Reduce Rotating Mass & Unsprung Weight

[2021 Mach 1]

I gotta slim down my Mach 1. I already swapped out the factory hood for a carbon fiber replacement. But now I need to go to the next level. I'm thinking Lightweight Series Velgen wheels, DBA two-piece brake rotors and QA1 carbon fiber driveshaft. I cannot delete the rear seats and my standard front seats are too comfy to change as well.

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[MiamiGT350]

What about a lighter water pump pulley? The one from MMR is quite a bit lighter.

 

[2021 Mach 1]

What about a lighter water pump pulley? The one from MMR is quite a bit lighter.

I never thought of that. Thank you.

 

[First Stang]

If we could only get rid of the telematics……probably worth 10 lbs….Kidding aside, how much weight savings did you gain from the hood swap?

 

[Dave2013M3]

I gotta slim down my Mach 1. I already swapped out the factory hood for a carbon fiber replacement. But now I need to go to the next level. I'm thinking Lightweight Series Velgen wheels, DBA two-piece brake rotors and QA1 carbon fiber driveshaft. I cannot delete the rear seats and my standard front seats are too comfy to change as well.

You're on the right track. Those boat anchors for wheels are a huge downer. One of the reason I believe the Mach1 showed no better acceleration times over a standard GT. Which Velgen wheels? They weigh more than their SVE counterparts. The QA1 DS I would probably skip...you are asking for problems and the amount of weight it saves may not be worth it. You can also save some static weight with reducing the weight from the exhaust. The factory exhaust weighs a ton. You can save another 25lbs by going with an X Pipe and a lighter axle back.


My base 300a PP1 car with just the savings of the wheel and tires made the car feel lighter on its feet. The wheels and tires along with the rotors can save an easy 70lbs of rotational mass and another 25+lbs with the exhaust. My 300a car is now down to 3720lbs.

How much weight did the hood save?

 

[2021 Mach 1]

If we could only get rid of the telematics……probably worth 10 lbs….Kidding aside, how much weight savings did you gain from the hood swap?

I spent over $2,000 and saved about 9 lbs on the hood.

 

[2021 Mach 1]

You're on the right track. Those boat anchors for wheels are a huge downer. One of the reason I believe the Mach1 showed no better acceleration times over a standard GT. Which Velgen wheels? They weigh more than their SVE counterparts. The QA1 DS I would probably skip...you are asking for problems and the amount of weight it saves may not be worth it. You can also save some static weight with reducing the weight from the exhaust. The factory exhaust weighs a ton. You can save another 25lbs by going with an X Pipe and a lighter axle back.


My base 300a PP1 car with just the savings of the wheel and tires made the car feel lighter on its feet. The wheels and tires along with the rotors can save an easy 70lbs of rotational mass and another 25+lbs with the exhaust. My 300a car is now down to 3720lbs.

How much weight did the hood save?

I was looking at these 24 lbs Velgens, are they okay?
Velgen Mustang Classic5 V2 Wheel - 20x10 - Gloss Bronze | (05-24) (lmr.com)

Why is the carbon driveshaft a bad idea?

Thanks

 

[nnnnnn]

I spent over $2,000 and saved about 9 lbs on the hood.

Why not make more power instead of hood replacements. You will benefit more with lighter wheels, very good and lighter brakes and rotors. Please don't put motorcycle brakes on your car or drag racing brakes, not safe for street driving.

Anyway, it's hard to justify or comprehend a 9lb weight saving when even you as a driver can easily gain that weight in less than a month with food lol. Rotational weight savings make sense.


When I was running 91 octane, my car weighed 4000lbs with full tank of 91 and stock premium brakes.

After going with Wildwoods and switching to E85, full tank of gas, car still weighs 4000lbs. Now you might think nothing changed but you would be wrong to assume so. E85 is denser than gasoline and weighs more, so I counteracted that weight increase from full tank of ethanol with unsprung and rotational weight reduction and even more suspension parts, if it makes sense.

 

[2021 Mach 1]

Why not make more power instead of hood replacements. You will benefit more with lighter wheels, very good and lighter brakes and rotors. Please don't put motorcycle brakes on your car or drag racing brakes, not safe for street driving.

Anyway, it's hard to justify or comprehend a 9lb weight saving when even you as a driver can easily gain that weight in less than a month with food lol. Rotational weight savings make sense.

maybe you're right, the hood was stupid and i wasted my money. now i feel stupid.

 

[nnnnnn]

maybe you're right, the hood was stupid and i wasted my money. now i feel stupid.

We all live and learn.

 

[M1N]

These cars definitely need to go on a diet. Little things I did to lose some weight for the track was everything comes out of the trunk including the speaker, rear seats are gone, around 32 pounds, I don’t drive it in the rain so windshield wiper fluid is gone and also the windshield wipers, a braille battery lost about 14 pounds, project six GR wheels lost about 38 pounds. I would say close to 100 pounds!

 

[Dave2013M3]

I was looking at these 24 lbs Velgens, are they okay?
Velgen Mustang Classic5 V2 Wheel - 20x10 - Gloss Bronze | (05-24) (lmr.com)

Why is the carbon driveshaft a bad idea?

Thanks

The driveshaft seems to be hit or miss on vibrations and NVH. Also a lot of money for the benefit. I run the SVE X500 in 19X10 ET35 24lbs and 19X11 ET50 23.2lbs. My car is down to a tad over 3700lbs with 3/4 a tank of fuel.

 

[2021 Mach 1]

The driveshaft seems to be hit or miss on vibrations and NVH. Also a lot of money for the benefit. I run the SVE X500 in 19X10 ET35 24lbs and 19X11 ET50 23.2lbs. My car is down to 3700lbs with 3/4 a tank of fuel.

I wish my car looked half as good as yours

 

[NightmareMoon]

Weight loss is pretty expensive route to go if your goal is straight line speed. Its a good thing if overall performance is your goal because it helps the tires perform in general, so cornering and braking get better too.

< $50 a pound isnt too bad, there are a few things in that range. $100 and more per lb gets kinda rough. Wheels are unsprung AND rotating, so they’re a good place to look if you can keep the price per pound low enough. Driveshaft is rotating but not the kind of benefits that the wheels get because while its rotating, its moment of interia is still pretty compact around its center.

OTOH, a +200hp blower can get you more straight line speed than a *infinite* budget for lighter parts with stock power.

Anyway, if you line up the price per pound and then sort your mods by that, you can pick the best choices.

Too bad seats and rear seat delete are off the list, those (and carbon fiber doors) are some of the best ways to loose weight. If you delete the radio, speakers and AC thats basically free weight loss.

Anyway, lightening is a really expensive way to go.

 

[Dave2013M3]

I wish my car looked half as good as yours

Thanks for the kind words.

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