In the most general terms, the qickest cars will actually be underweight for the class by a couple of hundred pounds and be able to meet class rules by using ballast, and placing that ballast where it does that particular car the most good. Scales are a good place to start when placing the weight, then finally at the track.
light weight components...benefits
No, not internal engine rather suspension, brakes & driveline...wasn't sure of what forum would be most appropriate, so being I run N/A classes, here we are 
I run a N/A bbc setup trying to refine it as much as possible without going crazy with it.
Been thinking about any potential performance benefits of say light weight race brakes, specifically Strange Engineering recommended by a local chassis shop. Car currently has factory discs up front and drums out back (79 Malibu). According to the shop owner, the car can lose every bit of 80 lbs with the brake swap front & rear (including aluminum master cylinder to replace the iron stock one). Now that sounds good as the car is overweight for the class, but will this expendature yield measurable gains on the ET slip? I've always heard that unsprung weight is the best place to lose weight for performance, but can such gains be quantified?
Same goes for the TRZ chromoly A-arms...one fellow racer did the swap and said he measured a weight loss between 20 to 25 lbs from the stock A-arms.
The car still has heavy street M/T Sportsman street tires almost 10 years old which are due for replacement. By the manufacturers charts, I can easily lose 8 lbs per tire up front.
Out back I run a 275/60 M/T ET Street Radial...weight is 32 lbs...I see the Hoosier D/R in the same size weighs 8 lbs less per tire at 24 lbs.
Are the tire weigh losses of measurable benefits?
Lets add this up...
brakes F&R = 80 lbs (or so)
A-Arms = 20-25 lbs
front tires = 16 lbs
rear tires = 16 lbs
potential loss upwards of 130 lbs
Now, I'm not talking the old rule of thumb of 100 lbs equaling a tenth. With unsprung weight, I've read the weight losses are more dramatic in regards of performance...true? or not?
On another side note, I've considered redoing my M/S cage out of chromoly which by my measurements would knock another 50 lbs off the car, plus adding some additional bracing in specific areas.
Any thoughts on potential gains from these proposed weight losses? I certainly don't want to spend money on such items if the gains are so small they aren't measurable. Right now the car runs 132 mph and stops quite well with the factory brakes...don't want to piss money away on this type stuff if it's of no real performance benefit.
thanks for any input
Todd
I run a N/A bbc setup trying to refine it as much as possible without going crazy with it.
Been thinking about any potential performance benefits of say light weight race brakes, specifically Strange Engineering recommended by a local chassis shop. Car currently has factory discs up front and drums out back (79 Malibu). According to the shop owner, the car can lose every bit of 80 lbs with the brake swap front & rear (including aluminum master cylinder to replace the iron stock one). Now that sounds good as the car is overweight for the class, but will this expendature yield measurable gains on the ET slip? I've always heard that unsprung weight is the best place to lose weight for performance, but can such gains be quantified?
Same goes for the TRZ chromoly A-arms...one fellow racer did the swap and said he measured a weight loss between 20 to 25 lbs from the stock A-arms.
The car still has heavy street M/T Sportsman street tires almost 10 years old which are due for replacement. By the manufacturers charts, I can easily lose 8 lbs per tire up front.
Out back I run a 275/60 M/T ET Street Radial...weight is 32 lbs...I see the Hoosier D/R in the same size weighs 8 lbs less per tire at 24 lbs.
Are the tire weigh losses of measurable benefits?
Lets add this up...
brakes F&R = 80 lbs (or so)
A-Arms = 20-25 lbs
front tires = 16 lbs
rear tires = 16 lbs
potential loss upwards of 130 lbs
Now, I'm not talking the old rule of thumb of 100 lbs equaling a tenth. With unsprung weight, I've read the weight losses are more dramatic in regards of performance...true? or not?
On another side note, I've considered redoing my M/S cage out of chromoly which by my measurements would knock another 50 lbs off the car, plus adding some additional bracing in specific areas.
Any thoughts on potential gains from these proposed weight losses? I certainly don't want to spend money on such items if the gains are so small they aren't measurable. Right now the car runs 132 mph and stops quite well with the factory brakes...don't want to piss money away on this type stuff if it's of no real performance benefit.
thanks for any input
Todd
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