turbofish38
Le Pétomane
- Joined
- Dec 3, 2002
factory lightweight
- Thread starter scottk
- Start date
blipmode188
Member
- Joined
- Jun 28, 2007
lightweight
Well put I didnt realize these cars weighed that little.
73lbs difference is about 1/2 tank of gas difference between the two cars,
loaded or stripped.
Ill just keep my heavy weight car on a 1/4 tank of gas.
Steve :smile:
Well put I didnt realize these cars weighed that little.
73lbs difference is about 1/2 tank of gas difference between the two cars,
loaded or stripped.
Ill just keep my heavy weight car on a 1/4 tank of gas.
Steve :smile:
87 Grand national factory light weight 3380 lbs
hey guys i have been doing a bit of reading and see you guys talking about factory light weights.. well it got me thinking about my 87 GN it has no power options at all .. no tilt sterring , cruse control or remote mirror, no power seats or windows or door locks its got nothing .. the only thing it has is A/C thats it... so anyway i decided to take it down to the local grain elivators and have it weighed on the truck scales my car come out weighing a total of 3380 lbs it was lighter then i expected it to be so my question is would it be considered to be a factory light weight what is the weight of a loaded gn ... and is the weight of my compairable to any of you guys on this forum .... :biggrin:
hey guys i have been doing a bit of reading and see you guys talking about factory light weights.. well it got me thinking about my 87 GN it has no power options at all .. no tilt sterring , cruse control or remote mirror, no power seats or windows or door locks its got nothing .. the only thing it has is A/C thats it... so anyway i decided to take it down to the local grain elivators and have it weighed on the truck scales my car come out weighing a total of 3380 lbs it was lighter then i expected it to be so my question is would it be considered to be a factory light weight what is the weight of a loaded gn ... and is the weight of my compairable to any of you guys on this forum .... :biggrin:
Dennis Kirban
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Mar 5, 2009
kirban 2 cents worth
While the debate may continue on.....
all of us turbo owners have a considerable weight advantage against most of the current US crop of performance cars meaning the Mustang GT, Camaro, Challenger most of which tip the scales near or around 4,000 lbs.
The lone exception would be the Corvette those group of engineers have kept the Corvette pretty consistant no matter if its a C5 or a C6 model.
Having a GN with few options is quite rare as many original buyers at the very least ordered tilt, cruise and delay wipers.
As a owner regardless of how your car is equipped its always neat to own one that is not like every other one. Fewer options puts you in that category and fewer options spells less weight whether its 20lbs or 75lbs over another example.
Happiness can be found in whatever you own.
kirban
Owned many of them mostly well equipped including a few that had very few options. For what its worth a GN with no tilt is not a common sighting even when it was new.
While the debate may continue on.....
all of us turbo owners have a considerable weight advantage against most of the current US crop of performance cars meaning the Mustang GT, Camaro, Challenger most of which tip the scales near or around 4,000 lbs.
The lone exception would be the Corvette those group of engineers have kept the Corvette pretty consistant no matter if its a C5 or a C6 model.
Having a GN with few options is quite rare as many original buyers at the very least ordered tilt, cruise and delay wipers.
As a owner regardless of how your car is equipped its always neat to own one that is not like every other one. Fewer options puts you in that category and fewer options spells less weight whether its 20lbs or 75lbs over another example.
Happiness can be found in whatever you own.
kirban
Owned many of them mostly well equipped including a few that had very few options. For what its worth a GN with no tilt is not a common sighting even when it was new.
challengermike
Member
- Joined
- Nov 14, 2005
The way i look at it a lighter car will be faster given everything but the weight are =.The heavier car might win if it gets a better launch but if they but left excactly the same the lighter one would win.The more it weighs the more power it takes to push it.
Dennis Kirban
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Mar 5, 2009
kirban 2 cents worth
Your logic is correct probably one reason most horse jockeys are small statue, lite weight people....
If you follow the F.A.S.T RACE class which zddplus is major sponsor I have read several magazine articles on how these guys have a stock appearing running street tires are now dipping into the high elevens....I think the top guns is a ig block corvette and a hemi road runner
the article states they go to great lengths to lighten their cars while retaining a stock look even so much as removing some of the springs in the seats.
Granted for most of us that would seem like going overboard but when bragging rights and money is involved these tricks become evident.
I am sure back in the moonshine days they used the lightest rides possible coupled to some heavy duty rear suspension parts!
just my thoughts...
kirban
Your logic is correct probably one reason most horse jockeys are small statue, lite weight people....
If you follow the F.A.S.T RACE class which zddplus is major sponsor I have read several magazine articles on how these guys have a stock appearing running street tires are now dipping into the high elevens....I think the top guns is a ig block corvette and a hemi road runner
the article states they go to great lengths to lighten their cars while retaining a stock look even so much as removing some of the springs in the seats.
Granted for most of us that would seem like going overboard but when bragging rights and money is involved these tricks become evident.
I am sure back in the moonshine days they used the lightest rides possible coupled to some heavy duty rear suspension parts!
just my thoughts...
kirban
joe_schindler
Living better with carbon
- Joined
- Oct 1, 2001
Most scales; at grain elevators, wrecking yards, or anywhere else that are weighing things in tons; aren’t going to be very accurate weighing one car; one time; even if they are certified. You really need to have the car on a flat bed wrecker and weigh it; then weigh the wrecker; and take the difference. You’ll probably be within a couple of hundred pounds that way.
"More Boost"
Major Member
- Joined
- Feb 13, 2005
i thought the WE4 option cars were considered factory "lightweights".
You are still talking about a heads up racing class here. Removing as much weight from the car as possible is the most important when you have maxed out all your hp advantage. Id rather take 100 lbs off my wheels and put it over the rear axle where it will do some good. Putting 18 gallons of c16 or better in the tank would be the bare minimum. If you want to be even close to the top then you need to take advantage of whats available and build around it.IMO the only options that wouldn't be considered light weight would be the Astroroof and T-Tops. Everything else on the check list doesn't weigh enough to even complain about. Back in the good old days GM used to print the extra weight of options in the spring charts. 8 pounds for windows,12 for buckets seats,23 for AC,etc. Since AC is standard and everything else is more or less downsized, options weigh about half as much as they used to 40 years ago.
Sorry Dennis. No offense intended on the dude. I just thought since you were posting money figures than you were sponsoring the class. Kind of moot point since I doubt there isn't a car that CAN'T meet that weight with a full tank of gas. It's damn expensive to put 18 gallons of C16 just to do it was my big complaint. Hey I didn't tell you thanks for the stuff I got the other day.
Dennis Kirban
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Mar 5, 2009
kirban 2 cents worth
You are correct the WE4 was promoted as such however the real meaning in the eyes of Buick was it allowed them to pump out more GNs which gave them more profit had to do with meeting mpg standards etc....
But you will find some very loaded WE4s out there....keep in mind most of us buyers back then were not as educated as we are today with the internet at our disposal to research info way in advance....
Among Turbo-Ts the WE4 is pretty well recognized among turbo owners....
kirban
Owned a few of them over the years....very desireable cars...
You are correct the WE4 was promoted as such however the real meaning in the eyes of Buick was it allowed them to pump out more GNs which gave them more profit had to do with meeting mpg standards etc....
But you will find some very loaded WE4s out there....keep in mind most of us buyers back then were not as educated as we are today with the internet at our disposal to research info way in advance....
Among Turbo-Ts the WE4 is pretty well recognized among turbo owners....
kirban
Owned a few of them over the years....very desireable cars...
On another note I have seen people be 10lbs light & could say the same thing for going to fast..doesnt matter if you start out & dial in your number what you weigh..now for a faster ET or street race maybe that 0lbs will help but id say very minimal difference..the wind might be blowing against the 10lb lighter car..always variables to consider..
Cool man..Thats what I thought would be real world difference..Ive got a friend with a camaro race car & everybody told him how much lighter stuff was..like manual stering s. power steering..he weight both & afterwards it was mute..anyways..he did alot of stripping & came up with like 70lbs of weight..gues what his car ran?? same time.must have been bad weather but stil has never had a faster ET than is before weight..again too many varibles..who knows...
Sorry for bringing this thread back to life but I'd thought I would share this little bit of information with you guys just to prove my point, which would be every Turbo Regal is a factory lightweight in some way.....or who ever said a GN couldn't be considered a lightweight didn't have a clue of what they were talking about. Okay here are 2 invoices for 2 totally different Turbo Regals. The first one is my almost fully loaded,just missing a couple of options 1986 Grand National. The second invoice is from Brians 87 Turbo Regal, 52 codes on the SPID label straight bench column shift car. Notice the Shipping Weights printed on the invoices. Two cars from each end of the spectrum.Fully loaded to fully stripped. Almost loaded to almost stripped. Well I wish my GN had an Astroroof so I could say it was all the way as far as a heavy in options and heavy in weight Turbo Regal goes. WOW! A whole 73 pound difference. Chrome steel wheels,rear spoiler,power seat,windows,etc. That's all? Just 73 pounds! Some might argue that's the difference between two classes in NHRA Stock Eliminator or my skinny 160 pound azz against your 230 pound beer belly but the point I'm making here is that even with almost every option in the book these are still light cars.
monteperformanc
Member
- Joined
- Jan 15, 2009
I have weighed myself on these types of scales and they actually are pretty accurate. Almost as accurate as a bathroom scale!
joe_schindler
Living better with carbon
- Joined
- Oct 1, 2001
Yes; these scales are pretty accurate; but they’re not always very precise. That’s why you have to weigh by difference.
"More Boost"
Major Member
- Joined
- Feb 13, 2005
they say for every 10lbs of unsprung weight that is removed is like 100lbs of sprung weight being removed. i've always been a weight "nut" remove anything thats unneccessary. i dont even let change (coins) accumulate in my buick, it just slows me down.LOL. (true story) this thread has got me thinking though, gonna go get my car weighed.
