2012 Minimum Weight

#181

Good idea. Are you volunteering to compile? :wink:
Jk, I’ll do it, but please PM me with how much ballast weight you are carrying, your body weight, and what major items you have or have not removed. I’ll build a spreadsheet.

#182

Couple of comments after 500+ dyno pulls. Different dyno/different day=different results. BUT, all should be within 5ish horsepower.

For weight, I’ll throw in my 85 ITA car…totally stripped, nascar bars both doors, extra rear bars (3), cell, and less that 2300# with a couple gallons of gas. CB

#183

'91 stripped, no insulation, gutted doors, Evil Genius cage w/ NASCAR bars on both sides, small cool suit cooler (10 lbs), 180 lb driver, 25 lbs ballast. When filled completely full of fuel at the start of a 30 min race, I come in at about 5 pounds over 2,700 at the end of the race.

#184

I actually wouldn’t mind, but more people know you…and apparently having raced in this class before is paramount. As soon as I can borrow the scales I will let you know where I am at.

#185

1990 325is. 2730lbs as raced with 200 lb driver and empty tank.

My car has X bar side bars, still has power windows, and some of the airbag crap still under the dash. I could probably drop another 50 lbs if I took that stuff out.

The driver might be able to loose 10 lbs if he cured himself of his Taco Bell addiction. :wink:

Don

#186

'87 325i four door. Driver 170#. No tar, no spare, need to finish with slightly less than a half a tank to make weight. Standard Kirk Racing cage with a few extra pieces. No a/c parts, no heater, no p/s, no hood insulation, no s/r, still has pwr windows, door cards and all glass, no pass seat, no cool suit, no fire ‘system’ other than the minimum bottle.

#187

1987 325is two door. A/C, power steering, sunroof cartridge, window motors and front glass removed. No cool suit or any other weight adding things other than a standard size steel fire bottle. Very little tar removed. 1.75" cage with NASCAR bars and diaganol bars in back and my car weighs in at 2730 with 220 lb driver and a full tank of fuel. I would rather not remove my tar, but I could probably remove that and my heater core/blower box to get closer to losing another 50 lbs. I honestly don’t understand why some people’s cars are so much lighter.

#188

I’m seeing a trend. People who complain that their cars are heavy top off their fuel before going out, people that complain that their cars are light are calculating their fuel before the race and only running what they need to. Fuel is heavy.

#189

Current distribution based on the data I’ve pulled from here so far.

#190

In theory that is a great idea, but difficult to achieve in practice. The fuel level sensors (and gauge if a stock cluster) are not all that accurate and it takes quite a while for the level sensor(s) to reach a stable reading. Then there is the issue that a number of cars will experience fuel starvation with low fuel levels. Unless you are going to drain the tank before qual/race I submit that you really won’t know how much fuel is really in the tank. Well, I guess you could put the car on scales and fuel to a set weight.

I have a rather modified fuel system and can run down to 3-4gal before starvation. I start with a full tank because I need that weight back there for balance. And starting with a full tank is an easily repeatable condition.

#191

Interesting to see the max/min having a 200lb. difference.

That’s a lotta el bees.

#192

In my limited racing experience, fuel sloshes around and is generally a bad thing in tight transitions. It’s really not that hard to start with a third of a tank or so, that leaves plenty before it runs empty. Maybe it’s my endurance racing experience talking but it’s actually very simple to calculate how much fuel you need, and adding 2-3 gallons to ensure you’ve got enough is tons of fudge room. The 2-3 hours between qualifying and the race is plenty of time for the fuel gauge to center itself :wink:

If you’re running with a full tank of gas, you’re leaving a LOT of weight on the table. If you need it for ballast, that’s one thing, but I’d rather run something solid that won’t move in corners.

#193

I, like many others, have to run with a fairly full tank in order to ensure that there won’t be any fuel starvation at race end. At Road Atlanta hiccuping starts at 5gal left, at Roebling, 7gal left. Since trying to judge the exact amount of gas in the tank is too hard (do I have 10gal or is it 11?), my race weight assumes a full tank.

Racing with a full tank is very convenient for Qual too. You start (15min) Practice with a full tank, burn off 2gal, and now you’ve got the perfect gas quantity for a 15min NASA Qual.

My '87 has (had, really) a fairly no frills cage w/ no NASCAR bars. No window glass nor motors. Sunroof and cassette replaced with a piece of sheetmetal, most excess wiring removed, PS and all HVAC removed. Most of my trunk tar was removed. The tar on the tranny tunnel was removed. My big radiator probably held an extra gallon (8.3lbs), I had a big battery, small fire suppression bottle, and carried 44lbs of ballast.

I weigh 175lbs before suiting up.

The car weighs ~2745 when it takes the green.

#194

Here is the excel file I have so far with comments as to what has been removed and what is know to be removable. If you would like to add more detail, PM me or post here.

[attachment=1738]SpecE30WeightData2.xls[/attachment]

#195

My car is an '88 which is the transition year. No NASCAR bars but substantial cage (X’s everywhere), no heater core or fan, no door window glass or motors, no sunroof cassette, sound deadening removed, permitted wire removed, no power steering, stock oil cooler, Trunk Tar still in, fire bottle, DIY Cool Shirt setup, 13 lbs wheels, 190 lb driver. Starting with a Full tank I can end a 35 min race on the bubble of 2700 lbs. I need to add a few lbs of ballast for the 45 min races.

If the weight were lowered I would just remove the trunk tar. Weight reduction trumps weight placement.

#196

[quote=“ilateapex” post=62429]My car is an '88 which is the transition year. No NASCAR bars but substantial cage (X’s everywhere), no heater core or fan, no door window glass or motors, no sunroof cassette, sound deadening removed, permitted wire removed, no power steering, stock oil cooler, Trunk Tar still in, fire bottle, DIY Cool Shirt setup, 13 lbs wheels, 190 lb driver. Starting with a Full tank I can end a 35 min race on the bubble of 2700 lbs. I need to add a few lbs of ballast for the 45 min races.

If the weight were lowered I would just remove the trunk tar. Weight reduction trumps weight placement.[/quote]

Transition year?

#197

[quote=“Foglght” post=62438][quote=“ilateapex” post=62429]My car is an '88 which is the transition year. No NASCAR bars but substantial cage (X’s everywhere), no heater core or fan, no door window glass or motors, no sunroof cassette, sound deadening removed, permitted wire removed, no power steering, stock oil cooler, Trunk Tar still in, fire bottle, DIY Cool Shirt setup, 13 lbs wheels, 190 lb driver. Starting with a Full tank I can end a 35 min race on the bubble of 2700 lbs. I need to add a few lbs of ballast for the 45 min races.

If the weight were lowered I would just remove the trunk tar. Weight reduction trumps weight placement.[/quote]

Transition year?[/quote]

'88 is the transition in early vs. late. The sheetmetal around front bumper, maybe the bumper shocks, and fuel tank is unique to that year I think.

Foglight’s post reminds me. I have no oil cooler.

#198

The '88’s have the aluminum bumpers, big fuel tank, lower metal valance, late model cooling system, late model rear wheel arches, Basically a late model with aluminum bumpers.

#199

As a known data point, I just looked on the Pro3 e30 series up in the northwest and they run at 2650 lb. The real only difference in their cars is the suspension is open and they can chip the engine.

They have a very big racing group up there and it is still growing.

Looking at the spread sheet Z3SpdDmn posted shows that we can remove 50 lb fairly. There are 2 cars in the 2350 range and the average car is in the 2470 range.

Like I mentioned before, our e30 LeMons car is 2250.

#200

91
150lb driver

  • very substantial cage, fire bottle, cool suit, spare tire, windows, full tanks
  • no sunroof cassette, all sound deadening removed, a/c removed, no power steering pump

that usually gets me to around 2715 after a 35 min race