I have been thinking (while waiting for my car to come back from the bodyshop) about how much lighter my finished car will be than when it started out.
As a 3 litre Z3, with 17" wheels it's curb weight was around 1,370 kg.
I have totted up a guesstimate of the weight savings by ditching all the steel body panels and replacing with GRP, changing the seats for MUCH lighter ones, changing the wheels and tyres for lighter ones, changing bumpers, lights, interior parts and chucking the spare wheel and carrier away.
I reckon my car is going to be around 50-75kg lighter than it was. So....if I take the higher figure, that is 5.5% lighter. My car has 231bhp and 300nm, so by my reckoning the 5.5% can be translated to a new equivalent of 243bhp and 316nm.
Not bad IMO for a 24 year old little BMW. This, of course, presumes it is still making the power it did from the factory which it should (ish) as it has had a FULL engine service recently and is very low mileage. It also has a full service history.
As a 3 litre Z3, with 17" wheels it's curb weight was around 1,370 kg.
I have totted up a guesstimate of the weight savings by ditching all the steel body panels and replacing with GRP, changing the seats for MUCH lighter ones, changing the wheels and tyres for lighter ones, changing bumpers, lights, interior parts and chucking the spare wheel and carrier away.
I reckon my car is going to be around 50-75kg lighter than it was. So....if I take the higher figure, that is 5.5% lighter. My car has 231bhp and 300nm, so by my reckoning the 5.5% can be translated to a new equivalent of 243bhp and 316nm.
Not bad IMO for a 24 year old little BMW. This, of course, presumes it is still making the power it did from the factory which it should (ish) as it has had a FULL engine service recently and is very low mileage. It also has a full service history.
