How to put your car on a diet

[Plautos]

hahah your a crack up man lol .

hey plautos is that to say that you have put race seats in yours? got any pics?

No I didn't put race seats on my Polo. The interior still stock.

[jamesatfish]

wholly crap james have you weighed your car recently with al that trim missing?

No - haven't had the opportunity to weigh the car at any stage. Don't know that there are any public weigh stations around the ACT any more - maybe next time the NSW Porsche Club spring a surprise weigh-in at a sprint day scrutineering.

You did all that and you didn't remove the rear seatbelts?!

Did you remove the airbags!? They are heavy.

You can save more 60kg replacing the front seats for race seats....

Haven't removed the rear seat belts as I have yet to figure out how to take them out without damaging anything. I have a few cupboards in my garage full of Polo parts in case I want to put anything back in in the future - I don't want to take anything out that I'm not sure can't go back in again. I'm not a mechanic so it might be quite straight forward to remove those rear seat belts but it's certainly not obvious to me.

As for the airbags (including the ones in the stock front seats) - I'm not interested in removing things that would otherwise improve the safety of the car - so curtain airbags and front seats with side airbags will stay unless I change how much I am driving on the road.

You guys realise you have street cars, right?
I don't really see the point if you're only out to race yourself on track days etc but hey go nuts i'm not stopping you.

Yes, it's a street car, but that doesn't mean it's not a more enjoyable drive for my liking (both on the track and on the road) with less interior trim, a 'track' setup and a wanna-be race car feel.

I've got cars that provide the fast-with-leather experience - I enjoy the Polo as my fix of go-kart driving experience. As you say - to each their own.

[Tim]

You guys realise you have street cars, right?


I don't really see the point if you're only out to race yourself on track days etc but hey go nuts i'm not stopping you.

Shoulda bought a caddy like yours! they come stripped out in the back from the factory

[POLARBEAR666]

By the way, someone above suggested you can save 30kg per front seat changing to race seats. I highly doubt this as you only save 20kg per seat on the giant power electric Golf seats when switching to a full carbon race seat with frames bolted directly to the floor without sliders.

Factory mk5 leather seat 32kg
Recaro Carbon seats with rails 12kg
Weight loss per seat 20kg.

As per the results of the PhilRS "my race car" thread I think it is on mk5 golf and also the english guy who had fastest stock turbo dsg in the world on mk5 golf.

SO, I doubt you would save more than 20kg a side in a polo.

[pologti18t]

Does anyone lnow how much the foglights weigh?

[noone]

Does anyone lnow how much the foglights weigh?

Very little, I've had mine out for most of the time i've owned the car.

[Catfish]

Does anyone lnow how much the foglights weigh?

450 grams each.

[Stuwey]

I know its not a mini, but it is light.




Perspex windows, all except front 'screen.
Fibreglass front gaurds, bonnet, bootlid.
Plastic headlights.
Headlight buckets removed.
Plastic fuel cell and lightweight battery in cabin.
Aluminium battery power cable instead of copper.
Wiring loom stripped out to be just 8 wires in the whole car.
Drilled anything that isn't structural.
Fabricated suspension arms to reduce unsprung weight.
Single skin doors
Alloy boot/rear floor.
Rear subframe removed.
Rear bulkhead removed.
Backing plates for tail-lights removed.

Fuelled up and ready to race @ 480kgs.

Lightweight win.

Shouldn't have sold it!

[mikepologti]

lmao 480kgs ! , i swaer to god my old kelvinator fridge wieghed more then that. that list beast must really go and not to mention handle like its on rails.

[instigator]

i drive around in my polo with backseat out and other stuff.
allways thought it would weigh like 30 - 35Kg.

there is alot to strip from a polo,
but it's what you are willing to sacrifice in comfort...

ps: i also have a mini cooper, also tuned,
but not as extreem as the one above (impressive btw!!)
i have 1380 engine with 100Hp or so.
but it's boken, next week i'll know what exacly is broken.
so more tuning will follow :-p

[SoVeReIgN]

I'm confused, if you wanted a 2 door sports car why didn't you guys buy an MX-5?

I'm all for removing seats and stuff while you head down to the drags/track, but as an everyday car, if you don't need 5 seats why did you guy a 5 seat hatchback??

[jamesatfish]

I'm confused, if you wanted a 2 door sports car why didn't you guys buy an MX-5?

I'm all for removing seats and stuff while you head down to the drags/track, but as an everyday car, if you don't need 5 seats why did you guy a 5 seat hatchback??

For me, I didn't need 5 seats, but I did need a hatchback. When one of my employees needs a hand with installations I can load up the (now empty) back of the Polo with tools, ladders, curtains & blinds and be just as productive as if I took one of the work vans (but I enjoy the drive a whole lot more). With the front passenger's seat folded flat and the back seats removed the Polo also takes unexpectedly long cargo as well - almost as long as I can get in our Caddy with the cargo barrier installed.

When I'm just using the Polo around town I enjoy the light weight and extra exhaust note that comes from not having as much sound deadening in the back.

I have a 2 door coupe but I find it is rubbish both for carrying cargo and for use as a sign-written company vehicle... hence the stripped out Polo fits the bill perfectly.

[seangti]

Love the logic in our madness of buying such a vehicle for track.

Mine was that it had to hold roof racks so I can put the bikes and kayaks on, which immediately rules out the japanese 2 doors.

[DeanB]

In my efforts at pre-summer fitness I've dropped 5kg in a month ... 5kg more and I'll be happy !!

I figured no point gutting the car if I'm carrying extra

[noone]

Do people remove the bonnet at track days or does that screw with aero dynamics?