Reducing the weight of you car can get you dramatic improvements in performance and handling. What other modification can effect acceleration, cornering, and braking and not cost a lot of money? Here are a few ways to reduce your car's weight and improve performance.
Remove all the broken parts you don't to repair. For example, if you have a broken power antenna or an old cassette stereo unit you never use, take them out. How about the Air conditioning compressor and related parts? That alone can save you about 30 lbs!
Get the junk out of your trunk! You might be surprised how much stuff you have in there if you haven't looked in awhile. Old phone books, lawn chairs, sandbags for winter traction, cases of bottled water. That stuff belongs in the garage!
Lose the flashy bling-bling rims. Get the lightest forged aluminum wheels you can afford. Those big chrome wheels are for show, not for speed. While you're at it, look for lightweight tires. You can compare weight on your current wheels and tires to some others on the market on sites like TireRack.com or DiscountTire.com. The differences can be significant.
Carbon Fiber or FRP Panels instead of steel. They may be a little pricy, but are certainly a cost-effective replacement over time. Depending on your local vehicle code, you may also be able to replace your steel hood, trunk lid, or fenders with fiber ones.
Replace stock seats with Corbeau racing seats. Power seats can weigh in at up to 75 pounds each. Replacing them with lightweight fixed-back racing bucket seats that weigh ten pounds or less each will shave 150 pounds off your car.
Visit RacingSeatsOnline.com for more info on racing seats.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Monday, September 17, 2007
Installing Corbeau Racing Seats
There are 3 main ways of mounting a racing seat to your car. The best method for installing seats is welded in seat base rails, slider rails and side mounts.
This method is the most useful as it allows for a perfectly positioned seat in addition to being the most secure mounting method. To achieve this type of installation you should have your cage builder weld in 2 round or square tubes across the floor in such a position that when the seat bottom is laid across the bars the driver position is acceptable. Square tubes allow direct attachment; round bars will require flat tabs to be added for the seat mounts to attach. A bottom or side mount seat can be bolted directly to the welded in bars.
Corbeau Custom Brackets Bolt in using off the shelf bracket adapters. Ease of installation, removable. Seat sits higher, slightly more flexible, requires a bottom mount seat to prevent fabrication.
This is probably the most common mounting method as it requires no welding and can be done completely with purchased components and no custom fabrication. This method works best with bottom mount seats. Corbeau offers 100's of Custom Seat Brackets to fit most vehicles. Brackets bolt to stock mounting location and in most cases include mounting points for stock seat belt buckles if needed.
Floor Mount Method For taller drivers or where the lowest center of gravity is required. Strength, Safety, Removable, Lowest CG, Ease of installation. Only for taller drivers, Non-adjustable.
Seats can be mounted directly to the floor if the driver is tall enough to see over the dash. Using this method the seat bottom can actually touch the floor giving the absolute lowest possible center of gravity for the driver.
This method is the most useful as it allows for a perfectly positioned seat in addition to being the most secure mounting method. To achieve this type of installation you should have your cage builder weld in 2 round or square tubes across the floor in such a position that when the seat bottom is laid across the bars the driver position is acceptable. Square tubes allow direct attachment; round bars will require flat tabs to be added for the seat mounts to attach. A bottom or side mount seat can be bolted directly to the welded in bars.
Corbeau Custom Brackets Bolt in using off the shelf bracket adapters. Ease of installation, removable. Seat sits higher, slightly more flexible, requires a bottom mount seat to prevent fabrication.
This is probably the most common mounting method as it requires no welding and can be done completely with purchased components and no custom fabrication. This method works best with bottom mount seats. Corbeau offers 100's of Custom Seat Brackets to fit most vehicles. Brackets bolt to stock mounting location and in most cases include mounting points for stock seat belt buckles if needed.
Floor Mount Method For taller drivers or where the lowest center of gravity is required. Strength, Safety, Removable, Lowest CG, Ease of installation. Only for taller drivers, Non-adjustable.
Seats can be mounted directly to the floor if the driver is tall enough to see over the dash. Using this method the seat bottom can actually touch the floor giving the absolute lowest possible center of gravity for the driver.
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