Re: scirocco weight thread

["the mad bastard" <the-mad-bastard@home.com>]

> No offense Mad Bastard but...
>
> ------You Wrote---------------------------------------------
> hehe, anything to shave a coupla pounds.  it all adds up, you know.
actually,
> my big thing now is removable poundage.  i
> want to have some pleasures on the street (stereo, weighty
> rims), but for the track, i want everything to be a quick-disconnect kinda
thing,
> so i can maximize myefforts.
> -------------------------------------------------------------
>
> And to that I say...pshaw! You plan on drag racing this for
> big money?

    absolutely not.  i actually rerain from racing for money.

> You plan to be under 12 seconds?

    it'd be nice, but it won't be happening unless i throw a turbo and/or
NOS on there.  for myself, i'm hoping to have approximately 175hp in an
1800lb car.  that *should* be able to nudge me into the high 13s, or at
least the low 14s.  if i can afford some proper rims and slicks, then i
think that i might be able to do it.

> Every time you shed 100lbs you take off 0.1 seconds,

    on what car?  a FWD?  RWD?  AWD?  how much did the car weigh initially?
if you take 100lbs off a stang, you will probably not se as much of a gain
in performance as you would in a mk1 rocco.  for arguments' sake, let's say
that the stang weighs 3400lbs and has 225hp.  power to weight is 15.1hp/lb.
if you take 100lbs off that, then you're looking at apower to weight ratio
of about 14.7hp/lb.  if you have a mk1 rocco that weighs, for arguments'
sake again, 2000lb and has 90hp.  the PTW ratio is 22.2hp/lb.  take 100lbs
off that, and yer looking at 21.1hp/lb.  now, i'm too tired to start getting
into working out percentages and estimated 1/4 mile times and whatnot, but
already i can see a definite difference here.

    my point of all this is that IMHO the "shed 100lbs for 0.1 sec" is
something that the V8 boys talk about and everyone else adopts and says as
well.  all us euro and import children see much bigger gains from such
weight loss.

> IF you can even get your car into the 14s while keeping it street legal
0.1 or 0.2
> seconds wont matter worth a darn anyway because you'll be
> bracket racing.

    i'm afraid that i don't know what bracket racing is.  i've done most of
my racing on the street, and only had 3 separate occasions on the strip.  my
last time out, i managed a 14.74, 14.75, 14.79, and a 15.1 with a mis-shift
into third gear.  the mods that i made to the car for that event were as
follows: lowered tire pressure in 14" front wheels (185-60-14 A520s);
overpressurized 13" vw tarantula wheels in the back; no rear bumper; and no
carpet, no back seats, and no passenger seat.  seems pretty street legal to
me, ryan.

> There isn't much removable poundage on the mk1 unless you make
> it non steet legal. By the time you MAYBE shed 100lbs, I'll bet
> you add that back in sway and stress bars.

    street trim vs. track trim are 2 different things in my book (maybe
that's where the whole bracket racing thing comes in?).  when i race on the
street this year, i'll most likely have myself a stereo and a bunch of other
little things.  but when it's time to hit the track, she'll lose the stereo
and interior bits that add extra weight.  that's how i've always been.  if i
got a big race on the street, i'll go home and take out some of the big
things.  it's worked for me thus far.

> So why bother?

    why bother putting all kinds of time and money into a car that's 20
years old, when that same amount of money will get you a thing that's more
reliable?  because.  that's why.

> I said unless you plan to race it for big money and replace all
> the glass with lexan, body panels with sheet metal, lightweight
> axels (front and rear) aluminum a-arms, no dash, 1 racing seat,
> then maybe youll have shed 300lbs and be a third of a second
> faster wich would be noticable.

    a third of a second?  it must've been hot the day you wrote this reply,
cuz by my calculations, taking 300lbs off my car that weighs about 2000lbs
will make me run about 13.2 or so.  that's a pretty fierce time if you ask
me!  there comes a point in racing where every tenth of a second costs you
exponentially more than the last.  this is the way it goes...

    the bumpers probably weigh 80lbs total.  the seats are about 20lbs each.
there's 100lbs, assuming i keep the driver's seat in there.  just to clarify
my original stance, i recall saying that 300lbs was not a number that i
expected to remove, but would be possible with a lot of work.

> You want fun on and off the road i personally think you should
> be thinking more of weight distribution not sheding to tune your
> car for auto-x or road racing.

    i like the idea of being somewhere in the middle.  i don't expewct to
win every race, but i wanna make sure that i can at least compete.

> Unless yer putting out 200+hp
> and are getting low 13s or better whats the point of dragging,

    becaue most cats with an import is running anywhere from mid13 to low15.
if i can nudge myself past that, then i've done something special.  if i can
get my car to bounce off the limiter in 5th gear, then i've done something
different.  if i can wax people on the autoX track, then i'm opening
people's eyes to the joys of dubbing.

    i love my dubs, and i love what they do for me.

> I see hondas all day running 14s 15s 16s and i just laugh at them. But
thrasing
> my 120hp (17s 1/4 mi) rocco around a corner faster than a new GTi VR6 is
the
> shit!!

    so we do share something in common.

> I don't mean to start a drag vs auto-x because i love both
> but man, be realistic, sacrificing a noisier/harsher/ uncomfortable ride
for
> the difference betwn 15.7 to a 15.6 drag
> time is pointless. If you want to have much faster times, add
> more power, reducing a few lbs doesnt make a difference worth
> it.

    it's funny, ryan.  i've been on this list for about as long as you, and
you've never seen any posts of me and my racing exploits?  shit, it's not
like i hide it or anything.  where've you been?

> I mean its going to be kinda silly if, on a daily driver you sacrifice
100lbs
> in safety material but still race with +200
> lbs in sway bars and stress bars and any interior, and anything but donut
spare
> tires on the rear

    once again, you miss the point.  it's the ability to transform the
vehicle from daily driver with a sound system and other things that float my
boat to a fully stripped race machine in 10 minutes.  and where'd you get
200lbs?  i'd be surprised if i added more than 90lbs.

> I plan on dragging my roc once i get the G60 done, and MAYBE if
> I get under 14s, I'll invest in some good drag slicks and light
> alloy racing rims, and maybe some NOS to push me in the 11-12s
> range to win the big money. But you bet i'll still have a head
> unit and speakers and amps, and sway bars and stress bars so I
> can enjoy my ride to and from the race.

    so you wanna be like me?  that's cool, man.  thanks.

jason
the mad bastard


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