Going to have to weigh my car after I get the fiberglass bumpers installed.

US cars have heavy door impact beams. Don't know if they are removable.

 

I wanted to ask why the concern about weight ? Your car is not going to be any faster in regards to what you are replacing . The 3x8s from the factory are already light in weight .Wouldnt you be better off making modifications to the motor, as in your aftermarket exhaust, or any of the mods that I see the specialists do on 3x8s.

Thank you

 

Hey if you decide to go to a Euro bumper let me know. My front bumper has a slight crack around the turn signal so I've been looking for one.

 

I believe bumpers alone are around 40-45 pounds each.......

 

I did not know there was 400 lbs of weight savings that you can achieve on a 3x8 !! My 89 is still strong, I dont think I will spend any money with regards to motor mods, I like the idea so to speak, but Im not willing to go through the ignition mods , I like the motors components to be all factory. I agree that the 308 / 328 s sub 300 HP from the factory is just not quite powerful enough. Im grateful that the drivers experience thats built into these cars out weighs the low HP numbers. A Tubi / test pipe / K & N , has given my car a little extra grunt .

Thank you

 

It will be interesting to see where you wind up. I have fiberglass bumpers, aluminum radiator, aftermarket parallel flow condenser, lightweight starter, slightly lighter than stock wheels, a Sanden compressor, but a full size battery. I have Verell's shock setup which I think saves from weight also. I'm at about 2750 pounds with the tanks half full and no spare.
I think even a hundred pounds weight savings make a difference. If not in outright performance, in the feel of the car.

 

When I remove my front and rear original US bumper to convert to Euro I weighed the originals bumpers and this is their weights.
Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

In the words of Colin Chapman/Lotus: “Simplify, then add lightness”
Less weight is huge...both my B and S have Euro bumpers (one is OEM)

 

Something to bear in mind when it comes to weight saving is: Weight distribution.

You can make a car as light as can be, but if you mess the weight distribution up, it'll be fast on the straights, and corner like a broken shopping trolley!

There's a reason why the pro's weigh each corner of the car

As for Colin Chapman, he didn't always get it right - Some of his race cars got a reputation for being unreliable, and even dangerous, due to his weight saving measures.

 

I read a bit on Colin Chapman when I had mine 78 Lotus Esprit. IIRC was afraid to return to Italy(?) for some time as he faced murder charges after one of his drivers died following one of Chapmans “make it lighter” ventures.

 

From a handling and acceleration point of view, losing 40lbs off both ends is a good idea. Moment of inertia.

 

Talking weight reduction

Us bumpers to ultralight (4lbs) ones
Doors ( 75+lbs eacht) to 15lbs glassfibre ones
Door and quarter glass to lexan
Complete front and rear clip replaced by glassfibre
Seats replaces by carbon buckets
Brake calipers from an F360
Removed top liner
New ultralight center console
3pcs compomotives
Light exhaust
Removed pop up light mechanics
Glass fibre hood and bonnet
Replaced stock shocks by aluminium ones

Probably some more..


Added a turbo setup. Needles to say, the car drives COMPLETLY different than my 328..
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

I’ve been keeping a running tab of weight savings as I’ve restored my car over the years. Here’s the rundown, for reference:

Cats 8.4lbs
Ac compressor 23.6lbs
OEM Muffler (45.6) to Ansa (36.8), savings =8.8lbs NOTE: got the Ansa spec from someone else here, sounds a bit heavy to me

Remove spare tire: 35.8lbs
Gear reduction starter = net savings of 9.7lbs
Oem Radiator (27.8lbs) to aluminum (13.6lbs)
= 14.2lbs savings
-100.5 lbs TOTAL

PLUS:
Remove and store tool kit and jack bag (didn’t weigh)
Smog equipment delete
- pump (didn’t weigh)
- injection rails (didn’t weigh)
- sphere canister (didn’t weigh)
- charcoal canisters - kept
- Aluminum coolant tank (didn’t weigh)
- Exhaust header heat shields (didn’t weigh, but next to nothing).

- OEM Euro rear bumper: 8.4lbs (including attachment posts). Haven’t installed yet to weigh vs OEM.
- Still working on sourcing a front, so ??