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AnorexicSTI - 05 STI Lightweight w/ "full interior" - 2660lbs - 62 lbs to 2598!

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#1 · (Edited)
AnorexicSTI - 05 STI Lightweight w/ "full interior" - 2660lbs - 62 lbs to 2598!

The theme of my car and journal is weight reduction. I was formerly known as the "King of weight reduction" in my Honda days. I've always believed weight reduction is the best way to achieve better performance, because it helps in every respect - acceleration, braking, cornering, and also reduces wear due to less stress on components. My original goal when I started this journal was to get the car down to 2899 lbs with driver and 30-35L of gas. I weigh 165 lbs, 170 lbs with clothing and shoes. Therefore, the goal was roughly 2729 without driver. At the time, I thought that was achievable only by removing the passenger seat for track days, but I now think that is achievable with a fully functional interior including a stereo. The only functional things I've removed from the interior are the middle rear seat belt, the rear center pass through (CDN models came with it), sunvisors (can be added back in for road trips), grab handles, and the rear speakers.

New goal as of July 2007 is 2699 without driver and 30-35L of gas!!

New goal as of Sept 5th, 2007 is 2698 without drivine and 30-35L of gas! I decided this because I learned the wet weight is 3298 and I wanted to achieve 600 lbs of weight reduction!!

Table of Contents for the most relevant posts
Post 2 - Weight Reduction List
Post 4 - Weights of Aftermarket Parts
Post 5 - Weights of OEM Parts
Post 6 - Weight Breakdown of some Aftermarket Parts

Posts with pictures in them
1. Post 194 has some pics of the engine bay with the battery removed
2. Post 195 has some pics of my APR wing with Spec C trunk
3. Post 196 has some pics of my OMP Kubic steering wheel, NRG quick release, and custom steering column lowering job
4. Post 197 has some pics of my OMP Comfort Seats and 1 more of my OMP steering wheel for fun
5. Post 210 has some diameters for the stock exhaust manifold and gaskets
 
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#180 · (Edited)
Ok I changed out the rear swaybar to COBB... here is some more weight reduction I found when doing the rear swaybar.

1. Rear license plate screw tab holder - 0.25 lbs. When you screw in the rear license plate, there are these 2 round tabs that "expand" as you screw in the screw to keep it in place. However, when you unscrew it, these can fall out... there is this "tab" in the back that holds these in... it weighs 1/4 lb... I took it out. When I unscrew the license plate, I just have to keep in mind that the 2 round tabs will fall on the groud or put my finger on it to prevent that. No biggie and worth the 1/4 lb savings.
RIGHT
2. Stock rear swaybar is 8.25 lbs. COBB is 7 lbs. Saved 1.25 lbs there.

3. Stock rear D-bracket, bushings, and bolts 0.25 lbs. Same as COBB.

4. Stock rear D-bracket bracket (if that makes sense!) 0.75 lbs. COBB adjustable is 1 lb, so I gained 0.25 lbs there.

5. Left rear muffler hanger with hanger - 0.5 lbs. I didn't do this one on purpose. What happened was after the Group N install, with the added NVH and the motion having to be "tranferred" elsewhere, the zip tie I had holding left rear muffler hanger I had broke. I didn't even notice this for almost 2 weeks... no ill effects... it was just hanging there upside down from the COBB muffler. What I did was replace the right REAR muffler hanger with a COBB one (I have all 4, but only used 2 at the front and middle connections due to heavy NVH from using all 4 - I used the 2 stock rubber ones in the rear) and tried to move it back and forth... seemed pretty damn tight to me... so for now, I left it off...the middle hanger prevents the muffler from moving enough to the left to come off of the right rear hanger...and they are so close together that I think the 4th becomes a BIT redundant... I will monitor it and if it becomes a problem I will put the left rear back on with TWO zip ties this time.

6. Charcoal canister rear bracket - 1 lb. I found an ingenious way to zip tie everything to the tow hook location... there is another 0.75 lbs to be saved in the FRONT as well if the whole metal hose bracket assembly is replaced with flexible hose only... I tried and this is possible... but difficult with the stock hoses... because what happens is the canister ends up being lower and will get in the way of the diffuser I have planned for the car... so for now, I'm living with the 0.75 lb bracket :).
 
#183 ·
So you removed your airbag? Are you doing much daily driving? How much weight do you have that you can lose, that sounds easiest :) I agree with your idea though, it is cheaper to make a lighter car than add power and expensive suspension modification.

Might want to think about getting rid of just 1 of the 4 pistons, or the turbo... it's probably not super light ;)

Keep it up man.
 
#184 ·
La Mer said:
quick question anorexic... was your header coated silver as advertised?
No it was black... but at this point, I've waited 5 weeks... and I dunno if it's worth the trouble sending it back to get silver... I give up... I just want my gaskets.

It just better actually be JET HOT as advertised and not some other crap... is there a way to check?
 
#185 ·
osbjmg said:
So you removed your airbag? Are you doing much daily driving? How much weight do you have that you can lose, that sounds easiest :) I agree with your idea though, it is cheaper to make a lighter car than add power and expensive suspension modification.

Might want to think about getting rid of just 1 of the 4 pistons, or the turbo... it's probably not super light ;)

Keep it up man.
I'm already tall and thin... over 6 ft and 165 lbs... goal is to get to 160 lbs... or 164 lbs with shoes and clothing... and then to get the car to 2735 lbs... for a 2899 total when at the track with a half tank of gas.

I've never been a fan of airbags.... 17 years of accident free driving... we never had airbags before... so I don't need one now... my safe driving is my airbag. A tiny aftermarket wheel makes the car soooo much more pleasurable to drive.
 
#186 · (Edited)
AnorexicSTI said:
No it was black... but at this point, I've waited 5 weeks... and I dunno if it's worth the trouble sending it back to get silver... I give up... I just want my gaskets.

It just better actually be JET HOT as advertised and not some other crap... is there a way to check?

well.. mine came in a Jet Hot box, with a Jet Hot "care package". which was a folder with "how to take care of your header" type stuff, and a Jet Hot sticker. :notsure: i figure it's legit. i have pics of the header if you want them.

EDIT: i put my pics in your header thread.
 
#188 ·
La Mer said:
well.. mine came in a Jet Hot box, with a Jet Hot "care package". which was a folder with "how to take care of your header" type stuff, and a Jet Hot sticker. :notsure: i figure it's legit. i have pics of the header if you want them.

EDIT: i put my pics in your header thread.
Coming to think of it, my box was Jet Hot... but I did not get the Jet Hot care package... nor did I get the sticker... or maybe I just didn't look hard enough... I just remember my header being wrapped in some white foam type of material... where was your booklet and sticker located?
 
#189 ·
MR. STi said:
umm wat crank pulley do u have anorexic ??
COBB blue... but I plan to go custom soon... since I don't run the stock AC (I have a plan for a custom 2 lb lightweight AC system next summer), I can eliminate the extra pulley on the main pulley... or maybe I should just machine my COBB one... I wonder if these are "balanced" at all by COBB... if so, I should probably just leave it as is...
 
#190 ·
AnorexicSTI said:
Coming to think of it, my box was Jet Hot... but I did not get the Jet Hot care package... nor did I get the sticker... or maybe I just didn't look hard enough... I just remember my header being wrapped in some white foam type of material... where was your booklet and sticker located?

you know what, now that i think about it, i think it was taped with the shipping info where the GruppeS invoice was. on the outside of the box. I THINK. not 100% sure. i'd have to check it out when i got home.
 
#191 ·
La Mer said:
you know what, now that i think about it, i think it was taped with the shipping info where the GruppeS invoice was. on the outside of the box. I THINK. not 100% sure. i'd have to check it out when i got home.
Ok I think I still have it then... I will check next time I'm at my warehouse in the US where the box is. Thanks.
 
#192 ·
Neodynium magnets are installed!

As per Rodent's suggestion on the magnets to replace the trunk springs, the link he provided for a 1" square by 1/2" thick magnet wasn't to my satisfaction. See below for original link:

http://www.iwsti.com/forums/showthread.php?t=65229&highlight=trunk+magnet

What I did was remove the 2 rubber "spongy" stoppers that prevent metal to metal contact between the trunk arms and the top area of the trunk. The diameter of these is about 3/4" (and 1/2" thick) whereas the width of the trunk arm is about 0.93"... so what I did is I went to the local tool store that sells neodynium magnets... they came in 0.75" diameter by 1/8" thick in a pack of 5 and also in 1" dia by 1/8" thick.

I tried the 3/4" dia first since they were the same diameter as the stoppers... they worked! BUT.... I needed 5 on each side... 10 total... if I removed the group of 5 from 1 side, the trunk would fall... if there was any kind of wind, the trunk would fall... so I decided to try the 1"... put ONE SIDE of 5 on (essentially a big 1" dia by 5/8" thick magnet) and the trunk stayed put! So the 2nd side of 5 makes it even stronger.

I also observed the contact being made and it appears 5/8" is probably almost the perfect thickness to get the trunk arm and contact area "parallel" when the trunk is open to maximize contact with the magnets. I would NOT go with 1/2" total thickness as that is too thin... if I had to choose between 3/4" and 1/2", I would go with 3/4"... the perfect thickness is probably 11/16" to keep the 2 metal contact points perfectly parallel, but this could also depend on manufacturing tolerances and mounting of each individual trunk arm at the Subaru factory...

Final suggestion:
1. Get 1" dia magnets (even though the are about 1/16" bigger than the trunk arm, they fit in that little "round flat" spot where the stoppers hit PERFECTLY..

2. If they come in 1/8" thickness, get 5 or 6 of them per side... I got 5 per side only because they were sold in packs of 5 at the store I bought them from and NOT individually. You can play with using 5 or 6 to suit your needs, but either way, even if the angle is off a BIT, they will hold your CF or aluminum trunk up just fine. My APR wing added 8 lbs... so if you are wingless, you will be just fine.

3. If they come in 1/4" thickness, get 3 of them per side.
 
#193 ·
Updated 1st page with weights for undertray, starter, cables, and some misc wiring brackets on top of the tranny (took 2 hours to remove those... :eek: ... what I do to save 1/4 lb :rolleyes: )... it took so long because you can't get a socket on there and have to remove the IC, pitch mount, some wiring, and also the clutch lines to make room... then, once u loosen with a 14mm wrench, you need to TURN IT BY FINGER because after a while, the wrench no longer reaches the end because the firewall is in the way! Furthermore, on 1 side, a 17mm bolt gets in the way! So that needs to be removed by wrench loosening and by hand as well!!! The only other time this would be easy to remove is to pull the tranny... but i plan to do my clutch by pulling the engine forward...so this was a good time as any to do those brackets... I am relocating my battery so that's why I had the IC off and thought what the heck, I wanna do these... I think these are the final 2 brackets in the whole car.... oh wait, I think I have a few TINY ones in the back by the trailing arm and also the gas tank fill nozzle... THEN I will be done with the 0.25 to 1 lb brackets...

I lubricated the threads with grease to ease rethreading and unthreading if there is a next time (hopefully not!).
 
#194 ·
Here are some pics of my engine bay with the battery relocated, the tranny bellhousing wiring brackets removed (replaced with zip ties) and the battery cable going through where the AC dump tube used to be. I covered it with a few pieces of Aluminum tape to shield it from the heat of the downpipe. My engine bay is NOT as dirty as it looks in these pics. I had just cleaned it... My garage has poor lighting and my 8 year old camera SUCKS... for whatever reason, it makes everything look really dirty... it's like the flash reflects off every little piece of dust and makes it look terrible... :p





 
#196 · (Edited)
Here are some pics of the Autospeed dead pedal installed. It is way too thick IMO... they could have made this 1-2mm thinner and had a lighter cheaper to produce product that was better for the end consumer. Furthermore, the area where the 2 plastic "pop it" pieces that hold it down is thicker than stock by double... :confused: :rolleyes: I don't get it... it's such an easy piece to engineer and they got it wrong.. why not make it the same thickness as stock??? This means that less of the pop it piece is in the floorboard... which will make it easier to come out... I may have to get my machinist to machine it down... maybe I should come out with my own... Anorexic version. :D

Pics 3-5 are of my steering wheel... again, I JUST cleaned my car and it looks very clean, but my stupid camera makes it look like the top of my steering wheel is FILTHY... damn this pisses me off. You guys will all think I'm a filthy pig or something... The pic of the top of the steering wheel got captured wrong... when I looked through the lense, it showed that you could see ALL the guages and lights above the top of the D-shaped wheel. I have it custom lowered by 65mm long bolts with 2 washers, and 2 "lock nuts" (see pic 4)... this allows me to lower it another 1.25" lower than stock (translates to about 2.5" at the actual wheel) to enable me to see all the gauges and also have it in an optimum position to reduce arm fatigue while driving (elbows get to rest on my stomach when my hands in the 8 and 4 position on the wheel).









 
#197 ·
Here are some pics of the way my OMP seats are mounted. They are mounted VERY low on the car, which is just perfect for me (I'm 6'1"). I have 6-7" of headroom now! Plus, I like the feeling of being low in the car.... it allows me to feel what the car is doing better... having sliders adds unnecessary flex and a "noodly" feeling. Again, the seats are 100% clean... I have no idea why my camera makes everything look like sh$t.

Pic 3 is 1 more pic of my steering wheel for fun.





 
#198 ·
Got my homelink mirror installed. It weighs 1.25 lbs BARE, but the hardware and bracket weigh 0.25 lbs... stock is only 0.5 lbs, so I actually GAINED 1 lb... HOWEVER, my garage door opener weighs 0.25 lbs, so net gain was only 0.75 lbs for a very functional mirror. It's actually BIGGER than stock, which I really like... you can see both corners of the rear glass... the compass, autodimming, and homelink more than makeup for the 0.75 lbs of added weight...
 
#200 ·
RAS_STI said:
take out the front windshield and wear some goggles.

- 80lbs for the glass and + .00018 lbs for the glasses. FTW
Thin STI lightweight glass weighs 25 lbs at most (my thick honda windshield was only 30)... and adds a ton of drag if removed.... not to mention bugs in the mouth at speed.... at least my eyes will be protected with those 0.00018 lb glasses!

FTL! ;) :lol:
 
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