Official lightening the mk3 thread!!!!

[86_sports_1jz]

good info to know

[xTomKx]

Originally Posted by cars4me89

one thing about drastically changes the weight of the flywheel and size of pullys is that it will make you car run differently and you have to be careful. the flywheel is the rotating mass that keeps the crankshaft and whole engine moving inbetween strokes so if you lighten this you won't have as much mass rotating.. it'll change the balance of the engine.

Lighter flywheels are a popular upgrade. Usually flywheels are balanced separately and then the the whole rotating assemby (crank, flywheel, journal weights - instead of rods and pistons) are balanced.
Therefore in most cases it won't affect the ballance if you use a lighter flywheel assuming it is prebalanced. It will change the critical frequency of the assembly though but most engines never hit their critical frequency anyway.
Besides the decrease in overall weight a lighter flywheel will make the engine spool up much faster. Faster engine spool = more hp.
Does anyone know the weight of a stock flywheel?

[Irish_Mechanic]

I'll admit that in previous cars i've eliminated weight to try to augment the overall performance. The weight I eliminated usually came with drawbacks, like having to shift while using both hands to pray i dont get a flat (because the spare and hardware was removed), or hoping that i dont pick up more than one girl at a time (because the rear doors were gutted and rear seats removed, and A/C system eliminated).

I'll say this for the supra, if you want to increase performance, horsepower is not hard to come by. Maybe you want to augment the motor, trans, or rear end? Perhaps just a high flow air filter? A high flow (legal) cat and less restrictive exhaust all together would help the base motor run better and stronger. After your pedigree restrictions in intake and exhaust have been aleviated, you're ready to tune. Find a stand-alone engine management system and work out any factory fuel curve kinks you may have.

Before you go replacing hard parts on ANY car to try to get more out of it, start putting quality fuels and lubricants in it. Just like your body, you need to treat your car well. Eat healthy foods, feel better. Run quality fuels, get better milage and performance. Avoid fuels spiked with ethanol, as alcohol yields far less BTU's than gasoline, and as it damages fuel systems not designed to run alcohols. Use a synthetic motor oil, or at least a branded petroleum quality oil. In short, you get out what you put in.

[87MGE]

"get the underdrive pulley for the crank (it's lighter than stock too), ect..."

Plz explain what you mean... thanx

[illusive38]

Don't forget the near even balance front/back of the supra either. The ratios are great because of the weight on the steer tires and the traction tires.
A wider stance and endless power options for this wonder car make weight a minor issue. But the seating could be lightened and allow for minor weight lessoning while maintaining balance...

[no more fart cans!]

The MK3 supra has McPherson struts in all four corners. and on the topic of sub frame connectors, you really have nothing to connect them to. if you want to eliminate flex then you need larger sway bars, a 6 point cage, and ACTUAL strut braces. That cheap crap you see in magazines and movies does nothing. Actual strut braces must be triangulated and have gussets placed on the bends for structural support. welding seams works as well and realistically for any other cars that you do put sub frame connectors on, remember one thing, bolt on sub frame connectors are absolutely useless. all the tension is applied to the bolts. If you want to modify a chassis the only way to go is welding and fabrication.

[Dis_traction7m]

I've removed quite alot of weight from my supra (even my rear window screen wiper and motor) i'm hoping it will pass a WOf without it.. Also removed sound deadener rear seats and carpet. Removed plastic from inside roof tyre and rear panels. have yet to see how much it has changed the handling or performance of my car as it is in the shop getting a turbo rebuild. 'm wanting someone to do a 1/4 mile time before and after weight reduction to see how much performance is actually gained from doing this.. i've been told by my girlfriend and everyone elce that it will do nothing but i want to prove they are wrong for once so please anyone out there who has gained an increese in acceleration and handeling from weight reduction with time slips please show

[wa-mkIII]

"The MK3 supra has McPherson struts in all four corners."

Are you positive on this? You might want to take a closer look. My MK3 (86) has dual 'A' arms with coil over shocks up front and dual link lowers with 'A' arm on top and coil over shock in rear.

[lacrosseg64]

Originally Posted by joel w

pull all the electric motors out. The front seats has 6 motors in it??... like 70 lbs or something crazy?? plus ya got 2 in the doors, 2 in the headlights, 2 in the mirrors, and 1 in the power antenna? did i miss any??? who can do the math lol.. 13 motors @ average 7 lbs each plus the hardware. so call it 10 lbs each, for total of 130lbs in just electric motors crap..
then get the aluminum flywheel (-40lbs) and aluminum driveline or in CF(-40lbs). get the exhaust system made from CF or ceramic even.(-30lbs++). Get magnesium ultra light wheels w/ low pro tires(-100lbs). just start swapping or fabricate every thing else from carbon fiber... upper and lower controll arms front and back..there probly (-80lbs) both swaybars.(-20) on front and rear in CF and valve covers in CF(-5lbs), use the smaller lighter under drive the pullies(-10lbs). change the intercooler plumbing to aluminum pipe(-20lbs). Cf the glove box and dash and armrest console.(-10lbs) its a wash bit looks sweet.. drill the rotors out (-10lbs) and remove the spare tire. (-15lbs)

Pull the carpet and remove the pad and door panels.. (-12lbs).. weld all the spotwelds and seams and fill the frame with viagra foam.. stiffener it up a bit..(+5Lbs) pull the ac..(-50lbs+-) it would be cool to see a whole supra body in CF.unpainted... (-150lbs++) shhhwing..

these #'s are just tossed out there so dont quote me please as i have nothing to back it up with its just my guestimation and im probaly way off.. and its late lol...

however, that may trim 600 -700 lbs of dead weight maybe bring it down to under 3000lbs or less.? just need to preload the rear end a bit with torsion bars? and or sandbags now to get some good hook up.. besides replacing floors and crap with aluminum or CF.. i think thats bout it..? replace glass with lexan?? any thing i didnt address? fill tires up with heliumm lol ok ok now thats just plain silly. hmmm...

my 2-6 cents.. h34r: less weight = fast and loose..

No that sounds about right, I was talkin to this machinist today about it and said about the same thing. And I trust his words cus he worked on F1 engines and stuff for years

[boner1115]

well if you are going to use 4130 chromo which i assume is what you mean your gunna be spending somewhat on the lines of 1500 bucks just on tube alone no labor, not to mention your gunna need to get it heat treated. How many places are going to have an oven and an oil bath large enough for that, that is somewhat affordable (none) and the only way your going to get any benifit from 4130 chomo is if you get ti heat treated and normalized. If you want a tube chassis you should use plain old 1026 DOM.

And realistically i wouldn't even cut the weight out of the car. i used to have a mk2 that had a couple of car fires and there was litterally no interior at all, because it was all burnt out. and all it really did for me was killed the ability for the car to make a turn with out loosing traction in the back. so unless you can cut out the weight in an even distribution i really wouldn't recommend it.

but hey if anyone does let me know I always wanted to know how fast it would be in a strait line after cutting tons of weight. haha