Where is most of the weight on the chasis of a Del Sol located? I'm planning to build a time attack car and need to know where weight can be removed via cutting, etc. I plan on using chasis foam and then removing metal, welding up certain areas that flex, as well as replacing glass with lexan where I can. I have a DC2 chasis that I have been working on for a while, and decided not to start cutting it up, so I got a del Sol since I like the look and features it has. EGs are too common and are a dime a dozen. So where is most of the weight on the del sol chasis? If need be I'll make the front end tube chasis if I needed. Goal is sub 2000 with driver. Any info on weighted areas would be very helpful. Power plant is coming later, jsut getting chasis the way I want.

 

in the engine bay where the engine sits lol.. jk. i dont know though im guesing interior

 

Ok, anyone else removed a lot of weight, BESIDES removing the engine, and the obvious crash beams?

 

ac system
spare tire/jack
gut the doors
carpet/sound detoning gew

 

ac
power steering
door panels
carpet
heat vents
trunk

 

approximate weight removed??? Also anyone weighed doors before from del sol?

 

while doing this just keep in mind 100 pounds is about .10 of a second off the quarter mile... not huge but if your racing competitively its a huge difference.

 

Sub 2000 pounds on a del sol......... Good Luck.

 

pretty much anything and everything that you dont need or unnecessary. but keep in mind it might not be comfortable for daily driven.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by v8destroyer &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Sub 2000 pounds on a del sol......... Good Luck.</TD></TR></TABLE>

x2

 

only way i see that happening is with a 93 S which weighs 2277 IIRC. completely gut it and you might be able to pull it off

 

most of mine is in the drivers seat...LOL

 

^ hahah. I heard that the Del sols are actually heavier than a lot of the other civics. How is that even so? GL with the build!

 

Not entirely true.
My 94 del sol s weighs about 2300.. my 99 civic ex is about 2500lbs
stock EG sedans / coupes weigh something like 2200-2300.
The del sol is not heavy.. but for it's size, it could be a lot lighter. I like to refer to my del sol as my truck. haha.
The del sol SI and VTEC are more like 2400-2500lbs. Those are the heavy ones

In comparison, a 1994-1997 miata weighs less than 2200lbs, with a 1.8 liter engine, rear wheel drive, bigger brakes/wheels, etc.

But for the cost of a miata you could buy a del sol + gsr swap and go head to head with the new 2.0 liter models

 

the reason delsols are so heavy is because there targa tops so they have to add a lot of chasie reenforcement to stiffin the car,the same reason why convertable cars are so heavy

 

me and a buddy went to the scale the other day (i have a 93 coupe w/b16 swap and he has a del sol vtec). my car weighed 2620 with me in it (im 6'1" 220), a case of monster, a cse of water, spare tire, lug wrench, lug nuts and jumper cables. his car weighed 2790 w/ him in it (about 150 lbs) and gutted trunk..... del sols are just HEAVY

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by v8destroyer &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Sub 2000 pounds on a del sol......... Good Luck.</TD></TR></TABLE>
x3, those things are pigs.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by turbo-2nr &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">the reason delsols are so heavy is because there targa tops so they have to add a lot of chasie reenforcement to stiffin the car,the same reason why convertable cars are so heavy</TD></TR></TABLE>

DING DING DING! Give this man a prize

 

yet, a miata with a bigger engine, rear differential, and motors for the convertible top ends up weighing about 150lbs less than a fwd 1.5 'sol.. wtf.

The trunk in the del sol is bigger than the miata's however.. and looks like it is very well reinforced.
All i know is that i carried a B18B block in the trunk, and heard no complaints from the rear bits of the chassis.

Freakin' truck, i tell ya.

 

there's a reason EG's are a dime a dozen, same reason why they have races dedicated to miatas, track proven.

and i dont know what you plan on "cutting out" of a del sol, and if you plan on cutting it out i hope you plan on adding a cage to reinforce your hack work.

and do you plan on upgrading the brakes? motor swap? etc? you might get a sub 2000lb del sol, but i doubt it would run....heh

 

my del sol completely gutted except for dash was 2130 w/o rear window. My del sol SIR stock is 2720 (transtop is really heavy)

 

never hit sub 2k in a delsol, my personal delsol with a carbon hood and trunk and b16 is 2550 with me in it

 

Yeah, seriously. 2000 lbs with the driver.. ok.. take off 400-600 pounds.

Dave's predictions of where weight could be removed:

1. power window motors/gears/etc.
2. rear window assembly. If you could make this window fixed, you could remove some tracks, a power window motor, and some little gears. that would be significant.. but how do you keep the window in place is the question.
3. Power mirrors
4. Completely forget about putting the top on.
5. Top holder in the trunk.
6. weird compartments in the back.
7. heat + a/c vents and associated tubing. There is a lot of this in the del sol. Notice how uniform the heat/cold is inside the del sol vs. something like a civic which is more like a shower head

These are all things that base civic sedans/coupes/hatches do not have. I bet you could hack off 100 pounds.

But you'd be better off going with the likes of an EG hatch if you want a track car, cuz those things are light as hell. They would be lighter than a stripped del sol. and if you stripped an eg hatch, you could knock off 80lbs effortlessly, PLUS have a more reinforced body.

I would take it that del sols do have a slight aerodynamic advantage over hatches.. but i doubt it is anything significant.

 

Most of the weight sits where the rear glass is if you remove the motor , brackets , braces and replace the window with lexan it about 60 pounds worth. and dont forget the trunk it has more weight than the hood .

 

are you serious??
have you measured this?

I might keep my rear window in.. just to help with the weight balance. same with the trunk. b swaps are heavy..