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Post by luckymchl on Oct 16, 2014 20:10:09 GMT -6
Hi everyone, has anyone thought of or come up with any ideas for weight reduction on our Aurora's. My 1997 Grand Prix GT and my 2001 4.0 seem to have identical 0-60 times and the quarter is not that much different either, going to the 4.0. The GT is 195hp/230tq stock. According to my title, the GT's curb weight is 3414lbs. We all know our 4.0 specs, my title says curb weight is 3726lbs. I understand weight can be a major factor, but shouldn't my car be a bit faster, say 7 seconds to 60. The GP GTP is 6.5 to 60, with 240hp/260tq. And is a bit heavier than the GT due to its supercharger, probably more near 3500lbs. Honestly, I will rip whatever out to reduce its weight, well, as long as it still looks nice inside. Anyone have any ideas. I was thinking about putting Recaro seats in. That has to save some weight. How many airbags do we have? Not trying to compromise safety, but I have lived with a driver and passenger side airbags, almost every car I have owned. Light weight wheels couldn't hurt either. Anyways, thanks for listening, I love this car and I only want to improve what is already awesome. And even less weight equal a bit better gas milage too. Thanks
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plato442
Aurora Driver
Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Oldsmobile...
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Post by plato442 on Oct 16, 2014 20:32:12 GMT -6
Removing the transmission and engine will reduce the weight significantly and you won't have to compromise interior comfort or safety!
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tigger
Administrator 
Posts: 2,844 
Staff Member
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Post by tigger on Oct 16, 2014 21:37:28 GMT -6
Removing the transmission and engine will reduce the weight significantly and you won't have to compromise interior comfort or safety! That'll save you a great deal om gasoline as well.  The best performance mod is gonna be a 4.6 swap! Btw, if you take out the front seats, you lose your side airbags. |
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Randy T.
Administrator
☯ AURORA GXP ☯
Posts: 3,758
Staff Member
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Post by Randy T. on Oct 17, 2014 6:15:28 GMT -6
I don't keep a spare or jack in my car, and no subs. X2 on the 4.6 Northstar.
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Post by Marc on Oct 17, 2014 6:22:42 GMT -6
Take out the rear seat & the spare. That'll reduce weight by about 35 pounds.
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Post by scottyaurorav8 on Oct 17, 2014 9:30:58 GMT -6
Remove front and rear bumper guards. And figure out how to replicate the subframe to aluminum, you'd prob shave a good 100lbs. The 04+ w body's got lucky, GM made the subframes aluminum those years, too bad they never did it for the aurora. Don't start taking your interior out come on !!
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Post by Kersh on Oct 17, 2014 10:23:08 GMT -6
Having just removed one of the front seats in my '01 to see if a lost wedding ring was hiding (it wasn't  ) I will tell you those seats weigh a ton. Switching to a seat that doesn't include the power options and air bags would be a significant weight savings, however, since the seatbelts are integrated into the front seats, it may be a bit of a chore to make the needed changes and have it work properly. |
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Post by luckymchl on Oct 18, 2014 16:26:51 GMT -6
I have never had a car with side airbags, so I don't think I would miss them much. But the seat belts, that is a concern. I know a few fabricators, mabey oneight have an idea.
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Post by genedjr on Oct 21, 2014 9:12:56 GMT -6
If you gut the stock interior as you suggest and move to aftermarket sport/race seats, many of those come with a 5-point harness that will solve the seat belt issue. But it will still need to be custom mounted to the car. You can replace the rest of the interior with carpet and use light plastic as the back-board to cover holes securing the plastic with pop-rivets or plastic push pins. A few more pounds can be saved by pulling the power windows out of the back and locking them in the up position (some tracks require an open or operational drivers front window). Same for the sun roof.
Changing the wheels out for forged alum ones and dumping the spare, pulling out the AC system, replacing the air intake with a cold air kit (or fabing one up), moving to a single exhaust (it's already one pipe in the middle). There are many ways to loose a few lbs -
But the cost will be a $0 value car.
...gene
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Post by rorafan on Oct 21, 2014 10:09:14 GMT -6
There's an article out there where one of the car mags starting removing stuff from a Civic (I think) and then running it at the strip. They started with the normal stuff like spare/jack/floor mats/etc. Where they ended up was absolutely hilarious... Found it! www.rcramer.com/fun/econobox/Scroll to the end for a good laugh.  On a more serious note, there are some worthwhile nuggets in the article, such as how hvy aftermarket wheels can be (+13 lbs. each in this case). |
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plato442
Aurora Driver
Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Oldsmobile...
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Post by plato442 on Oct 21, 2014 20:26:46 GMT -6
Hahahaha! My wife and I laughed our butts off! That article is hilarious! I wonder if he's willing to do that to his Aurora to go faster? |
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) I will tell you those seats weigh a ton. Switching to a seat that doesn't include the power options and air bags would be a significant weight savings, however, since the seatbelts are integrated into the front seats, it may be a bit of a chore to make the needed changes and have it work properly.
