Is your car too heavy? Drill holes in the chassis, scratch off the paint, use plastic windows, remove door handles… Done.
1. Porsche GT2’s bonnet sticker
It makes no sense to make a bonnet out of carbon and put a metal emblem on it. That is why the Porsche logo on the hood of a GT2 RTS is a real sticker.
2. Mercedes SSKL
To reduce the weight and still keep an outdated SSK competitive, Mercedes drilled holes in the chassis and gave the engine more than 300 hp. The car was super fast, but the chassis as soft as butter.
3. Ferrari F40 interior door handle
In a high-tech vehicle with carbon and Kevlar panels, some weight-saving measures from the F40 were downright primitive. Such as the cord door from a Mini from the early 60s.
4. MX-5 rearview mirror
Mazda is convinced that the cheese slicing method saves as much weight as by removing a few kilos in one place. Successfully. Although the rearview mirror of the Mk3 MX-5 saved only 23 grams, the whole car was only 10 kilos heavier than the original from 1989.
5. Pontiac aluminum exhaust manifold
Dragracing was so popular in America in the early 1960s that Pontiac also offered lightweight aluminum exhaust manifolds. Fortunately, a drag race only lasted a few seconds; otherwise the manifolds would melt.
6. Bentley Supersport is breathing in
Bentley demolished the rear seat and used carbon brakes to get 90 kg of the weight of the GTC. With success, but unfortunately, this ‘lightweight’ still weighed 2395 kg.
7. What, no paint?
There is a doubtful story that Mercedes scraped off the paint on its GP cars to meet the maximum weight limit for a race.
8. McLaren F1 custom hi-fi
Gordon Murray developed a titanium toolkit with a custom Kenwood stereo, with only a CD player and no radio and cassette player. Wouldn’t the weight of the CDs weigh much more?
9. Megane R plastic windows
Renault promised to add more safety for the entire fleet in exchange for flexibility with regard to plastic windows and racing tires with this GT3-lite Megane. Unfortunately, the thing was weaker than the polymer glazing.
10. M3 carbon fiber roof
BMW’s M3 CSL was the first car with a carbon roof. That lowers the center of gravity. It is a shame that police spotter aircraft can also see you more easily if you burn rubber on your favorite highway.
