Andrej Dolenc wrote:
[...]

> seats is a good way of going about it. At 70 lbs per, you'd be looking at
> about 100lbs easily saved by going to some lighter racing seats. Ditch the
> sunroof motor - 65 lbs at the _highest_ point of the car, swap in a lighter
> exhaust, some lighter wheels, and *poof* you've lost a fair amount of weight
> from a bone stock M3. Possibly close to 3000 lbs as opposed to 3200 lbs for a
> stock M3 (pulling these figures out of thin air, somebody can correct me with
> real numbers)

This is one of the really fun things about turning your daily driver into a ESP Solo-II car. I'm not sure about the sunroof thing, but I can vouch for the rest. A sub 3000 lb E36 M3 is a riot BTW, and all of these mods can be reversed without damage to the car. I performed most of these this spring and weighed parts as they were replaced on a cheap bathroom scale. My measurements might not be exact, but I think I've got a pretty good estimate to work with.

First, I weighed my car on the big bathroom scale at Summit Point during a MARRS race: 3293 with me in it, 1/2 tank of gas, and everything including the spare and jack removed. I go 190-195 with my clothes on (as I did on the scales that day), so the car weighs about 3100 lb. The spare, jack, and trunk carpet go about 55 lb and 1/2 tank of gas (8 gal x 7 lb) about 56 lb. That means the full curb weight would be ~3211. That's a '95 with no sunroof! Seems a few pounds porky, but we'll start with that figure.

The stock "Vader" manual leather seats were 65 lb each. My Sparco fiberglass shells with covers, mounting hardware, and 5-pt harnesses are 25 lb. The hardware and harnesses are half that figure! That's an 80 lb savings: 3131 lb.

The stock '95 M3 wheels with AVS Intermediates were 44 lb each. 17x8 SSR Integrals with Hoosier 245/40s are 35 lb. that's 9 lb unsprung at each corner, and 36 lb total: 3095 lb.

I didn't weigh the stock airbox and Conforti CAI, but as I understand it there's about a 5 lb weight savings there: 3090 lb.

The stock exhaust was 50 lb! The UUC system U exhaust was 25. Another 25 lb savings: 3065 lb.

Remove the spare, jack, and trunk carpet for a 55 lb savings: 3011 lb.

Run the gas tank down to 1/4-1/2 tank for a savings of between 56-85 lb: 2955-2926 lb!!

I plan on following Ben Liaw's recommendation for the Interstate replacement battery which is 11 lb lighter than stock. There's also an easy 10-12 lb savings in a lightened flywheel, but now we're starting to stray from easily replaceable mods. Could be down near 2900.

And that doesn't even touch the A/C which would be legal in ESP, but damn stupid. You could also get lighter with more exotic wheels and seats. Some seats weigh as little as 6-7 lb in carbon fiber. A 2850 lb, 270 hp E36 M3 is a possibility for the rich, famous, and slightly daffy without touching sound deadening material or adding fiberglass body panels.

A 2950 lb car is easily achieved and more realistic if you can live with the racing seats. I got mine used and will replace them for long trips with the stock units - doesn't take long at all. The power to weight ratio at this weight with the Conforti CAI, Euro HFM, and chip, is better than an original stock 286 hp Euro M3. The car feels like it off the line too!
--
Ron Katona