Blue Angel [COTW 5/30/11]

[Doc]

I got a set of blue forged aluminum racing lug nuts which are 2.22 lbs lighter than the stock lugs when you weigh all of them for all 4 wheels. Not a huge reduction of unsprung rotating weight but it all adds up and they were only $49 on ebay so it was very affordable. I just need to find a matching locking lug nut and it won't look weird having one chrome locking lug nut.

A full set of stock lugs weigh 3 lbs 2.2 oz. The same set of racing lugs weigh less than 1 lb at 12.6 oz.

[speedster]

Cool stuff Doc. Piece by piece it really adds up. (or doesn't add up...lol) Lookin' good and should really help performance.

I know you answered this before but are you rims smaller than 20's?

[WadeWilson]

Originally Posted by speedster

Cool stuff Doc. Piece by piece it really adds up. (or doesn't add up...lol) Lookin' good and should really help performance.

I know you answered this before but are you rims smaller than 20's?

Good question Bruce. They look like they could be 19s but maybe that's just me.

[midnighter]

They are 19"s.

[Doc]

19 x 9.5 all the way around.

[speedster]

Originally Posted by Doc

19 x 9.5 all the way around.

Thanks Guys...

Those wheels look great on your Camaro !!

[Edge.128]

great looking car!!! personally i wouldn't bring in any more yellow and I would do something else with the foglights.... but thats just me. great car keep up the good work!!

[Doc]

Today I installed a Braille race battery. The Braille battery weighed 14 lbs 15.4 oz or essentially 15 lbs. It's also surprisingly small; especially compared to the factory battery. The factory battery weighed 44 lbs 7.2 oz. The Braille battery saves just shy of 30 lbs of weight compared to the factory battery.

Here's a shot of the Braille battery on the scale:


Here's a shot of the factory battery on the scale:


Here's a shot of the Braille battery standing up on top above the factory battery in the trunk so you can see a size comparison; the Braille is really small:


Here's a shot of the Braille installed in the trunk. I used a 1.5" thick, 7" square piece of thick foam insulation underneath the Braille to lift it up so it would be able to be secured with the factory bracket clamp on the top which also has the long bolt that everything above it is secured with. I used the thick plastic piece that was on the left side of the factory battery which was used to clamp the battery to the floor of the trunk, and I put it on top of the Braille, under the top clamp so it would press the Braille down into the foam underneath for a solid, secure mount. The Braille is rock solid and does not move.


I removed the factory-provided pump/tire sealant unit that is held in a foam holder that fits on top of the battery area. Since I had never looked under the trunk mat I didn't even know it was in there. I'm not going to use it since I would never inject sealant in my 3-piece forged rims. I have AAA; I'll call them if I have a flat. This unit weighs 5 lbs 2 oz.


I also took the opportunity to remove the engine cover which weighs 4 lbs 9.4 oz.


Making these changes removed just over 39 lbs of weight. That might not sound like a lot but believe me, when you try and lift the factory battery out of the trunk 44 lbs is heavy! Right now my car with a full tank weighs somewhere around 3750 lbs. My goal is 3700 lbs on the scale with a full tank of gas. I know I can save a little over 20 lbs with my next couple of mods and I'm sure I can find another 25-30 lbs to save elsewhere on the car.

A gallon of gas weighs 6 lbs so if I run half a tank, that saves about 50 lbs. If I hit my target of 3700 lbs full tank, then on half a tank I'll be at about 3650 lbs which is respectable.

My overall performance goal is a power to weight (P/W) ratio of 8 to 1. Thats figured on the basis of rear wheel horsepower (rwhp). A stock SS with manual trans which weighs 3860 and has approximately on average 360 rwhp, has a P/W ratio of 10.72-1. In order to have an 8-1 ratio on the stock weight of 3860, you'd have to have 482.5 rwhp. If I can get mine down to 3700 lbs I'll need 462.5 rwhp to achieve a P/W of 8-1. With everything I'm doing, and with long tube headers and high flow cats, 462.5 rwhp is doable without going forced induction.

However even if a stock car had the same P/W ratio it won't have near the same performance as a lighter car will. The moment you turn the wheel and have to do more than just floor it in a straight line, the lighter car will run away from the heavier one. I have a feeling I'm going to surprise a few guys with superchargers at C5fest2.

Oh, and after installing the Braille battery, the car started just fine and runs great.

[speedster]

Very cool battery Doc !

What kind of Amps (CCA or otherwise) does that battery put out ?

Nice and small. 1/3 the weight.

[Doc]

Originally Posted by speedster

Very cool battery Doc !

What kind of Amps (CCA or otherwise) does that battery put out ?

Nice and small. 1/3 the weight.

They have several in different weights and abilities but I figured this was the lightest I could get away with. They do have a 21 lb battery with higher specs for those that aren't sure if the 15 lb has enough oomph. It started my car up right away with no problems and I can't tell any difference in voltage performance compared to the stock battery.

Here's a screen snap of the specs:


My battery came with a performance test sheet that shows it's producing 13.14 volts, 682 Cranking Amps.

[Fraxum]

Your car looks great.

I find your weight obsession interesting. I wish I had the $$ to follow your lead. But I already went in the wrong direction with the sub and the amp in the trunk. I need to find a lightweight sub.

[Doc]

Originally Posted by Fraxum

Your car looks great.

I find your weight obsession interesting. I wish I had the $$ to follow your lead. But I already went in the wrong direction with the sub and the amp in the trunk. I need to find a lightweight sub.

These cars already have a lot of horsepower. In fact they come with the kind of power people used to try and reach with mods. By just adding more power you create a beast that can be hard to control. By reducing weight the beast becomes refined and a lot of fun to drive.

[Doc]

I wanted to change the stock HID's to a whiter color; I don't like the dull yellowed look of the stock HID's. The stock bulbs produce a light at 4300k temperature color so I replaced the stock bulbs with 5000k temp bulbs which are crystal white right on the edge of blue.

I like the color change but there was a drop in lumens so they don't put out as much light as the stock ones do. It's not terrible but I noticed it. The stock bulbs are 35 watt so I'm looking into upgrading the setup to 55w but that will require changing the ballast too.

In the meantime here are a few pics to show the difference. Obviously they're much brighter than in the pics; I changed my camera settings so you could see the colors easier instead of just bright glare.

The first pic is the stock HID 4300k bulb:


The next is the 5000k bulb:


Here you can see both before I changed the driver's side; the 5000k bulb is on the left and the 4300k is on the right:


Makes for a nicer, "more alert" kind of look I think.

[radz28]

GREAT THREAD DOC'!!! I wish I hadn't missed it! I won't anymore, and hope to learn more through your search to lose more weight. I love all the improvements and modifications you've made. I'm especially interested in what you find with the HIDs and improving the lumens.

-Chuck