Actual car weight

[Mike Rohaley]

What is the weight of your car (truely ready for the road, all fluids and full tank)? Also, what specifications (such as engine type, wheels and tires, CF parts). I have heard weights from high 1100's to high 1200's for a traditional chassis and nearly 1500 for an SV chassis.



Just curious, I will get mine weighed sometime soon here and add it to the list.     

[slngsht]

We should probably compare cars with all fluids, but empty gas tank, or full gas tank - (tank capacity * 8 lbs), so a car with a big tank does not get penalized. (Note: I *think* gas is 8 lbs/gallon, but I'm not sure)



My Rotus was 1670 lbs when I got her after the engine conversion. Since then she has lost some weight (I got rid of the steel gas tank, and some unnecessary engine components). She's about to lose some more weight when I go to cycle fenders.

After that, I'll weigh her again. I'm hoping to get into the 15xx range - still pretty heavy.

[slngsht]

Also, we should subtract the spare tire, since alot of guys run without them.

[Mike Rohaley]

That is part of the specification section, if you run your car without a spare or without a windscreen disclose it as such. Since you cannot run a car without gas we should assume full tanks or at least disclose how much was in the car at the time of scaling. We always used 7.5 lbs/per gallon when we scaled our karts.

[xflow7]

Caterham Classic

Clamshell fenders

1700 Crossflow (wet sump)

Type 9 'box

4-1 side exhaust

Std. (i.e. not alu) Radiator

Std. Rollbar

Windscreen

No heater

13" Minitors w/ 185-70R13 Michelin MXV (or something) and spare

Bench seats

no floor/tunnel carpets

Weather gear

~1/4-1/3 tank of gas



1150 lbs. weighed one end at a time on 4 bathroom scales



FWIW, the shockingly heavy bits:



Spare wheel/tire = 28.6 lbs

Bench Seats (2 bottoms + back) = 22 lbs.



Edited to say, aluminum is polished; i.e. none of that pesky, massive paint.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/images/emoticons/biggrin5.gif <edited><editID>xflow7</editID><editDate>2006-09-25 18:44:21</editDate></edited>

[stevet]

The shockingly heavy bit in mine is usually me http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/images/emoticons/thumbsup.gif

[powderbrake]

My 2004 WCM Ultralite was 1420 pounds, with about 8 gallons of gas. I went to a truck scale, and that was what it read. This is about 100 lbs over the advertised weight. I don't have a lot of faith in the truck scale reading accurately at that level, as it normally reads over 40,000 pounds, and likely has a rating of twice that.

That means my measurement was within 1 1/2 % of the capacity. Likely the friction in the scales is a significant number relative to the cars weight.



I am going to Run N Gun in October, and they will have a corner weighting seminar, so I plan to get a better reading at that time.



Regarding density of gasoline:

Water = 62.4 lb/ cubic ft or 1000kg/cubic meter

Gasoline = 737.22 lb/cubic meter

so gas is 73.7 % of the weight of water.



since 1 gallon of water = 128 fluid oz which is approximately 128 oz of weight, then 1 gal of water = 128/16=8 pounds



so, 73.7 % of 8 pounds is 5.9 pounds... or... gas weighs about 6 pounds per gallon.<edited><editID>powderbrake</editID><editDate>2006-09-26 07:47:38</editDate></edited>

[JohnCh]

When my Westfield SEiW was corner balanced with 4 gallons of fuel, it came in at 1238.5lb.



2.0L Duratec

Custom roll bar built for strength not light weight

Heavy 14” wheels (14lb/ea)

LSD

Type-9

Windscreen

MOG carbon fiber seats

No heater, spare, or carpets



-John

[slomove]

We did a cornerweight session with 4 Sevens a while ago with following results (names anonymized except my own). Since all weights were taken originally with driver I deducted what I believe may be their weight http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/images/emoticons/smile5.gif



Result was:



My own car (Birkin S3, Zetec/T9, 13" wheels with ACB10, no spare, 4 gal fuel, 20pound sump guard) :1338 pounds

Mr. C. (Caterham (Superlight ?), Duratec/T9, 13" wheels with ACB10, no spare, unknown fuel): 1310 pounds

Mr. S. (Birkin S3, Zetec/T9, 15" wheels with Toyos, with spare wheel, unknown fuel):1420 pounds

Mr. M. (Caterham SV, Zetec w/ supercharger&6-speed, 15" wheels??, no spare, unknown fuel): 1475 pounds

[slngsht]

I always thought superlights were in the 11xx lb range. http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/images/emoticons/confused5.gif

[slomove]

Yeah, we were all a bit surprised and part of a possible error may be my >super precision scale setup (http://home.earthlink.net/~slomove/id10.html) but I calibrated it and it should be good to some 5-10 pounds per corner. Unlikely that all corners are off in the same direction.



But, after all it is not a pro racing scale, maybe the tank was full and maybe I underestimated the driver weight http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/images/emoticons/biggrin5.gif http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/images/emoticons/biggrin5.gif



Gert



P.S.: a lot of the manufacturer's weight data seems to be anyway optimistic at best, bullshit at worst, measured with no fluid, etc.<edited><editID>slomove</editID><editDate>2006-09-26 19:48:23</editDate></edited>

[slngsht]

Rotus did the same thing... I think they said 1320 lbs or something, but the lightest customer car I've seen is Joe W's car at 1525 lbs. And his car does not have anything unnecessary on it (dedicated autox car).

[slngsht]

By the way, that scale setup rocks!

[solder_guy]

Rotus did the same thing... I think they said 1320 lbs or something, but the lightest customer car I've seen is Joe W's car at 1525 lbs. And his car does not have anything unnecessary on it (dedicated autox car).



The color Rotus brochure quotes 1237 lbs dry with a Toyota 3T engine.



Rob Mitchell, Atlanta, GA

[yellowss7]

My Caterham superlight weighed in at 1164 lbs. when I had it cornerweighted last year.



Dry sumped Rover K series

6 speed

Painted

MB Magnesium wheels

Avon CR500 tires

FIA Rollbar

Windscreen

4 gallons of gas

[stevet]

How did you get the Rover engine over here - not through Caterham I assume?

[yellowss7]

Ordered it through QED (Quorn Engineering Development)in the UK. Picked it up at customs. No issues. They were pretty easy to deal with. They have a few different levels of tune to suit your needs or wallet. Engine was complete, with mapping and dyno sheet. It's a nice light enging for the 7. Makes pretty good power too.

[Mike Rohaley]

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;I still have not run my car across a scale yet but I thought this would be interesting. The April/May 1997 issue of Sports Car International has a nice write-up of the Caterham Superlight Trophy Car. It came in at 946 lbs. (yes, 946)



Rover K-series (148hp, 115lbs.ft.torque)

Aluminum nosecone and standard fiberglass cycle fenders

Kart style fiberglass driver seat (no passenger seat)

No spare wheel

No spare wheel bracket

No windscreen

No wipers/motor

No foul weather gear

No paint (it saves 5 whole pounds!)

No heater

No lighting

Tach,fuel and water temp gauges only (no rockers either)

13x6 Panasports with 185/60R13's

On board fire system

Caterham 6 speed box



For me personally, that is a lot of no's. but if the goal is performance I suppose it would be worth it. I will not start yanking parts off my car any time soon to match as I kinda like being able to drive the car at night.....in the rain.....with a passenger (you know, performance robbing accomedations like that).



<edited><editID>Mike Rohaley</editID><editDate>2006-09-28 16:07:54</editDate></edited>

[yellowss7]

946 might be about right, as I have the windscreen,heater,paint,wipers,lighting,clams up front. MB wheels are alot lighter than the panasports. I'm still the heaviest item in the car. Although my K is tuned slightly higher with 196 BHP and 150 lb/ft torque. http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/images/emoticons/coolgleamA.gif <edited><editID>yellowss7</editID><editDate>2006-09-28 16:15:19</editDate></edited>

[JohnCh]

Fluke Motorsports has a >weght database (http://www.fluke-motorsport.co.uk/weight/index.html) available where users can submit weights of various components -- including entire cars. >Here (http://www.fluke-motorsport.co.uk/weight/result.php?componentsearch=Cars+%28complete%29&keyword=&sortby=componentManufacturer) are the results for the latter. Makes for interesting reading.



-John

[andrew7]

I just finished weighing my R1 powered locost, with windshield and wipers,emergency hand tools,electric air pump, 1/2 tank about 5 gal. Its street legal.

LF: 268

RF: 215

LR: 258

RR: 305

total 1046 lbs.

I was shooting for a 1000# during the build,pretty close.

[Dave W]

I made a similar lever arm scale to check corner wts. The one thing I found while playing with the scale, was that the readings where sensitive to the tire location on the lever arm. I would suggest marking a center line to help center the tire on the lever, or I put an guide on the inside so the tire is always set against it so it ends up in the same location. I like the added chair caster designed into the end of the arm.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Dave W http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/images/emoticons/yesnod.gif

[Keith]

Fully fueled up and ready for a blat down the back roads, mine tips the scales at 1300 lbs. I take the windshield off for track use but otherwise there's no change. That's a Miata-powered Locost weighed on a set of cornerweight scales.

[powderbrake]

My 2004 WCM Ultralite was 1420 pounds, with about 8 gallons of gas. I went to a truck scale, and that was what it read. This is about 100 lbs over the advertised weight. I don't have a lot of faith in the truck scale reading accurately at that level, as it normally reads over 40,000 pounds, and likely has a rating of twice that.

That means my measurement was within 1 1/2 % of the capacity. Likely the friction in the scales is a significant number relative to the cars weight.



I am going to Run N Gun in October, and they will have a corner weighting seminar, so I plan to get a better reading at that time.





I cornerweighted my car at Run N Gun and it was 1410 pounds. It turns out the truck scales were pretty accurate,so if you want to weigh your car, just stop at a truck scale.

[WestTexasS2K]

Jerry that weight is with you in the car. Mine is 1280 with a half a tank of fuel and me not in the car. But I have a few things on mine that you don't. Trailer hitch, cruise control and a little bigger fan assy. I think also my wheels are a few pounds heavier than your SSR. I think you are going to be close to 1240 with you out of the car.

[powderbrake]

Loren: I checked my paperwork from Run N Gun. You are right, when I cornerweighted my car I was in it, and it came out 1647, minus my 230 pounds, that's 1414 for the car. I may have had nearly a full 13 gallons of gas in it, I forget. Even subtracting all the gas, it's a 1400 pound car. I would have to take a lot of functional parts ( like wheels or transmission) off of it to get to 1240. Do you ahve a chrome moly frame? mine is mild steel.