Weight of car vs. HP

[toussi1]

I read somewhere that for every 10LBS of weight removed from the a car, its like gaining 1 hp

so, say you can removed 200lbs off your car, that's 20Hp

kinda makes sense?

Imagine how much slower your car gets when you have 3 addition people in it = about 500lbs

[Don Nguyen]

hmmm....this is definately the bang for the buck, cheaper food and lose weight and gain 1 hp for every 10 lbs! :D

[SilverStreak]

That's an extremely general rule of thumb, but not entirely accurate, it depends on the car in question, the overall weight involved, etc...


For instance, 100 lbs will make a more noticeable difference in a car that only weighs 2200 lbs, than it will in a car that weighs 5500 lbs, in terms of acceleration, etc...

[Roffle Waffle]

hmm, Ive never thought about that silver

[SDbboy]

It also depends if the reduction in weight is unsprung or sprung.

Unprung weight reduction yields more positive improvment than sprung becuase of its role on the cars suspension. The lighter you can make your wheels, tires, rotors, suspension components, etc... The better reaction it will have with more agility and quicker turn in not to mention less physical weight to stop and accelerate into motion.

Also in terms of performance handling its desirable to lighten the car and maintain as close to 50/50 weight distribution as possible.

Brian

[steve k.]

If you have a 10 to 1 weight to power ratio then yes, removing 10lb is like adding 1 hp and removing 100lb is like adding 10 hp.

but then you have to look on where the weight is removed. Unsprung weight is worth a lot more in handling and power gains then the rest of the car. righter wheels and brakes will do wonders.

the best power gain you can do is get lightweight wheels. mine are 8lb each :)

steve

[toussi1]

mine are 28lbs each :biglaughb

[bigmansM]

i also heard that every 100 pds u reduce, takes about .1 sec off qaurter mile.

[SDbboy]

Originally posted by steve k.
If you have a 10 to 1 weight to power ratio then yes, removing 10lb is like adding 1 hp and removing 100lb is like adding 10 hp.

but then you have to look on where the weight is removed. Unsprung weight is worth a lot more in handling and power gains then the rest of the car. righter wheels and brakes will do wonders.

the best power gain you can do is get lightweight wheels. mine are 8lb each :)

steve

Are your wheels magnesium?

Brian

[///MEric]

i think removing weight is one of the best things you can do to a car weight effects everything though so when you remove weight it makes you brake turn and accel better o and doent it make you gas mileage better

[Roffle Waffle]

And if you pick up a fat chick, let her give you head in the car BEFORE you drive around, and then just kick her out.

[steve k.]

Originally posted by dallasbboy
Are your wheels magnesium?

Brian

nope. alluminum. but unlike most of the people here i have wheels that are only 13x7.5

http://www.kgb-racing.com/images/ax/ax110903_6.jpg

steve

[SDbboy]

Beautiful 2002 there Steve!

Brian

[stjobs]

Damn, those look go-kart sized. The acceleration must be huge :D

Anyway, since the amount of weight you take off and the equivalent "HP" gain is dependent not only on car weight but also the engine's power, the real thing to look at is the power to weight number, or lbs. per hp as some magazines give.

That includes the information re: car weight and engine power.

[Whatup1049]

I lost almost 40 lbs! YES I HAVE 4 MORE HP WOO WOO!

[RussM3]

The way I look at the HP/Weight conversion:

1/4 pounder with cheese with Biggie fries, large drink = at least 1 hp of very sprung weight.

Screw the Akins diet...go on the more hp diet.

[91M5]

My laptimes were an average one second slower with an average sized male passenger on Infineon.