Project 1:10

[Hites]

How light can you get an SVX? How much money can you get from parting a decent one out? I ask all this, because I may have found a good running SVX for under $2k (I know about the transmission, brakes, and wheel bearings). Now the plan for this car is to strip it, and don't mean that lightly. All that would be gone would be the entire interior (sans drivers seat, steering wheel and shifter), doors, hood, trunk/hatch, front fenders, bumper covers, bumpers, exhaust, ps pump, engine cover, windows, windshield, and all lenses. I know that there's a regularly stripped SVX around that's down to 2750lbs, but that's just way too heavy for me. So... what do you think I could get the weight down to, and how much do you think I could get out of the parts listed? A 1:10 power:weight ratio would be mighty fine.

[Crazy_pilot]

*sigh* do a search, this question has been asked about once a month since this site was created.

Long story short, you can't lighten the car beyond 2700 lbs or so. Not without going ballistic and cutting out structural parts. The simple fact is that this car is heavy because it was built like a tank. Thick, heavy steel everywhere. Someone actually cut one in half a while back and took pictures of the cut members. We're talking 1/8"+ metal, everywhere.

If you want a sub 2500 lb SVX...Mold the body out of carbon fiber and build a tube frame to put that on.

What do you need an SVX with that many parts missing for?

[ensteele]

The SVX is a grand touring car, not a dragster, so even if you get some of the weight reduced, it will not make that much difference in speed.

[Hites]

http://www.subaru-svx.net/forum/showthread.php?t=38068
post #6

Explain to me how benebob managed to get his weight down to 2750lbs without removing the doors, hood, trunk, front fenders, bumper covers, bumpers, exhaust, windows, windshield, and lenses. Are you telling me all of that combined only weighs 50lbs? I'll be the first to say that sounds like malarkey.

Also, to save you from reading, that SVX squeaked out a 14.2 1/4mi time.

[Crazy_pilot]

What in the world do you intend to do with the car? I can understand removing most of those parts, but the doors?

Sacrifice all that and you might hit 2500 lbs, maybe a bit under that. The doors are quite heavy, the hood and trunk are a good chunk of weight, but the fenders weigh almost nothing (5 lbs perhaps?) and the bumper covers also weigh very little.

Seriously though, at this point there's no reason to use an SVX. If it's the EG33 you really like just throw it into an Impreza and lighten that thing, you'll get a much lighter car once you're done, and early Impreza's with nuked engines can be had for next to nil.

[zavikan]

I was going to make a 'he likes the windows joke'. and I wrote it all out. And it was moderately funny. until I realized he wanted to remove the doors too...which made my joke stupid...

Go buy a civic.

[Hites]

Originally Posted by Crazy_pilot

What in the world do you intend to do with the car? I can understand removing most of those parts, but the doors?

Sacrifice all that and you might hit 2500 lbs, maybe a bit under that. The doors are quite heavy, the hood and trunk are a good chunk of weight, but the fenders weigh almost nothing (5 lbs perhaps?) and the bumper covers also weigh very little.

Seriously though, at this point there's no reason to use an SVX. If it's the EG33 you really like just throw it into an Impreza and lighten that thing, you'll get a much lighter car once you're done, and early Impreza's with nuked engines can be had for next to nil.

This is mainly an experiment. I want to see how much weight I can take off and how it effects acceleration and possibly even handling. I might get into aftermarket suspension work. Idk yet. With no fenders, some mighty big meats could be stuck under it. :P

Honestly, it looks like I can get an SVX cheaper than any Impreza I can find around here, not to mention the labor would be significantly less. I've thought about doing this experiment with a Cadi Eldo with the N* engine, but they still seem to be fetching over $2k with the cheapest one worth a damn within a reasonable distance being $2.5k. Wheelspin would be a ***** though, and I know the SVX could probably get a good launch down, so I've pretty much been lookin' at both.

[Wikedjuggalo]

Originally Posted by Hites

How light can you get an SVX? How much money can you get from parting a decent one out? I ask all this, because I may have found a good running SVX for under $2k (I know about the transmission, brakes, and wheel bearings). Now the plan for this car is to strip it, and don't mean that lightly. All that would be gone would be the entire interior (sans drivers seat, steering wheel and shifter), doors, hood, trunk/hatch, front fenders, bumper covers, bumpers, exhaust, ps pump, engine cover, windows, windshield, and all lenses. I know that there's a regularly stripped SVX around that's down to 2750lbs, but that's just way too heavy for me. So... what do you think I could get the weight down to, and how much do you think I could get out of the parts listed? A 1:10 power:weight ratio would be mighty fine.

If you want more power, check into the Hydra EM system but like others stated, the SVX is not by any means a power house. Its not cheap to modify.

[sperry]

Why do people always pick inappropriate starting points for projects? If your goal is to build a car with a 1:10 power/weight, start with a light car... not a heavy luxury GT. I'm sure it's eleventy times easier to bump the power up in an '88 civic with a simple motor swap than it is to try to cut 2000 lbs out of an SVX.

Hell, for the cost of building a super-light SVX (that's not the total pile/death trap that an SVX w/o doors/windows/fender/etc would be), you could just buy an NSX and supercharge it. Or turbo a 1st gen Miata. Or a build a Vette motor'd 240Z. Or a E30 3-series w/ an E46 M3 motor... etc.

In fact, if light is what you want, just spend $2000 on a used F125 kart and go racing.

And, most importantly, if this lightweight goal is just for drag racing... buy a g-damn Camaro, drop $4000 on it, and run in the 10's. *Nothing* is going to be faster for cheaper than a large displacement motor in a RWD car. Just because you have access to a cheap SVX and like drag racing, doesn't mean the two go together ideally.

[Wikedjuggalo]

http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/show....php?t=1706767

[Crazy_pilot]

Where's that picture of the EG33 with a seat on top? I think that about sums up this thread.

[sicksubie]

It is far easier to do mild weight reduction and then add power to an svx... Say that conservatively with the hydra, meth, and a tune I make 350-360whp.. I know my car was @ 3550lbs last spring when I got it weighed... Since then I have swapped the WRX driver seat for a sparco (-15lbs~), swapped my roof so I no longer have a sunroof (-25lbs~), finished stripping the trunk and removed the rear wiper assembly (-10lbs~). That would put me at 3500lbs and 360whp... 9.722:1 My car is also still safe and street driveable.....

[boipeba]

Understand you idea, but knowing that that much steel is around me and the design of the car and its abilities in a crash allows me to sleep better. One of the reasons I bought the beast. Worth the increase in gas consumption.

good luck!