# weight reduction ideas ... battery?



## necro (Jul 1, 2005)

Lighter weight wheels are suppose to help performance, so that's on my list of things to get when I have the money.

Besides the usual carbon fiber hoods/trunks/fenders, which I cannot afford right now, I've been thinking over other ways to shave weight off my car for my daily commuter, which is an 96 200sx se-r.

The most obvious, what I don't use I don't need, since I never carry more than 1 passenger I don't need the rear seatings. I have removed the rear seating assembly (-34 lbs), rear seat belt retractors which I cannot currently remove (-8 lbs).

Then, I've been looking at lighter-weight battery for the car. I saw an brand on ebay "Oddyssey" battery, which weighs in at about 15 lbs. Oddyssey Specs compared to the weight of a normal battery at 35-40 lbs. (-20 lbs) 

I am wondering if anyone has an battery like this for their car and how it performs. I'm a newbie when it comes to cars, so I don't know the tradeoffs, is there anything I should be aware of?


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## wildmanee (Nov 21, 2004)

People have used those odysseys fine before, and it's great how their non-liquid, so you can mount them wherever you want. Some are concerned however with their CCA capacity (which is supposedly 600 or so for the first 3-4 seconds of cranking) and then somewhere around 200 after that. Search up on the odyssey batteries, there's a lot of threads with them with a lot of good info.


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## thestunts200sx (Jul 11, 2005)

I wouldnt worry to much about weight reduction right now.

If you want performance...look into a HS header, CAI, exhaust..underdrive pulley.....cams....ecu reprogram/chip ...those kinda things....

A CF hood will usually shed like 13-15 lbs....which isnt alot, but enough.

Lighter wheels would definately help....but look into performance upgrades, compared to a stripped car.

And I wouldnt worry about the battery....

Check www.sentra.net for ideas....


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## Slayer2003 (Jun 4, 2003)

It's really hard after a bit to weight reduce to gain a faster car. I remember reading something either in SCC or another mag, where it's almost 2-4 hp for every 100lbs you take off.


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## thestunts200sx (Jul 11, 2005)

thats interesting.....Hmmm, thanx for the knowledge...

But besides doors, hood , trunk and rims....what else can you save on weight ??


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## chimmike (Oct 17, 2002)

nothing really. it takes something like 100lbs to equal 1hp.

you could always do ultra light wheels....ligh flywheel


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## necro (Jul 1, 2005)

Yeah, I read it somewhere in the forum that for each pound reduced on the wheels is equivalent to 10 lbs removed from body of car ... explaination was something about rotational force of wheels.

I only come up with these ghetto wierd-ass weight reduction ideas because I know that my car is limited on potential, so I'd rather not invest anything in it ... maybe later on when I buy a 240sx. My car is still entirely stock performance-wise, I did put in a cd changer & better speakers to make my commute a bit more enjoyable.

My current car (96 200sx se-r) being a FF car, it's probably better to remove weight from the rear of the car anyway. (slightly better traction/ pickup speed? I don't know, please correct me if I'm wrong ... cause I'm a newbie about these things) And it serves performance purposes equivalent to buying CF parts (except for CF trunk).

I figured that I can always put the seats back in when I sell the car, and move the lightweight battery to the new car. I gotta do some research on the wheels. (would be great if they're interchangable between my car and 240sx) Racing seats can also reduce some lbs, but I don't know by how much ... since you do have to install an extra metal bracket for the seats.


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## necro (Jul 1, 2005)

thestunts200sx said:


> I wouldnt worry to much about weight reduction right now.
> 
> If you want performance...look into a HS header, CAI, exhaust..underdrive pulley.....cams....ecu reprogram/chip ...those kinda things....
> 
> ...


Hey, I was wondering ... would any of the performance parts you mentioned be interchangable between my car and a 240sx? or are they specific for each vehicle model?


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## xbrandonx (Mar 27, 2004)

necro said:


> Yeah, I read it somewhere in the forum that for each pound reduced on the wheels is equivalent to 10 lbs removed from body of car ... explaination was something about rotational force of wheels.
> 
> I only come up with these ghetto wierd-ass weight reduction ideas because I know that my car is limited on potential, so I'd rather not invest anything in it ... maybe later on when I buy a 240sx. My car is still entirely stock performance-wise, I did put in a cd changer & better speakers to make my commute a bit more enjoyable.
> 
> ...


First off the flywheel is more like 20-25 lbs then it is 10. And the SE-R has alot of potential. Check out the project on NPM. 

As for batteies have you looked at hawker? I'm not sure about the specs on them, but I know they make a lightweight battery.


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## Slayer2003 (Jun 4, 2003)

if you have alot of time, strip the sound deadener from the entire car. theres a good 15-25 lbs right there.


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## thestunts200sx (Jul 11, 2005)

Do not remove the sound deadener....youll get annoyed after awhile and hear ever single thing on the road, in the car and anythign else....NOT RECOMMENDED>

And nothing from the SE-r would swap to the 240, atleast I dont think so.....only thing I could think of possibly getting away with would be the CAI.

Well...The SE-R does have alot of potential.....lots and lots of it....there a few se-r's out there that'll smoke so many people, its ridiculous.

Have you looked at www.sentra.net its a great resource, and youll find a lot of things in there...

I wouldnt lighten just the rear,....I'd try and do it as equal as possible all the way around.

There a few tips and tricks you can do to gain power....

First off, if you want to see a big differance, Id suggest doing the following ::

Oil change, transmission fluids flush, radiator flush, fuel filter replacement, air filter replacement ( if not going CAI ). Alignment, brake job, and tire PSI check, distrubtor replacement and rotor replacement, plugs and wires.

All those will play in your mileage per mile and overall performance...

Also, if you use a radiator cap off a 300zx, itll help, as well as use redline water wetter, itll dramtically decrease ur cooling effiency.


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