2012 Minimum Weight

#1

If you have a few spare hours, you can read through the discussion leading up to the minimum weight reduction of 50 lbs for the 2011 race season here: http://spece30.com/forum/16-general-discussion/42596-car-weight

2010 Minimum Weight: 2750 lbs
2011 Minimum Weight: 2700 lbs
2012 Minimum Weight: ??? lbs

Some of us, including myself, were in favor of at least a 100 lb weight reduction for 2011. That was met with some criticism at the time, but we received a 50 lbs reduction for the 2011 season. Once people made any effort at all to pull weight out of the cars, they found that it came off very easily. I, for instance, have done nothing extreme and even still have more sound deadening that I can remove, and I am carrying the maximum allowable 125 lbs of ballast in my '87 model year car, as well as running with a full tank of fuel, no cool suit, and full window glass/motors/panels. I weigh about 160.

***I have already officially requested an additional weight reduction of 50 lbs for the 2012 race season (2650 minimum weight), based on all the same principles as the 2011 change. I would love to drop another 100 lbs, but I’m pretty sure it won’t fly. I just wanted to re-open the discussion to see what kind of support there is out there for this proposed 50 lb change.

My Summary of Reasons for Reducing Minimum Weight:

  • Reduced tire and brake wear
  • Reduced safety risks associated with large sections of ballast weight mounted in the car (not that legal ballast weight is inherently dangerous).
  • Reduced stress on all mechanical components (bearings, suspension, wheels, steering, etc).
  • Better dynamic reflexes, potentially increasing capability of avoiding an incident in front of you.

So, what do you guys think? Reduce another 50 lbs? More? Less? No change?
VOTE HERE: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/3BTB8L6

Current stats on the poll are 9 in favor of No Change. 23 in favor of Weight Reduction. (8pm 12-12-11)

#2

I’m the one that got us the 50lb reduction. IMO that’s enough, but I don’t have strong feelings on the issue. I think that 2650lbs would mean that most light drivers like me would have to do 2 of the 3 following weightloss measures. Someone >200lbs might have to do all 3.

Remove trunk tar. 40-45lbs.
Remove door windows and motors. 30-35lbs.
Remove sunroof cassette. 20-30lbs, depending on sunroof solution.

I’ve done all 3 and run 45lbs ballast. I weigh 175lbs, mostly scar tissue and gristle.

This adds to the amount of work required to make a car competitive. I understand the justification and I agree with it. But it’s one thing to tell a newby “you won’t need to put in ballast” and it’s another to tell them “you’ll need to remove your door windows and motors, then rig up something for storage and towing”.

#3

I gotta find out what my car weighs before I weigh in (see how I did that?) But it would be interesting if responders would include their driver weight when they chime in.

Coming from a miata, I’d be looking to get as light as possible.

Oh, and to honor my own suggestion, I come in at 195.

#4

Could someone enlighten me on how light (a range will do) one could make an E30, not including cage and driver (as those are the only real variables).

#5

For purely selfish reasons I could vote yes, but in reality I don’t think it’s a good idea.

I weigh ~190# and we run ~65# of ballast. We’ve also done all 3 items Ranger listed. A 50# drop in the min weight would be fine now, but once my brother starts racing next season we might have hard time making weight since he weighs about 40# more than me.

I’d hate to see people skimping on extra cage tubing just to make weight. We built some stout door bars knowing that we could spare the poundage.

I say leave it alone for now.

Matt

#6

I need to get the car weighed first. I’m 184 and falling. I need to find 125 lbs of used brake rotors before I get it weighed.

#7

I would be in favor of another 50 pound drop as it is now i have removed all the door hardware and door windows, it is a race car after all. And a decent indoor outdoor cover are great for storage. I weight about 170 and my car with me in it and half a tank come in at 2714 now. I still have full trunk tar and 40lbs of ballast with the spare tire. I know there is more weight that I can take out of the car too and im not apposed to putting lexan in for the rest of the windows.

#8

I’m 170 with a solid '87, add 90-100 lbs of ballast, and still have easy weight to get out of the car with just a turn of the wrench. You’re never going to please everyone since we all personally weight different. I personally feel that a 200lbs driver could easily get there car to make a 2650 minimum weight and still have to add ballast. That is with a well built cage.

50lbs is reasonable to me. 100lbs and my view begins to change.

#9

I don’t see this happening. While there are car/driver combinations that could take off another 50lbs, there are others where that just can’t happen and keep the car legal by the current rules.

I only weigh 150lb, and to make min weight (starting with a full tank) I carry 10lb of ballast. I have a very robust cage and after the wreck at RA i’m not changing that, which has a good bit to do with the weight of the car. I also have the biggest AFFF fire bottle I could find (safety comes first). Everything that can legally be removed has been.

To drop another 40lb I’d have to a) start with less than a full tank, b) remove non-structural metal from the car, c) use a lightweight battery, d) all of the above. A heavier driver would have even more problems.

#10

Ya’ll aren’t building race cars…you’re building modified street cars:woohoo: I weigh 265ish and with 8 gallons of gas in my car I go on the track at 2600#. Strip your car and put the weight where it does the most good. BTW if you want glass in your side windows…:sick: Chuck

#11

I am not in favor of a weight drop… I have a 4 door with window gear in the back doors, plus I need a full coolsuit; just removed the AC aux fan and condensor. trunk tar is gone, but i still have the stock sunroof panel. I am now just about right with my 195 lbs.
Actually, I’d like to put my passernger seat and belts back in.

#12

Get rid of that moonroof cassete. Weight up front and high is no good. Plus it’s rusting away from the inside and you can’t see it. If you don’t make weight I’m sure theres a mcdonald’s and all the high fructose corn syrup you can drink within a mile or two. I pulled the rear window mechanism and glued the windows in place. I still have the trunk tar and spare in place.

#13

Don’t touch it. It is fine where its at, its a good compromise and still enables heavier drivers to make weight. I’m 150 and carry about 40 lbs of ballast, I like having my windows still in the car.

#14

I agree with leaving it where it is. I am 220#, and I currently run no ballast with a full tank. I feel like ballast should be being used to equalize out the weight difference in drivers which it sounds like is what is happening with most responses.

#15

Just another data point - I have an '87, I weigh 210 and carry 50lbs of interior ballast, a full-tank of gas and a spare tire in the trunk to make weight. I’m not sure why my car is SO light compared to others. With that said, I’m up for another -50lb reduction, but I might be one of the few.

#16

Yeah, I’m wondering why my car seems like such an outlier… I’m not sure if people have simply made no real effort to reduce weight or what. I would have to weigh 285 to run with no ballast, currently. Then, I could still remove windows, more interior sound-deadening to drop another 50 lbs. It’s not like I have a chincy cage, either. It’s a McMahon.

I wonder if people still have their sound deadening in the trunk and just don’t want to remove it… IMO, if the carpet comes out, the deadening/tar should come out in the same process. Yeah, yeah, it moves the weight bias forward, but the fact that it’s lighter will always win out, if you’re concerned about the performance aspect. Also, I’d bet that 75% of the cars have at least 25 lbs they could drop from in front of the car’s CG if they looked hard.

I’m not looking for an argument, so if this goes in the direction of no change, then so be it. Right now we have 8 ppl in favor of a reduction and 4 ppl in favor of no change (as of 11am 11/16/11).

#17

Make that 9 :wink:

#18

I’ve also done all 3, weigh 180lbs, and rely on the spare and extra gas for ballast. It’s right at the minimum, and I probably should run 10-15 extra lbs of ballast to be safe.

I voted for a 25lb reduction, thinking that it would allow many drivers to remove some ballast, while not forcing heavier drivers to make any significant mods.

#19

Make that 9 ;)[/quote]

  1. I’d be for a lighter car.
#20

Hey… I agree with Simon on this!

I am 190 suited up 200. My team mate is 240 suited up. car is an 87 chassis. I carry 40 lbs of ballast. He needs none. The only other thing left to remove from the car is trunk tar but that will cause the car to be even heavier on the nose. Already run a pretty light battery. Every thing else is gone. We could run less gas, we start with full tank, but again the nose will just be heavier and than sometimes we would run into fuel starve issues.

If I weighed 150, sure I could benefit from less weight in the car. I do agree that a lower weight reduces wear and tear on parts, but we are going to start penalizing heavier guys and the nose just gets heavier.

My 2 cents.