Help me put my 2001 RT on a diet

[KWIK96]

My 2001 RT has had all the performance mods that I need. I am happy with it as it is.
Now I am looking to shed weight.
Please let me know anything you have done to your Gen 2 as far as weight reduction.
Already thrown away the jack and spare tyre, whats next?
Rims ? How much will that reduce?
Anything, throw me a bone here.
thanks

 

[RTTTTed]

You can't buy my wheels but they're billet 1 piece VR1s. Call Forgeline for weight savings and the different wheels they make.

I have Roe 14" front brake kit, better stopping and removes 9# each wheel. Eradispeed slotted and crossdilled 2 piece lightweight rotors on rear. Check out the classifieds for my 10,000mi. front brake kit for less than what the 13" front rotors cost.

I probably saved a couple ounces installing a Roe front fascia scoop kit for better cooling and aerodynamics. You could check out diamondback an other fiberglass hoods as they save about 40 pounds and only cost about $5,000+? I think that will probably be my next modification.

Ted

 

[FATHERFORD]

and only cost about $5,000+?

That's it ONLY $5k?

Wish I was made of money to say that

 

[dave6666]

When I converted my 2001 GTS to side exhaust I shed close to 40 pounds.

Lose the windshield washer fluid bottle.

Lose the wiper motors.

Remove the AC system.

And on an RT the spare tire is part of the crash structure of the car.

 

[Tom F&L GoR]

Seats. Find some nice aluminum shell racing seats that have minimal padding, but because they hug you, you don't need padding. Mount seats for you- no more seat adjusters. Nobody else drives your car anyway and passengers don't need them. I saved ~45 lbs vs. my Gen 1 seats and I like them better.

Battery. Get next size smaller and save 11 lbs. If you drive regularly it stays charged just fine. I even have an underdrive pulley (so charge rate is lower) and start in temperatures down to 20F.

Radio and amps. Do you actually use these?

Flywheel. Save ~20lbs and it counts as more because it's rotating quickly.

There's about 90 lbs with no downside and some upside.

 

[Sweet Ride]

Try all this:
Magnesium wheels.

Remove all the sound deadener.

Remove passenger seat.

Change stock headers and change to side exhaust.

Change all the body panels over to carbon fiber.

Remove all carpet.

Remove all stereo system components and wiring.

Change to aluminum flywheel.

Change to lightweight halfshafts.

Remove air bag modules, assemblies, and associated wiring. (This is illegal)

Pressure wash all the road gime off the suspension and underbody.

Change to Eibach springs. I believe they weigh less than stock. Anybody know for sure?

Remove heater core, air box, and all other climate control pieces and wiring.

See also: What Dave, Tom, and Ted already suggested.

All of these things added together would likely shave 250-400 pounds. Some are (obviously) quite expensive and/or impractical but there is generally only so much you can do.

 

[CitySnake]

on an RT the spare tire is part of the crash structure of the car.

I noticed that too! Excellent point that can be a rather serious trade-off.

Sidewinder wheels are also a good option for 30+ lbs.

 

[dave6666]

Seats. Find some nice aluminum shell racing seats that have minimal padding, but because they hug you, you don't need padding. Mount seats for you- no more seat adjusters. Nobody else drives your car anyway and passengers don't need them. I saved ~45 lbs vs. my Gen 1 seats and I like them better.

Tom... Sez your PM box is full. Whaddup wit dat?

Anyway, what seats do you have? I've asked that before so pardon...

 

[Viper Wizard]

And on an RT the spare tire is part of the crash structure of the car.

More info here!
http://forums.viperclub.org/rt-10-gts-discussions/606711-spare-removal-sub.html

 

[dave6666]

Change stock headers and change to side exhaust.

Belanger headers - 30.8 pounds

OE headers Gen 2 - 16.8 pounds

 

[viper k]

my money on sweet ride

 

[KWIK96]

OK, if the Wizard says spare tyre back in, then back in it goes. Now I am worse off than when I started this thread! Car was lighter when I was ignorant.
Thanks guys, some good stuff here.

 

[dave6666]

my money on sweet ride

REALLY?

Dave still has his money on Dave.



http://forums.viperclub.org/rt-10-gts-discussions/614413-weight-savings-my-gts-side-exhaust-conversion.html

So either I lied back then in 2008 about what the headers weighed too, or your wagering *****.

 

[Sweet Ride]

Belanger headers - 30.8 pounds

OE headers Gen 2 - 16.8 pounds

my money on sweet ride

Thanks for the vote of confidence, but I'd take Dave's side on this one. He is pretty thorough and meticulous about this stuff.

That being said, another of Dave's projects could result in weight savings:

Add the Roe Racing air duct kit.

Drill holes in non-essential, non-structural, and non-weight bearing parts.

And a few more weight saving ideas:

Remove stock fog lights, assemblies, and wiring.

Remove power mirrors and wiring. Replace with early Gen II mirrors.

A little here and a little there adds up over time.

I hear white hood vents add a significant amount of weight though... Resist the urge!!!

 

[dave6666]

White is the lighest color available. The pigment is typically titanium dioxide. Super light, built for speed. How much TiO2 does your car have?

Just the hood vents sir, just the hood vents.

 

[Sweet Ride]

White is the lighest color available. The pigment is typically titanium dioxide. Super light, built for speed. How much TiO2 does your car have?

In that case, it's time to get the entire car stripped and sprayed in pure white.

I knew those black stripes were slowing me down!

At least my car's not yellow...

 

[Russ M]

The spare on an RT is NOT part of the crash structure, it is just a spare. But the cars crash testing was done with the spare in, what does that mean? Who knows...

Forgeline wheels VR1r's(not sure if they still make them) 11x18 front 13x18 rear, 17lb's front 19lb's rear just about the lightest wheels around.

Battery, you can save about 20lb's

spare/tools

These are the easy things.

 

[RTTTTed]

As I said earlier - they discontinued the 1 piece Billet VR1 wheels.

When I said "ONLY" $5K I meant compared to $40K for Carbon fiber and $18,000 US or $28,000Cdn for Clamshell hood. See what ONLY means?

CF doors are $5,000(?) each. There is a VCA member that has acess to factory cf parts being made every so often - but you have to be very nice to him and ask politely. Even then he may not reply

Obviously the frame is the heaviest part of the car. A race chassis would be the biggest weight savings and probably be the most expensive to purchase.



Ted

 

[FATHERFORD]

As I said earlier - they discontinued the 1 piece Billet VR1 wheels.

When I said "ONLY" $5K I meant compared to $40K for Carbon fiber and $18,000 US or $28,000Cdn for Clamshell hood. See what ONLY means?

CF doors are $5,000(?) each. There is a VCA member that has acess to factory cf parts being made every so often - but you have to be very nice to him and ask politely. Even then he may not reply

Obviously the frame is the heaviest part of the car. A race chassis would be the biggest weight savings and probably be the most expensive to purchase.



Ted

LOL ok that makes more sense. I read it like $5k was your front pocket money then when it falls on the ground when you pull out your car keys you just leave it there.

 

[dave6666]

The spare on an RT is NOT part of the crash structure, it is just a spare. But the cars crash testing was done with the spare in, what does that mean? Who knows...

Did you read the thread that Chuck linked to above? Seems to answer your question.

Something along the lines of, it is or is not part of the crash structure depending on who you are asking and what other features your car might have to compensate.

 

[Chuck 98 RT/10]

This is from the Wizard's link...

I just spoke to my friend SKIP SHIFTY over at DOT and he says "WE ARE THE FEDS and WE'RE HERE TO HELP YOU......BUT WE HAVE NOT MANDATED THAT REQUIREMENT"

So it is not a federally mandated requirement. Even if it were I would be skeptical as to the benefits.

I'm gonna get slammed for this but I just don't subscribe to the "safety at any price" mindset. Eventually it makes having fun cost prohibitive. It's not that I have a death wish, I have a fun wish. But my fun is limited because I've got to spend thousands for what I consider to be excessive safety. Some safety measures make sense - seat belts, crush zones, helmets and fuel cells for race cars. Others seem excessive to me, the spare in the trunk is one. JMO.

 

[dave6666]

I'm gonna get slammed for this but I just don't subscribe to the "safety at any price" mindset. Eventually it makes having fun cost prohibitive. It's not that I have a death wish, I have a fun wish. But my fun is limited because I've got to spend thousands for what I consider to be excessive safety. Some safety measures make sense - seat belts, crush zones, helmets and fuel cells for race cars. Others seem excessive to me, the spare in the trunk is one. JMO.

I agree with you 100%. And seeing as I'm the guy that brought it up, the reason I did so was so that he could make up his mind on that with all of the information. Some might be concerned about it while others could give the back end of a cow.

 

[RTTTTed]

LOL ok that makes more sense. I read it like $5k was your front pocket money then when it falls on the ground when you pull out your car keys you just leave it there.

Don't I wish!

Ted

 

[Tom F&L GoR]

Well, if we take a (un)common sense approach, what are the cables for? I've seen them on my RT but never really followed where they go nor looked at what they might pull on in a rear-ender. Anybody with good weather want to crawl under the car?

 

[dave6666]

Well, if we take a (un)common sense approach, what are the cables for? I've seen them on my RT but never really followed where they go nor looked at what they might pull on in a rear-ender. Anybody with good weather want to crawl under the car?

You can see the cable here. It bolts into the end of the frame horn, goes up and over to the other side for the same.

Brought to you by Dave, home of the Always Viper weather state of Texas

You must be registered for see images

 

[Bandit3]

You can drop 50 or so pounds by switching to Eurotech rotors.

 

[dave6666]

You can drop 50 or so pounds by switching to Eurotech rotors.

Negative. They only have SRT rotors, and they saved 2 pounds over Gen 2 stock rotors.

http://forums.viperclub.org/rt-10-gts-discussions/622256-srt-brake-upgrade-weight.html

 

[Tom F&L GoR]

So the cable is removeable for added weight savings....

In an accident, it roughly keeps the frame behind the passengers as a parallelogram; at worst it lets one frame rail bend inwards without disturbing the other, and eliminates one frame rail bending outwards without pulling the other rail. It doesn't look like the cable it too firmly attached except at the ends, so the rails could spread somewhat. I'm still curious. While I can grasp the spare tire being a crush/crumple/shock absorber aid, at the same time the doubts I have are because 1) I think the wall between the spare and the fuel tank is not going to keep the tank from damage, and 2) I don't see how the cable and spare tire interact in a rear accident. Where is our in-house CAD-CAM guy?

 

[REDSLED]

You can save weight going w/ 2pc rotors. Close to 10 lbs per corner. Send your stock rotors to Colemanracing.com - The best racing products. and they will produce a 2pc version of them. Lightweight 3 pc racing rims can also save you weight, but can be expensive. Replacing stock seats with C/F or fiberglass racing seats also an option. Replacing glass w/thin Lexan. Light weight racing hood.

 

[Bandit3]

Got it--my bad. I was using my 06 as the reference.