To Strip or Not to Strip??

[Jack Daniels]

You have to get over the fact that a sporty economy car is all a P5 will really ever be without a large amount of cash. If you're not cool with that, sell it and get a different car with the cash, you would have a lot of options for what you could get out of the P5.

Bingo.

When you have no money to begin with, why wreck the interior of your daily driving car? Any equity you had in the car will be gone completely. The performance improvements from gutting a car like a P5 are very minimal.

 

[Lord_Zath]

damn... lets tally the votes

once the votes have been read, the decision is final.

 

[Moonman8]

Wow...the votes speak for themselves. I guess I will bow to the wisdom of the board members. Interior to remain as it is (except for the driver's seat soon to be replaced with a Corbeau).

 

[nate0123]

17x7 MP3 wheels (soon to be on car again)

so, why hasn't anyone mentioned this yet?

rather than completely wrecking your interior to remove a few pounds of "sprung" weight, why not focus on what will actually make a noticable difference - unsprung weight - in accelerating, braking, and cornering

those MP3 wheels weigh 22.5 pounds per corner - you could very easily drop 7-8 pounds per corner by switching to a lightweight 17" wheel, or go even further with a nice set of lightweight 15s or 16s (lower rotational mass even at the same weight) - and a set of lightweight tires (falken 512s for example)

I vote for leave your interior intact for functionality, sell the racing hart bling, and get some lightweight rims/tires

 

[Moonman8]

so, why hasn't anyone mentioned this yet?

rather than completely wrecking your interior to remove a few pounds of "sprung" weight, why not focus on what will actually make a noticable difference - unsprung weight - in accelerating, braking, and cornering

those MP3 wheels weigh 22.5 pounds per corner - you could very easily drop 7-8 pounds per corner by switching to a lightweight 17" wheel, or go even further with a nice set of lightweight 15s or 16s (lower rotational mass even at the same weight) - and a set of lightweight tires (falken 512s for example)

I vote for leave your interior intact for functionality, sell the racing hart bling, and get some lightweight rims/tires

I totally agree that the MP3 17x7's are some of the heaviest wheels around (Mazda factory origin being at fault) and I have been trying to sell them for over a month now (check link in sig). No buyers means repairing and refinishing them. I also agree with your point about performance differences between unsprung weight versus sprung weight and a lightweight wheel would be awesome if someone would buy my MP3 wheels and then donate a few hundred dollars to my Starving College Student Gearhead Foundation. I also see the benefit of a 15" or 16" versus a 17" due the decrease in rotational mass (just because a wheel is lighter doesn't mean your performance is increased necessarily, diameter matter a lot!). Thanks for the advice and you pointed out an important factor, now if only I could afford some lightweight wheels, a turbo setup, or a brand new Evo would be even better!

Also, earlier in the thread I mentioned (as crazy as it sounds) stripping the interior was not for reasons of weight savings but more for minimalistic, space expansion. I don't use the rear seat for anything and I've always kinda liked the look of a bare interior, which may sound "ricey" to some but I do the things I do to my car for my benefit and by my preference, not for the sake of trying to show up some punk at a stop light.

But sorry for another long post, I'm probably not going to remove anything after all this! You guys helped a lot so thanks to those who gave constructive advice.

 

[nate0123]

Thanks for the advice and you pointed out an important factor, now if only I could afford some lightweight wheels, a turbo setup, or a brand new Evo would be even better!

lightweight wheels don't have to be expensive

I bought a set of 11 lb millenia rims for under $150 on ebay, didn't end up installing them though

Also, earlier in the thread I mentioned (as crazy as it sounds) stripping the interior was not for reasons of weight savings but more for minimalistic, space expansion. I don't use the rear seat for anything and I've always kinda liked the look of a bare interior...

maybe on a 93 civic hb

and sorry if I missed your intention, I thought I read all the posts but did so quickly so it's entirely possible

 

[Moonman8]

I hadn't even thought of factory rims as a lightweight alternative. I guess I've been influenced by the stereotype that factory rims are pretty damn heavy in general.

Are there any Mazda factory rims (other than your Millenia rims) that could be considered lightweight and have the 5x114.3 bolt pattern but look pretty damn good at the same time? Damn I wish those MP3 Racing Harts didn't weight ~40 lbs with tires, s***!!

 

[nate0123]

this is the 11.5 lb one, doesn't look bad IMO:

edit: this one doesn't have the center cap, obviously

 

[nate0123]

this is a mazda 929 rim that I believe weighs 12 lbs

 

[nate0123]

even our stock 5-spokers aren't terribly heavy for 16", at around 16 lbs each

 

[Moonman8]

even our stock 5-spokers aren't terribly heavy for 16", at around 16 lbs each

yeah I noticed that my stock 03 P5 wheels were considerably lighter than the MP3 wheels. But for now I will be repairing the curbing and respraying them to repair the finish to make them a little easier to sell.

I eventually would really like a set of Rota Slipstreams or Subzero's in either a 16 or 17. I drool over Volk's and Work's but until I'm making a lot of money, spending an amount of money on wheels that could also buy an entire car just isn't in the cards, lol!

I'll definitely be looking into the wheels you posted pics of. They don't look too bad and who would of thought that such large semi-luxury sedans (Millenias and 929's) would have such light wheels.

 

[onewhippedpuppy]

Great idea on the lightweight wheels, a few lbs of unsprung weight is far more noticable than a few lbs inside. Lower moment of inertia means it takes less force to spin them, quicker response on the road, a bit less wear and tear on the suspension, you can't go wrong. Anyone have pics of the Millenia wheels on a P5? I actually really like them, what do they tend to go for? 11.5 lbs is awesome for a 16, especially in a factory wheel.

 

[nate0123]

they're actually 15x6

 

[65racecoupe]

No, you will still be slow.

 

[onewhippedpuppy]

No, you will still be slow.

That's eternal.

 

[Jack Daniels]

That's eternal.

Perhaps, but there are levels of slowness. You can be happy with something relatively quick, but not necessarily the quickest.

 

[Kansei]

No, you will still be slow.

You gotta applaud the car for it's consistency though

 

[cbutters]

I didn't hear anybody mention these two techniques of dropping weight,

A) a Dry cell lighter weight Battery (Hawker Odyssey)
LINK: http://www.zeebuck.com/bimmers/tech/batteryrelocation/underseatbattery.html

B)lightened flywheel.

 

[Tasty]

I agree with the other posts. If you strip it it will be loud as hell in there and look like the Beverly Hillbillies rollin' down the street.

 

[rednecks_r_us]

I agree with the other posts. If you strip it it will be loud as hell in there and look like the Beverly Hillbillies rollin' down the street.

Hey now, dont be dissin on the beverly hillbillies I have kin folk so far out in the sticks that they have to import their sticks.