Super Beetle Diet Plan

[havik180]

What parts can be tossed or replaced in order for Supers to loose weight ? It seems that fenders would not be that much of a savings since the stock ones dont weigh very much.So far I've gotten rid of the sound deadener on the firewall and in the interior,will probably scrape off the under coating in favor of some POR-15 but what else can be done ? Do the F/G fenders hood etc wiegh that much less ? What have some of you done ?

[Supa Ninja]

Just remember the more balanced your car the better it will handle in the corners, so the more weight you loose in rear the better. I hear the lexan windows are lighter then saftey glass, I'm thinking about doing the rear three in my 02 but then again I want to keep my pop-outs for the hot summers. I'm also thinking about a fiberglass rear bumper.

Nick

[yetibone]

Fiberglass rear fenders weigh a little less than stock steel ones.
I would imagine a greater weight savings would be gained in installing fiberglass front fenders, as the headlight buckets add a
lot of weight. I'm not sure if fiberglass front fenders come with fiberglass headlight buckets though (those with experience, speak up)

I saw in the galeries that a lot of GL's in Europe have bumper brackets with cut-outs for weight savings.

Aluminum rear control arms from a 951, or 952 will save a few ounces too, I think. (there again, speak up if you know)

If you choose to run bumpers on your Bug, and can't afford carbon fibre, the cheap Brazilian made bumpers are A LOT lighter than the original German made ones.

Weight reduction is a collective thing, a few ounces here, a pound or two there will only offset the added weight of disk brakes, large wheels and tires, Type IV engine, 5-sp gearbox, etc..

I figured that Cup3's, 17x7.5 and 17x9 (Speedline, not Porsche) and 944 NA brakes adds at least 15 lbs to a Bug, and a Type IV may be 40 Lbs heavier than a Type I, so every little bit helps.


Yetibone

[oasis]

Another suggestion which I believe is in the tech articles section is moving the battery to the front. Despite a net gain of 0, the weight redistribution has to be significant. Also depending what utility your car will have, you may consider ditching the rear seat.

-René

BTW, I choose to live in Maryland; they choose that I run bumpers.

[vujade]

I have a 1302 and plan on replacing all four fenders with glas fiber and then the rear decklid, bumpers, & running boards with carbon fiber.

Inside I will probably use Carbon Fiber door panels (you could also run aluminum panels instead)

I have removed my back seat and tray area too.

I was thinking of replacing the rear glass windows with Lexan from aircool.net.

I am probably going to get rid of the headliner too.

My car weighs 1970 lbs currently with my 17" Boxter wheels & Maxx Struts installed.

I am hoping to get the car down into the 1800lb range :silly:

[Lurv]

I haven't got any idea what my 03 weight but this is what I have done...

Spare wheel, replased with tire-in-a-can

moved batteri up front, to get less in the back-more up front.

no rear seat, its heavy!

no rear setabelts, why have it with no seat to sit on?

recaro front seat, light and good for cornering.

no heat, replased with j-tubes

no heat channels, why when I have no heat?

all the plastic heat things behind the dash, why when I have no heat?

no sound deadning inside just carpet, the fury stuff aren't hevy but there is alot of it!

no sounddeadning on the firewall, I didn't even hear the diffrence and my car aren't that loud.

cut out the steel out if the spare wheel well, If I don't have a spare why have a spare well?

the steel thing infront of the hammerhead on the pan (think its a front-collision-energy-absorber)

replased the steel under the tank with thin alu.

door sides are a alu frame and vinly over it, looks like a solid vinly door side but REALY light...

this is what I can remember right now. the car handles alot better now, and it's alittle louder but not to loud. If you look into the car the only thing you notice is that rear seat is missing everything else looks standard...

[oasis]

Originally posted by vujade
I have a 1302 and plan on replacing all four fenders with glas fiber and then the rear decklid, bumpers, & running boards with carbon fiber.

I hope I'm not being crass by diverting from the original intent of this post, but I'm curious why (1) you selected fiberglass over carbon fiber for the fenders, (2) you selected carbon fiber over fiberglass for the rear decklid, and (3) the front decklid was not mentioned for replacement. (I have a guess on the third but I prefer to see the answer from the expert.)

Thanks,
René

[vujade]

the reason for the glas fiber over Carbon Fiber on the fender is cost. And they are getting painted anyways.

The decklid and the running boards are probably going to stay carbon fiber and unpainted.

The front hood is really expensive in carbon fiber.
Unless I came into some serious money I dont think I will
do anything to the hood. Plus I dont want to take off too much
weight off the front end.

[chigger]

You can use the cheap thin pans, gas tank, fenders, decklid etc, and maybe have them acid dipped to thin them out. The doors and mechanisms are quite heavy. Cut out the floor pan bottom leaving a 1 inch lip and replace the metal with the same thickness of aluminum rolled with an X pattern. Lexan windows should work in pop out frames if you cut them to size and use some spacers to take up the extra thickness. Aluminum bumpers with aluminum brackets. Just some more ideas.

[yetibone]

Hadn't thought about Lexan Windows. Is it USDOT legal?

[chigger]

I think they are legal for all the windows except the windshield. They are more work to maintain as they do scratch so they might not be to good in the doors where they slide up and down. For slight scratches use Pledge wax to clean them up.