Polarbear's weight loss guide

[POLARBEAR666]

Weight loss list. All items weighed on a digital scale by me personally. No guessing. Loose parts were weighed in a cardboard box and the box's weight deducted.

http://i263.photobucket.com/albums/ii129/POLARBEAR666/TSI/weightlosssofar-1.jpg
http://i263.photobucket.com/albums/ii129/POLARBEAR666/TSI/P9140027.jpg

Deleted rear exhaust box, Factory muffler was 12kg and aftermarket pipe was only 5kg.
http://i263.photobucket.com/albums/ii129/POLARBEAR666/TSI/Polarrearmuffler.jpg

http://i263.photobucket.com/albums/ii129/POLARBEAR666/TSI/PB180005.jpg
http://i263.photobucket.com/albums/ii129/POLARBEAR666/TSI/OEM19kg.jpg
http://i263.photobucket.com/albums/ii129/POLARBEAR666/TSI/DekkaET18xl.jpg

Additional sneaky stuff.
--- Any unused exhaust hangers under rear of car weigh about 300g each.
--- Get rid of the engine cover, the TSI 1.4 one weighs about 2kg.
--- Under-bonnet insulation is not needed and weighs 2kg from memory.
http://i263.photobucket.com/albums/ii129/POLARBEAR666/TSI/PolarHKSIntakeTSI6.jpg


--- Sound deadening in the trunk area and under back seat was almost 2kg (scrape swear sweat scrape)
--- The battery tray is quite heavy, if you include the battery cover etc you are looking at 2kg if its the plastic surrounded one and not cloth.

-- XX aftermarket suspension is often heavier by a bit than factory. My KW V1 was 6.45 versus 6.2kg for factory
http://i263.photobucket.com/albums/ii129/POLARBEAR666/TSI/suspension10.jpg
http://i263.photobucket.com/albums/ii129/POLARBEAR666/TSI/suspension5.jpg

MORE TO COME

[10d]

Serious weight loss there, mate.
What semis are those?

[GTom]

You forgot the supercharger cover and insulation!

I got to remove mine, the recent heat has seen what seems like a reduction in power.....

[Justin Fox]

Awesome. I love this kinda stuff.

I took out over 150kg from the GT-R. I used chisel and heatgun to remove all sound deadening tar under the carpets, threw carpets out too, all trims, roof lining, rear seats, boot trim and lining, removed air conditioning, removed all stereo gear and air conditioning dials and controls and to top it all off I installed a carbon drive shaft!

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/192/499202820_e5c6346c70.jpg

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/200/499251643_a68ae940d6.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2442/3944478880_c84ca68ae7.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4067/4354555572_5f39e43813.jpg
ACPT carbon drive shaft.

PS: You might want to chime in here too:
http://www.vwgolf.net.au/showthread.php?487-Weight-reduction-and-lightening-a-car-to-increase-performance

[GBJ-R32]

HOLY ur both crazy and legends just how much power are u guys llooking to gain from this weight loss diet

[G-rig]

What does it equate to for 0 - 100 times?

[saad]

Polarbear, how hard is it to remove the rear seats?

[jazzle]

it's not just the acceleration gain.

"Adding power makes you faster on the straights, while subtracting weight makes you faster everywhere." Colin Chapman :D

[Justin Fox]

I weighed my stuff in today and weights are diff to yours. I am pretty damn sure my scales are accurate too. In any case, here's my data:

OK here's an update:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4015/4498009087_53d41944fa_o.jpg
Old Antenna.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2655/4498009291_b396c4fb3d_o.jpg
New Antenna. Ooooooh I've broken the seal as they say :lol: the mods will flow on from here!

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2685/4498009469_a451b24d25_o.jpg
This little star nut is the only thing holding the rear seats in.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4042/4498009675_6648095dbf_o.jpg
All the stuff that came out. Rear seats, spare, tools, parcel shelf and boot floor.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2783/4498646266_74f2726937_o.jpg
The weigh in begins.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2702/4498646158_669a54075f_o.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4059/4498008877_de2399aa4d_o.jpg
The manual is almost 1kg :lol:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2794/4498645906_41b5061d9a_o.jpg
Stripped! The bikes will fit in nicely me thinks.

OK here's the weight breakdown. I've broken the rear seat down into separate components (it's 3 pieces).

Weights:

Antenna: -20g
Golf Manual: -818g
Tool kit: -3.78kg
Parcel tray: -1.82kg
Rear floor: -1.62kg
Rear seat bottom: -4.96kg
Rear single seat back: -6.46kg
Rear double seat back: -17.48kg
Spare wheel: -14.34kg
----------------------------------
51.29kg

[MasterKevin]

thats way to cool :P haha

keep it up justin :P

[Frenchie]

haha damn Justin - great weightloss program ! I have taken my spare wheel and manual so that's 15kg saved woohoo

[AP]

My leather seats are heavier, But if you want I could come over and weigh my seats etc..

[AP]

I didn't eat breakfast so thats 1kg..

[10d]

The Fox gets busy!
Well done, Justin!

You probably have a 70kgs advantage over most of us now. :)

[saad]

Justin how long did it take to remove the rear seats? Im seriosuly contemplating doing this, but want it to b able to go back to normal without wasting too much time

[kaoticice]

wow nice job justin.. I would imagine that rear wheel gap will be 4x4 by now :P hahhaha

Just a question for those experience in the handling field.. Would reducing weight at the back of the car on a fwd encourage the tendency to oversteer? In my logic, since it's lighter at the back the rear tyres would have lesser friction and traction, which in turns becomes more tail-happy. So i'm guessing a 50/50 weight distribution probably won't benefit much in a fwd.

[Justin Fox]

Justin how long did it take to remove the rear seats? Im seriosuly contemplating doing this, but want it to b able to go back to normal without wasting too much time
It's literally 2 bolts. One bolt to undo both seats but you have to remove the middle seatbelt as it's part of the rear seat. It's a fat bolt holding down the seatbelt buckle but it's easy enough to undo. Took me 10 minutes. You first take off the bottom (where your bum goes), that just pulls off (start from the corners). Then in between the split folds is a latch with the star bolt I took a pic of, undo that, spring the latch and the seats come off nice and easy.


wow nice job justin.. I would imagine that rear wheel gap will be 4x4 by now :P hahhaha
Funny you mention that. I've now got a 4 finger gap between the wheel arch and the tyre at the back! It's only a 2 finger gap in the front!

[saad]

Justin, its just a standard torx bit, or is a triple sqaure? If the later, ill need to buy some bits

[Justin Fox]

Standard torx for the rear seat but the seatbelt buckle bolt is huge, it's not your standard torx pattern but it will come out nicely with a standard (huge) allen key.

[G-rig]

Justin, its just a standard torx bit, or is a triple sqaure? If the later, ill need to buy some bits

To take out the front seats you need an M10 Triple square bit, pretty sure that's the one (ps dont you already have those Recaros or that's just a pic off the net?).

[Tinto]

You're all doing it wrong.
bulemia + laxettes = 50kg left in the porcelain throne. ;)

[Paul_OH]

If I wear a girdle does that have the same effect? Or if I have an in-car camera? Oops, hang on the camera adds 10 pounds not subtracts it.

[Justin Fox]

M10 Triple square bit

That's the one! I used a normal allen key (carefully) to remove this bolt, worked fine but I'd much rather have the right tools. I'll go buy some.

[saad]

ECS have a great triple square bit set.

[Justin Fox]

OK I've removed my rear wiper + motor today:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4059/4506066099_04d9d9d4d2_o.jpg

The DIY Thread is here:
http://www.vwgolf.net.au/showthread.php?627-DIY-Rear-Wiper-Delete-MKV-Golf

Some weights:

Rear wiper assembly: 1.02kg
Rear boot trim panel: 1.74kg