Actual Weight of the US Rear Bumper

Last week I removed the spacer that goes between the rear bumper and the shock. Thought I weigh the bumper before I put it back. Almost 40 lbs. I didn't weigh the front bumper but I assume it's close to the rear.
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I think the front bumper is about 42lbs. I have only weighted it after packing it for shipping so I am guessing a bit.

 

Almost 90 lbs between the two bumpers, that's a lot of weight.

 

... and exactly where you don't want it.

 

And don't forget the bumper shocks, they weigh a good 3.5lbs each.

 

Man, if I could only get rid of all those weight, that's like gaining 5 to 10 HP more, I think.

 

For these car's HP/weight...if you got rid of the total 90 pounds it would be worth the equivalent of 7HP for acceleration purposes (has no effect on top speed). 7HP, would, at best, reduce the 1/4 mile time by one tenth of a second and increase the trap speed by .5 (one half) MPH.

I can see doing the work if you want to change the appearance but if you are doing it for HP, I wouldn't wast the time. There is no way to ever notice that change. 400 pounds of weight loss might be worth talking about but it's still pretty minimal HP-wise. Even that would not provide a 1 second improvement in the 1/4 and again, no affect on top speed.

Note - there is no set formula for how much weight change = one HP. It's varies depending on the power to weight of the particular vehicle. So dropping 100 lbs off a 3300 lb/240HP car is way different HP-wise than dropping 100 lbs from a motorcycle...or a tractor trailer!

 

You'll notice the difference if you start attacking corners

cheers

 

+++++ 1

 

Just curious, how much do the rear bumper spacers weigh?

 

i made a nice split bumper out of fiberglass and aluminum, weighs in at 7 pounds.
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That doesn't look bad at all. Do you have a pic taken from a more level or look down angle? Getting rid of the metal diaper didn't hurt, either, though it does a good job of covering up my Ansa exhaust.

BTW, where was the pic taken?

Doug

 

One tenth of a second doesn't sound like much, but if your car runs 14.05 baseline, then the tenth is HUGE!

 

Let's make it mandatory that all 308 guys with US bumpers get rid of them :>)
Cheers to all that are. Moving the center of mass inboard reduces the polar moment of inertia. IOW more nimble and easier to rotate--back to the original design.

 

heres a top angle. and a link to the thread on how i made it.

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/308-328/157153-308-split-rear-bumper-finished.html

my car is a euro, so there is no valence like the US cars.

pic was taken at red rocks ampitheater in colorado - for the Forza magazine shoot in 2010.
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Yep, all US cars should get rid of those goofy bumpers, you guys sure know how to ruin a good design !! euro style bumpers was the way Enzo made the car.

 

Blame the nanny government regulators. At least my car doesn't have an 85 MPH speedo like some later cars did.

Doug

 

and when you remove the exhaust.....another 35lbs.

Remove the spare in the tub...????

 

Imagine if we don't have to deal with the:
US bumpers, Catalytic, and air pump, US 308 would b e sweeet.

 

Since I moved to AZ, and have my car licensed as a collector car, I DON"T have to worry about cats, air pumps, or emissions at all, and have a wonderful new advance curve in my programmable dizzy.

That factory muffler with the cats was a boat anchor. The Anza exhaust took a lot of weight off the car.

If I ever put AC back on, it will be with a smaller lighter Sanden compressor, or something besides that heavy York.

Still have to do something about the bumpers, though.

Doug

 

I've already written this, but according to Dirk-Michael Conradt's book ("Autos, die Geschichte machten, die Ferrari 308/328") in the annexes whereof there are a lot of actually measured weights, of the whole 308/328 family the 308 GTS QV was the model most affected by weight increases in its American-market version: he gives 1506 kgs as measured weight with tanks full for a US-market GTS QV, against 1355 for an Euro version (not on the same day or same scale), which makes a 151 kgs difference, or 333 lbs.

Perhaps these figures are not absolutely exact, but they nevertheless gives an idea. It explains that, as I have just written a few days ago in the "Blu Scuro GTS i" thread, the measured performance figures of an US-Market QV are just a smidge better than those of an Euro 2 valve GTS"i".
Those 333 lbs are the culprit...

Rgds

 

Little things add up.

40 lbs here, 40 lbs there, 60 pounds over here, pretty soon you have some significant weight difference.

The aftermarket VOXX aluminum wheels I bought weigh significantly more than the stock Ferrari wheels. I haven't put them on a scale, but the fcar wheels seem light as a feather in comparison, but the VOXX wheels are also wider, and 17" OD vs 14". Unsprung weight is not my friend, but they didn't cost much.

Take weight off, put some back on....

Doug
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