Minimum Weight Survey

[jpetillo]

Brian, thanks. I agree with the over-build sentiment. I'm going to rework parts of it - add a few more brackets so that more bolts are holding it. I can't nudge the big chunk behind frame rails, unfortunately - there are three chunks of lead down there already in that spot. John

[remmers]

i'm 1040 right now coming off the track. it's because my father, (15lbs lighter than i) added false bottoms for the fuel cell and driver's feet, plus powdercoating. i have no clue how i'd remove the powdercoat and i'm not about to get rid of the false bottoms, they're a good safety feature to have.

all this talk of adding lead to the cars. why not take the advantage of all that extra wiggle room to add weight and make your car as safe as possible? perhaps put an extra bar or two in the car or some metal for side-impact protection?

[pillowmeto]

I took my new car out for the first time recently. It comes in at 940lbs with me (160lbs) after the race (verified on two sets of scales). I have done the best I can to add weight without cutting off the existing steel floor and welding on a thicker one or weakening the frame by drilling through it. The amount of weight I had to add was absurd, and I already do not feel safe with 80lbs of lead in the cockpit with me, even with it as distributed and well fastened as it is. The car is a standard Womer EV-3 with standard fiberglass bodywork, a stainless steel floor, and an original VW starter. I may be adding a 1/8" or thicker floor in the off season to deal with the weight issue.

What I do not understand is how so many cars are so heavy.

[smsazzy]

If I remember correctly, your car does not have a rear subframe behind the axle. That is one reason your car is lighter. You weigh 160 pounds....40 pounds less than an average 50 year old American Male. Some cars use thicker walled tubing, or have additional side impact protection.

As a side note, I would highly recommend adding a thicker floor. Not only is it safer, but it is the absolute best place to add weight for you as it will lower your center of gravity and improve the performance of the car.

[brian]

The reason many vees are heavy is due to the tubing that is off the shelf structural wall thickness. Considerable weight can be reduced with engineering and materials, but our class has rarely emphasised lower weight over lower cost kits. A typical ladder frame with 4x2 rails can be reduced by nearly 25% by reducing the wall thickness from .120 to .095. Using seamless tubing in the roll structure can further reduce weight but these changes do increase the cost of materials.