Protege Weight Reduction

[HKPRO5]

That was with only one race seat with steel brackets (FX1 pro seat)

 

[sm76]

Might as well put this in here for reference. My car is now about 2430 with a half a tank of gas in its gutted/caged state.

 

[fatti03msp]

dam thats pretty light.

sm76 im sure you have corner scales to use but what are you other guys using?

can you roll into a scrap yard with like one piece of metal lol?

 

[HKPRO5]

There is a truck scale at work. lol. I zero it out. Tare my body weight, coworker text me the weight. lol

 

[sm76]

dam thats pretty light.

sm76 im sure you have corner scales to use but what are you other guys using?

can you roll into a scrap yard with like one piece of metal lol?

That's correct, mine is from the corner weight scales at the racetrack last weekend.

You can go to a scrap yard, gravel yard, country feed store, basically anywhere items are sold or purchased by weight because they will have a truck scale. That should give you a fairly close weight.

 

[o.g.sk8er]

I go to the recylcing center when they're closed. lol the scale is always on. then I just look through the window to see what Im at. lol

also found this for the P5, but will be similar with the MSP. hope you dont mind me adding to this sm76.

<TABLE style="WIDTH: 220.5pt; mso-cellspacing: 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in" class=MsoNormalTable border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=294><TBODY><TR style="mso-yfti-irow: 0; mso-yfti-firstrow: yes"><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM-COLOR: #d4d0c8; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; BORDER-TOP-COLOR: #d4d0c8; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; BORDER-RIGHT-COLOR: #d4d0c8; BORDER-LEFT-COLOR: #d4d0c8; PADDING-TOP: 0in" vAlign=top>2001+ Mazda Protege 5
Stock Weight - 2716lbs
Stock Wheel Weight - 22lbs each/without tires
<O</O
</TD></TR><TR style="mso-yfti-irow: 1; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes"><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM-COLOR: #d4d0c8; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; BORDER-TOP-COLOR: #d4d0c8; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; BORDER-RIGHT-COLOR: #d4d0c8; BORDER-LEFT-COLOR: #d4d0c8; PADDING-TOP: 0in" vAlign=top>The 2001+ Mazda Protege 5's weigh approximately 2716lbs, dividing by the horsepower of 130, we get about 20.89lbs/hp.
So roughly every 20.89 lbs removed from the cars weight will add an effective 1 hp.<O
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<O
<TABLE style="WIDTH: 426pt; mso-cellspacing: 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in" class=MsoNormalTable border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=568><TBODY><TR style="mso-yfti-irow: 0; mso-yfti-firstrow: yes"><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM-COLOR: #d4d0c8; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; BORDER-TOP-COLOR: #d4d0c8; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; BORDER-RIGHT-COLOR: #d4d0c8; BORDER-LEFT-COLOR: #d4d0c8; PADDING-TOP: 0in" vAlign=top>Gas weighs about 8lbs/gal so 16 gallons in the tank weighs 128lbs. If you have only 1 gallon in the tank, its almost a 7 horsepower equivalent difference. A passenger can make even a bigger difference, not to mention the drivers weight.
You can easily remove things like the spare tire and jack, the floor mats, the rear seats, interior panels and anything else.

Listed below are some easily removable items:<O</O

</TD></TR><TR style="mso-yfti-irow: 1; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes"><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM-COLOR: #d4d0c8; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; BORDER-TOP-COLOR: #d4d0c8; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; BORDER-RIGHT-COLOR: #d4d0c8; BORDER-LEFT-COLOR: #d4d0c8; PADDING-TOP: 0in" vAlign=top>1. Passenger Seat (37lbs) - Removing the passenger seat is a very easy and effective way to give your Protege a small boost in power. The nice thing is that the seat is only held in place by 4 bolts.
2. Rear Seat (29lbs) - The rear seat is a little more complicated to remove than the passenger seat. When removing just remember where everything goes and it should be easy to put back in place whenever needed.

3. Rear Seat Cushion (10lbs) - The rear cushion should be removed at the same time as the rear seat.

4. Floor Mats/Front and Rear (6lbs) - This has to be the easiest weight reduction available for the Protege owner.

5. Tire Floor Cover (3lbs) - The tire floor cover is right underneath the rear hatch carpeting.

6. Spare Tire and Jack (32lbs) - Another easily removable item.

Total Easy Weight Removal = 117lbs or about a 5.6hp increase.<O</O

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<O
<TABLE style="WIDTH: 417pt; mso-cellspacing: 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in" class=MsoNormalTable border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=556><TBODY><TR style="mso-yfti-irow: 0; mso-yfti-firstrow: yes"><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM-COLOR: #d4d0c8; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; BORDER-TOP-COLOR: #d4d0c8; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; BORDER-RIGHT-COLOR: #d4d0c8; BORDER-LEFT-COLOR: #d4d0c8; PADDING-TOP: 0in" vAlign=top>Intermediate Skill Weight Reductions

The weight reductions included below can even prove more effective than some of the reductions included above. However, once you start removing these items you are taking away from the cars overall appearance and in some cases its more predominent ammenities.

7. Air Conditioning (40lbs) - Removing the air conditioning will net you a reduction of about 40lbs. Be sure to remove everything from the engine as well as behind the dash. Should be completed by the experienced only.

8. Front Hood (50lbs) - Replacing the Front Hood with a lightweight fiberglass or carbon fiber hood is a great way to remove some weight around the front end of the car. Total weight reduction will be close to 50lbs or greater depending on the aftermarket hood you choose.. If you dont intend on replacing the entire front hood you could also remove the sound dampener on the inside of the hood. This should help in cooling your engine a little.

9. Stock Wheels (22lbs each/replacement weight from 11lbs each) - Replacing the wheels is a must for anyone seriously interested in increasing their cars performance. The stock wheels are quite heavy and can be replaced with a variety of aftermarket models. We would suggest searching for lightweight wheels. Replacing your wheels with lightweight wheels will dramatically increase your cars acceleration. We suggest not going over 17 inches if maximum performance is what you desire to achieve.

10. Front Drivers Seat (40lbs/replacement weight from 14lbs) - The front drivers seat on the Protege can easily be replaced with a much lighter alternative A lightweight racing seat will save you considerable weight and will also be effective once you have added more horsepower to your car.

Total Intermediate Weight Removal= up to 188lbs or a 9+hp increase.<O</O

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More Weight Reduction<O</O​

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<O

<TABLE style="WIDTH: 428.25pt; mso-cellspacing: 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in" class=MsoNormalTable border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=571><TBODY><TR style="mso-yfti-irow: 0; mso-yfti-firstrow: yes"><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM-COLOR: #d4d0c8; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; BORDER-TOP-COLOR: #d4d0c8; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; BORDER-RIGHT-COLOR: #d4d0c8; BORDER-LEFT-COLOR: #d4d0c8; PADDING-TOP: 0in" vAlign=top>

Some of the things listed below can also be removed or replaced with lighter alternatives than stock. <O</O​

</TD></TR><TR style="mso-yfti-irow: 1; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes"><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM-COLOR: #d4d0c8; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; BORDER-TOP-COLOR: #d4d0c8; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; BORDER-RIGHT-COLOR: #d4d0c8; BORDER-LEFT-COLOR: #d4d0c8; PADDING-TOP: 0in" vAlign=top>Stock Flywheel - Can be replaced with lightweight aluminum flywheels or machined down in excess of just 13lbs.

Stock Steering Wheel - Can be replaced with lighter performance steering wheel with no airbag.

Passenger Airbag Removal - Can save some extra weight as well. (Not recommended for normal driving)

Interior Panels - Both the drivers side and passenger side front door panels as well as the rear panels can be removed to save in excess of over 40lbs.

Stock Speakers - With a weight of over 2 pounds a piece these can also be easily removed.

Rear Hatch Cover - This can simply be removed whenever needed. Weight is close to 6 lbs.

Replace Stock Exhaust - The stock Protege exhaust weighs considerably more than some of the aluminum aftermarket exhausts. We suggest suggest replacing yours with a high quality cat-back exhaust for maximum performance.

Wiper Motors - Although they are generally needed under almost all driving conditions they CAN be removed if need be although we do not personally recommend it.

Carpet - Removing the carpet as well as the carpet lining underneath will reduce the cars overall weight by close to 40lbs. Removing excess wiring and bolts and brackets will also net you a reduction of close to 10lbs.<O</O

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[sm76]

Thanks for adding.
Most of those weights line up with what I've measured, except the hood is shown a little heavy.

 

[fatti03msp]

AC seems a lil steep too, didnt you weight it in at like 20 some lbs?

Unless thats the weight if you are removed all the HVAC stuff.

 

[sm76]

AC seems a lil steep too, didnt you weight it in at like 20 some lbs?

Unless thats the weight if you are removed all the HVAC stuff.

Its pretty close. I had 22 for the engine bay components and 15 for under dash stuff and almost 1 for the controls; so 38 total + that doesn't include the refrigerant weight.

 

[fatti03msp]

wow didnt think that the under dash stuff was that much

 

[Justin2129]

did i go to far with the weight reduction?

 

[fatti03msp]

I think i got you beat hehe

then i kept going haha

 

[fatti03msp]

but i will say though..... i did start to get some chassis flex though. NOT RECOMMENDED

 

[Justin2129]

lol!...im sure a stiffer springs would do the trick hahaha

 

[Berto24]

Thread jack! To the OP how much did the slider of front seat weight?