is the universal mod, it improves acceleration, handling, braking, fuel efficiency. I would love to try and make my SC400 feel more nimble instead of a boat. The mods I'm looking at first are lightweight seats, lightweight rims, removing the sunroof, and carbon fiber panelling.

I've been seaching the forums here and on Lexus Club Owners to try and get some hard data, but there seems to be some far stretching estimates. I'm looking for some hard data on weight, not just people's random guestimates. How much do OEM seats w/ heat weigh? OEM rims weigh? Sunroof complete assembly? OEM hood, trunk, and doors?


So far the only steps I've taken are to remove the spare tire and the CD changer (I use an iPod). I've weighed both of them on my digital scale, so for anyone who's interested in the ACTUAL weight of those two:

16x7 Steel spare with 225/55R16 Goodyear GT+4 tire =
38.2 lbs

12-disc CD changer =
8.4 lbs

romeo291

iTrader: (1)

Umm, I don't have any numbers, but I volunteer you to go out and weigh all the stuff in your car and post it for us to see. Maybe this will get some people interested, and they'll weigh things as they're taking them apart.

Joey-E

iTrader: (1)

I have also searched any came up with only a few threads about weight reduction. I like your idea of a lightweight Sc, this car is really, heavy. I think everyone here likes their luxury, boat.
I still haven’t seen a light weight reduction SC anywhere....

Brendon

iTrader: (1)

I do love my car the way it looks, so I'm trying to keep it as stock as possible. I hate people who go over the top and rip out things like the passenger seats or the sound insulation. I'm basically looking to make my car lightweight without sacraficing the neccessities.

The rims I'm looking at are Enkei PR03 5-spoke 17". They look a lot like the late model 5-spokes; however, they weigh only 16-19 lbs each depending on width. As for the seats, I'm not looking for some ugly racing seats. I'm actually wondering if its possible to buy a lightweight seat frame and mount the stock cushioning on them. I'm assuming its not the cushions that make the OEM seats heavy, but the power motors and the frame. The sunroof is one of those features I don't really need. I don't smoke, and the sunroof only brings in extra harmful light to the leather. Plus on the highways, the sunroof creates alot of wind noise. Carbon fiber is one of those mods I might consider down the road. I'm wondering if its possible to paint the CF so that it looks stock. I hate the black honeycomb look and it would look hideous on my red car.

Another thing I'm wondering about is how much the sound system adds weight, particularly the subwoofer? I might look into installing a lighter weight/smaller system like Bose which makes better sound with less speakers.

5sp_jzz30

iTrader: (2)

as far as the seats go. if you want a direct bolt-in alternative that weighs less and more comfortable look for a set of supra manual seats. they sit lower then stock sc seats and weigh a lot less.

i honestly dont care about the looks of it so i got a JIC bucket seat for my car. it weighs 1/3 of the stock one. the sunroof assembly is about 50lb. i had to take one out a while ago from a customers car. not that fun. i was thinking of a CF insert for the sunroof as well. i dont mind the CF look so i wouldnt paint it.

the hood is realy heavy and any CF hood you get will be half of the weight of the stock one.

sounds system components dont weigh that much so i wouldnt bother with that.

what are your goals for the car? the more you reduce the weight the more amenities you will lose. my car is a daily driver as well as a summer drift/track car just for fun. i usually take out the back seats and strip the interior when i go to the track. its pretty quick and adds up on weight.

if you want a nice daily i wouldnt try to figure out all the complicated ways to reduce weight. i say just live with it. you can have your suspension adjusted(not stock of course...and not just coilovers) so the car will handle very well even with all the weight.

you can make an SC a great handling car and be fairly light compared to stock but you would have to strip it out completely and use CF extensive for paneling. at that point its not a street car...or not a comfortable one at that.

carlmatthe

From my experience with my Honda, my CF hood is painted and it looks, IMO, like a stock hood. As far as lightweight rims. I have a pair of Rota Slipstreams (16") on my civic turbo and my SC300 (18").

Rota, Volk racing. Alot of these companies have lightweight rims but most are a pretty penny.

let me find some pictures of my hood and I'll post them for you

romeo291

iTrader: (1)

Dude, of course you can paint over carbon fiber. People do it all the time. I would suggest getting a carbon fiber hood and paint over it. It's hard to reduce weight of your car and not sacrifice luxury though. To be honest, the money that you'll spend trying to make your car lightweight and retain luxury would end up costing more than the gas money that you'll save from reducing a couple of pounds. On average, you'll have to reduce 40+ pounds to knock of 0.1 second off your quarter mile time. And for improve gas mileage, you'll have to reduce much more weight to start saving some real money.

carlmatthe

Here is a picture of someone CF hood for a SC300 that has paint on it.
When done right it doesn't look bad at all

Touge

iTrader: (4)

Weighed the stock rim/tire today, suprised they were pretty light - 42 lb.

LexAnt

iTrader: (2)

that's not a SC hood.

secondly, there are hard data numbers of stock parts in these threads:
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...ight+reduction
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...ight+reduction

search is ur friend.

Ali SC3

iTrader: (10)

oh snap LexAnt dropped the search bomb.

I think it is silly to remove your spare tire unless the car is purely a track car. Everytime you get a flat you need to call someone to come save you. As for ripping the entire lexus interior out, its called a supra, they sell them.

Im not saying that you cannot or should not weight reduce an SC, im saying its not for the faint of heart and really not for a car you plan to use everyday .

as for wheels/seats/hood mods
reducing any type of rotational mass is going to yield way more than a 8lb cd changer. i think 5sp_jzz30 is on track with popping out the seats and your spare tire for track day. but i would put them back in right after.

5sp_jzz30

iTrader: (2)

^^^^ thats what i do

Brendon

iTrader: (1)

I removed the CD changer because I was selling it on eBay. I go ipod direct. I figured I would let everyone know what its actual weight really is. Some people have this illusion that the changer weighs 20-30 lbs. They're probably confusing it with the power amplifier. Its the same with the spare tire. I've read posts where people claim the tire weighs 60 lbs!

Stripping out the interior is probably the last thing I would consider. Not only tacky for a daily driver (which my car is), but its illegal in MA for safety reasons. Like I said before, I'm just looking to make my car a bit more nimble feeling. I'm not trying to make my car as light as a Corolla, but dropping 200 lbs would definately make it much more fun to drive, accelerating faster, braking faster, cornering better, slightly better MPG. Also, less weight puts less work on the car's parts like the engine, suspension, and the brakes so they last longer. Weight reduction just benefits you in everyway.

over40driv

Im a big weight reduc. fan, and have posted a lot of ideas and some weights. Two of my favs. are I bought a Solara alloy wheel with like a 215 tire on it for a spare. Ten pounds lighter, and easier to hoist in and out. Also if your car came with a phone, there is a computer down in the drivers side rear inner quarter panel when you remove the black panels. You can remove it and plug the two mating plug ins together so the front speakers cont. to work. Its like 9lbs and worthless.

traps1971

ever 100# = 0.1 in the 1/4 mile.my spare weight 48# from a 95 sc4.supra seats lost 56# and a light weight batt was26# more