zl1 weight reduction?

[W2WSS]

what have you guys done if any? anyone done a rear seat delete that looks flush? forgive me if this thread is already made, i am new to the site. thanks

[ZL1-V]

Originally Posted by W2WSS

what have you guys done if any? anyone done a rear seat delete that looks flush? forgive me if this thread is already made, i am new to the site. thanks

I eventually will remove my rear seat. I have to laugh as I remember many years ago when the limited production 1995 Mustang Cobra R came from the factory with the rear seat already removed. It also had no sound deading! I can only imagine all of the ZL1 owners that can hear the rear end now when it's cold becoming really upset. I will say just be prepared for increased NVH once you do remove the rear seat.

[Whos_Drivin]

Is it really worth it to remove the rear seats and add something flush? I removed them to replace the speakers and they didn't seem to weigh much. I think the speakers themselves weighed more than the seats!

[W2WSS]

I had a past shop take out the back seat of my 00 camaro back in the day and it looked great. Im not intending to put speakers back there. Im just trying to get the car under 4,000lbs without having an ugly stripped down car. Do you guys actually use your back seats? Im kinda thinking along the lines of the laguna seca mustangs rear seat delete. I wouldnt need those cross bars or anything. That type of a factory setting look is what id like to see

[Whos_Drivin]

I use my rear seats. My 3 and 5 year old fit perfect and love rides in the "race car".

[ZL1-V]

Pulled the stock seat out today. Thanks to finding a previous thread on rear seat removal. Taking it to my stereo guy tomorrow for rear seat delete kit he will make for me. I have no need or use for them and plan on also adding a harness bar or cage.

EDIT,

Ordered the kit from rear seat delete instead. Shop had another project paying more,LOL

[ZL153]

I am doing Cobra Misano seats (24 lbs each), Braille Battery (21 lbs), removing the plastic engine cover (-4.4 lbs), Roto Fab CAI (-4 lbs) and doing an SW Retro catback exhaust (-33 lbs). All totaled should save about 128 lbs. Down the road I will look at the Race Brakes rotors which will save another 23 lbs and possibly tubular bumper supports which would save an additonal 24 lbs.

[on3wego]

Really interested in this subject as well.. I got the braille 17 lb battery. Took out everything in rear trunk. Took off engine cover. Going to be doing headers and few engine upgrades. Iv looked at racing brakes as well. Is there anything else that could help? Wish bmr would come out with a k member.

Don't wanna gut it entirely bc it is a nice smooth riding car.

[Ray_Cam_SS]

Originally Posted by ZL1-V

Taking it to my stereo guy tomorrow for rear seat delete kit he will make for me.

ZL1-V,

Please post Pics of your Rear Seat Delete.

Thx.

[2012-1822]

Don't know about the seats. But I knocked 120 pounds off the car. Dumped my nagging old lady. Enjoyability of the car went up by a factor of 10.

[ZL1-V]

Originally Posted by 2012-1822

Don't know about the seats. But I knocked 120 pounds off the car. Dumped my nagging old lady. Enjoyability of the car went up by a factor of 10.

[jessrayo]

My rear seat is out. Right now I have reduced weight with rear seat delete, racing brake rotors, lightweight rims and tires, custom light weight bumper crash supports, lighter weight Ron Davis intercooler and radiator. Removal of all carpet and tire inflation in trunk. All floor mats and manuals removed. My car weighs 4100 with 1/4 tank of gas and 70 pounds of nitrous in the back, no driver.

I considered changing my battery but I have a huge amount of power draw for a 2000hp capable fuel pump system, nitrous bottle heaters and high amp water pump for the supercharger, I just don't think the braille battery would work for me. I looked into Plexiglas replacement windows. If you do the front you will no longer see the HUD and Plexiglas must be at least 1" thick to sustain 200mph without support bracing. At that thickness it only saves about 5 pounds. The door glass on Gen5 Camaros does not seal in a track so Plexiglas is not recommended in the door glass. If you replace the rear window you lose the defroster (I may do this eventually but it only saves about 8 pounds). The real low hanging fruit on the ZL1 is the stock front seats. They weigh about 80 pounds each and it is pretty easy to get a good manual race seat that weighs less than 30 pounds. I just have not been able to part with my stock seats yet.

[Todd in Vancouver]

Very interesting thread and for anyone really wanting to make their ZL faster this is a great starting point. My last Camaro, an '81 Berlinetta, started as a really nice street machine with a healthy SBC and usual street trim. As I raced it more and more and kept tweaking it, I ended up with a trailer only racecar. One of the most surprising things to me was the weekend I decided to put the car on a serious diet. I removed anything that was not needed for racing or strength and spent two days using out new to the marketplace plasma cutter.

In the end I had removed so much weight that the front suspension sat topped out with the car just sitting in running trim in the bay. I had to remove the front springs and cut them down to bring the front suspension back down so the car had the correct rake/stance. What was really interesting was that I didn't remove anything big and just nipped here and trimmed there. That car ended up just over 2800#'s ready to race, no driver. Like Mark Stielow wrote in his book on Pro-Touring, look at everything, bolt length, unnessicary items and everything that can help reduce Lbs.

[GlennDrayton]

Hi,

I have a 2013 Camaro ZL1 converted to right-hand drive for Australia that I started using on regular track days. I'm now very interested in light-weighting as well as increasing power!

The attached image is of a spreadsheet I am putting together to list the effect of all the light-weighting options I have read about so far. I have also included the effect of installing a 700hp supercharger upgrade so you can see the overall effect in terms of power-to-weight. This is only draft right now, but it seems that with everything on that list done the power-to-weight ratio could increase from about 310 hp/tonne to 455 hp/tonne, which is very close to that of a Bugatti Veyron and Ferrari 458 Speciale.