Weight Reduction :D

[stilzvilesvt]

In the past couple months being with out my focus, I've realized that a lot of my friends cars are really light, and thats with no weight mods done to them. So, I've decided that before I put my seats in to do a lot of time consuming stuff. Here's the list.

1. Remore sound matting.
2. Remove speakers and radio.
3. Remove all air bags.
4. Remove bumpers.
5. Add stress bar for harnesses.
6. Add 4 points harnesses.
7. Remove spare tire well.
8. Add flat steel where spare tire well used to be.
9. Add carpeting to rear.
10. Add new shift and parking brake boots.
11. Finaly install seats.

I started today, now that I have it home, but I've only got a couple days before I leave to work on it, then hack it out when I get back before the wedding. Other than that I'm glad to see it home, and I'm having fun destroying a nice focus.

PICS:

[Pappy]

Corbeau FTMFW!!!!!

[stilzvilesvt]

Corbeau FTMFW!!!!!

lol ya, S4, black w/ grey microfiber

[mars]

damn that'll be one lighten svtf.....

[19-Delta]

It is your car and do with it as you wish, but...I would think twice about cutting out the spare tire well and just using a flat piece of metal to cover the hole. To me anyway, the well would add rigidity to the rear end. A flat piece of steel is more likely to flex under load than a piece with vertical and horizontal construction. And in reality, how much weigh could a couple pieces of vertical steel add?

Since I am a FNG here, what are your final plans for your Focus???

Cheers,
Tim

[CleanZX3]

Poor car.

But..... its yours, so do what you want.

[stilzvilesvt]

It is your car and do with it as you wish, but...I would think twice about cutting out the spare tire well and just using a flat piece of metal to cover the hole. To me anyway, the well would add rigidity to the rear end. A flat piece of steel is more likely to flex under load than a piece with vertical and horizontal construction. And in reality, how much weigh could a couple pieces of vertical steel add?

Since I am a FNG here, what are your final plans for your Focus???

Cheers,
Tim

Extra light. Using aluminum sheet, not steel, I might of said it wrong. Rivits and plastic weld ( or whatever its called. Strut bars and a cross brace will make up for that.

Poor car.

But..... its yours, so do what you want.

poor, as in?

[CleanZX3]

poor, as in?

A nice street car with the interior gutted out is tacky IMO. Unless you are going to race it all the time? Ive been away for a while, and don't know what everybody's plans are.

I know its a different car, but my brother was looking to cut the spare tire well out of his vw golf, to put a race fuel cell in. He decided against it because of the amount of bracing he had to do to the car, to be structurally sound. I would read up on it before you try something like that.

[focinite]

im not tellin you what to do, but stop it right now!!! i would leave the spare alone. to lighten up the svt


1. the abs system weighs in total( all the lines and moduals and harness.) about 60 lbs. if you dont belive me, i have all the parts of an svt abs system in a box, it aint light.


2. the rear seats are about 10-15 lbs

3. the carpet is about 20-25 pounds alone

hmmm add up the numbers now.


4. the svt knucles are 4lbs a peice heavier than the zx3 ones
5. the stock svt wheels are 24 lbs a peice.
6 that sun roof is a good 15 lbs
7.anny subs? mine weigh a good 100 lbs with the amp rack and two amps.
8. the air bags are not as heavy as you think.
9. trust me, you have about 50 lbs or more worth of sound deadner in that svt.
10. how much does a tank of gass weigh?

[zurno]

im not tellin you what to do, but stop it right now!!! i would leave the spare alone. to lighten up the svt


1. the abs system weighs in total( all the lines and moduals and harness.) about 60 lbs. if you dont belive me, i have all the parts of an svt abs system in a box, it aint light.


2. the rear seats are about 10-15 lbs

3. the carpet is about 20-25 pounds alone

hmmm add up the numbers now.


4. the svt knucles are 4lbs a peice heavier than the zx3 ones
5. the stock svt wheels are 24 lbs a peice.
6 that sun roof is a good 15 lbs
7.anny subs? mine weigh a good 100 lbs with the amp rack and two amps.
8. the air bags are not as heavy as you think.
9. trust me, you have about 50 lbs or more worth of sound deadner in that svt.
10. how much does a tank of gass weigh?

Rob, anything removeable in the ABS system is most likely not going to add up to 65 pounds, you still need a lot of that to have working brakes.

Also, the 4 pounds per knuckle is another thing not worth worrying about.

I am sorry that you do not have the experience, but the SVT brakes are much better than stock ZX3 brakes, and the SVT brakes NEED to have ABS. Bigger brakes tend to lock up the brakes a bit easier. Sure you can not step so hard, but then why bother having bigger brakes. ABS will make your stopping distance go down a bit and help you maintain control.

a full tank of gas is probably like 120 pounds

[focinite]

im not tellin you what to do, but stop it right now!!! i would leave the spare alone. to lighten up the svt


1. the abs system weighs in total( all the lines and moduals and harness.) about 60 lbs. if you dont belive me, i have all the parts of an svt abs system in a box, it aint light.


2. the rear seats are about 10-15 lbs

3. the carpet is about 20-25 pounds alone

hmmm add up the numbers now.


4. the svt knucles are 4lbs a peice heavier than the zx3 ones
5. the stock svt wheels are 24 lbs a peice.
6 that sun roof is a good 15 lbs
7.anny subs? mine weigh a good 100 lbs with the amp rack and two amps.
8. the air bags are not as heavy as you think.
9. trust me, you have about 50 lbs or more worth of sound deadner in that svt.
10. how much does a tank of gass weigh?

Rob, anything removeable in the ABS system is most likely not going to add up to 65 pounds, you still need a lot of that to have working brakes.

Also, the 4 pounds per knuckle is another thing not worth worrying about.

I am sorry that you do not have the experience, but the SVT brakes are much better than stock ZX3 brakes, and the SVT brakes NEED to have ABS. Bigger brakes tend to lock up the brakes a bit easier. Sure you can not step so hard, but then why bother having bigger brakes. ABS will make your stopping distance go down a bit and help you maintain control.

a full tank of gas is probably like 120 pounds

sunny, i used to work as a ford mechanic, i have expereance with the brakes. a propporly perportioned system and a good driver dont need abs. when i started driving abs was a option. computer controlled suspentions alow stupid people to drive fast and not kill them selves. i like a car that is constantly feeding back to me, abs in my eyes is a waste. and the hcu,ecu,the harness, twice as many lines, wheel sensors, the wiring for the sensors it all adds up my friend. if i wanted abs i would have not thrown the shit in a box in my garage. and tell you what , the svt brakes are just one of the 9 opptions for big brakes. look at the bat.inc setup, uses pbr calipers( common to grand prix gt) a cheap and uber light 1.6 pounds. to replace this caliper costs 20 bucks! and if you dont think a little weight adds up, try pulling half up on yer parking brake and floor it, now disengage it and do the same, thats only a little presure on the brakes!! im just tellin him that dont cut a hole in the car!, there are so many other things that make a bigger impact. and nick, the lighter you make a stock set up the better its gonna perform, you know this. the simplest way to make a fast car faster is to make it easier for the power thats there to move less mass( we in the biss like to refer to this as making it more efficiant). next time you get a chance, look inside a real race car, you will find they got the car light first and then added rigidity, then performace upgrades.

[zurno]

im not tellin you what to do, but stop it right now!!! i would leave the spare alone. to lighten up the svt


1. the abs system weighs in total( all the lines and moduals and harness.) about 60 lbs. if you dont belive me, i have all the parts of an svt abs system in a box, it aint light.


2. the rear seats are about 10-15 lbs

3. the carpet is about 20-25 pounds alone

hmmm add up the numbers now.


4. the svt knucles are 4lbs a peice heavier than the zx3 ones
5. the stock svt wheels are 24 lbs a peice.
6 that sun roof is a good 15 lbs
7.anny subs? mine weigh a good 100 lbs with the amp rack and two amps.
8. the air bags are not as heavy as you think.
9. trust me, you have about 50 lbs or more worth of sound deadner in that svt.
10. how much does a tank of gass weigh?

Rob, anything removeable in the ABS system is most likely not going to add up to 65 pounds, you still need a lot of that to have working brakes.

Also, the 4 pounds per knuckle is another thing not worth worrying about.

I am sorry that you do not have the experience, but the SVT brakes are much better than stock ZX3 brakes, and the SVT brakes NEED to have ABS. Bigger brakes tend to lock up the brakes a bit easier. Sure you can not step so hard, but then why bother having bigger brakes. ABS will make your stopping distance go down a bit and help you maintain control.

a full tank of gas is probably like 120 pounds

sunny, i used to work as a ford mechanic, i have expereance with the brakes. a propporly perportioned system and a good driver dont need abs. when i started driving abs was a option. computer controlled suspentions alow stupid people to drive fast and not kill them selves. i like a car that is constantly feeding back to me, abs in my eyes is a waste. and the hcu,ecu,the harness, twice as many lines, wheel sensors, the wiring for the sensors it all adds up my friend. if i wanted abs i would have not thrown the shit in a box in my garage. and tell you what , the svt brakes are just one of the 9 opptions for big brakes. look at the bat.inc setup, uses pbr calipers( common to grand prix gt) a cheap and uber light 1.6 pounds. to replace this caliper costs 20 bucks! and if you dont think a little weight adds up, try pulling half up on yer parking brake and floor it, now disengage it and do the same, thats only a little presure on the brakes!! im just tellin him that dont cut a hole in the car!, there are so many other things that make a bigger impact. and nick, the lighter you make a stock set up the better its gonna perform, you know this. the simplest way to make a fast car faster is to make it easier for the power thats there to move less mass( we in the biss like to refer to this as making it more efficiant). next time you get a chance, look inside a real race car, you will find they got the car light first and then added rigidity, then performace upgrades.

Rob, seriously, we are talking about the Ford Focus here, not a race car.
And trust me, when you have good brakes, ABS can help. Obviously if I was lapping at a track I could live without it since I would be taking the same turns over and over again, but for a street car, every drive is different.

And as far as feedback goes, yes I did get some when the car started to get a little crooked on the road while still in the lose the liscense range if you know what I mean.

BTW, a Gran Prix GT is far from a performance car, why do you want its brakes?

[focinite]

twin piston calipers baby!!!!!! ( the kit uses just the calipers, and the 300mm svt rotor...comes with a braket mod.) they are big and super light, and dirt cheap!! the abs thing, some like it some dont, i dont. the main topic is the kid wants his car on a diet. the spare tub is a bad idea, you get the same weight reduction from losing the carpet and its a even gain, not just in the rear, agree?.

[zurno]

I don't know if I would worry about the spare tub being too structural,. Doesn't a large heavy rear sub frame bolt up somewhere back there? Wouldn't that be a good source of structure as it is? He could awlays more than make up for it with a FS brace back there.

[focinite]

I don't know if I would worry about the spare tub being too structural,. Doesn't a large heavy rear sub frame bolt up somewhere back there? Wouldn't that be a good source of structure as it is? He could awlays more than make up for it with a FS brace back there.

yeah but the sub frame flexes also.... the foci is stif but it dont take much to fold one up, id leave the body alone, and just unbolt all the fancy crap to shave some weight.