Looking at track days next year ... But how lite can i get my fat *** car??

[S3 Paul]

The two track sessions ive been on in my S3 told me 2 things... i need to be smoother,
My fat car kills the brakes ,
So i keep wondering, Is it worth trying to shed some weight? I will use the car daily so it either needs to not be mega drastic or be things i could put back easy enough.
How lite can an S3 be? What do face lift S3's actualy weigh? not claimed book numbers.... actualy weigh.

 

[Prawn]

I found in the daily A3 at the ring, that removing the rear seats and spare wheel could actually be noticed. Not hugely quicker, but you could definitely tell something had been removed.

It's never going to be lightweight though, the standard seats are SOOOOOOOO heavy

 

[<tuffty/>]

Amen to that... the rear seat backs are shockingly heavy!!!

<tuffty/>

 

[Rex16]

You'll drive yourself mad and spend a fortune getting an any A3 light enough to be a capable track car, if you are serious about spending more time on a track it would be cheaper to get a more suited car. I know the Audi faithful will blast me, but they are safe and comfy cars with lots of lovely gadgets = fat ***!

 

[Paradox1]

just remove your rear seats and spare wheel. will make a difference like prawn said but not anything ott.possible get so decent track tyres or even lighter wheels and decent pads and fluid if your going hard on the track

 

[superkarl]

wheels wheels wheels. that will make the biggest difference. along with removing the seats and spare wheel should make for a lighter feeling car

 

[Dani_B19]

Depends how deep your pockets are, you could get lite weight wheels and 2 piece brake setup that would make a big difference without actualy removing anything.
The next step would be the front seats for some buckets etc, been told that the leather heated seats weigh inexcess of 60kg+ each

 

[Paradox1]

yeah go for buckets if you can put up with the lack of comfort day to day

 

[jcs356]

Loose the OE seats - front ones with all the electrics are 35kg each!

My old Ibiza had a serious diet - took everything off the car I didn't need from dash to seats to soundproofing (comes off with a heat gun and a scraper). Anyway it took 1.5s off the 0 - 60 time!

 

[Prawn]

You'll drive yourself mad and spend a fortune getting an any A3 light enough to be a capable track car, if you are serious about spending more time on a track it would be cheaper to get a more suited car. I know the Audi faithful will blast me, but they are safe and comfy cars with lots of lovely gadgets = fat ***!

it's not THAT hard, Pre Cage I got my A3 down to 1070Kg and still had full glass, electric windows, aircon, remote CL, and the standard stereo with CD changer! with the cage now it's 1100kg

it also still has front door cards and a full dash.

I reckon if you were serious you could get it down to 1000kg.

My ultimate goal is 1050Kg with the cage.

with an S3 - forget it. fat ******* car!

 

[Westy]

I was shocked at how much the dash board weighed when I removed mine 2 weeks ago. Can you live without your dash?

 

[aragorn]

Yeh its quite amazing just how much weight can be removed. I've started stripping an S4 shell for track use, and everywhere you look there are control boxes wiring harnesses and ECU's that can be hauled out.

Over on SRS theres a bloke with a stripped S4 which was down to 1270kg. I'll be using a 1.8T and 5speed box which easily shaves 100kgs off the total, if not more. Given the S4 starts out at 1600kg it just shows you how much of that weight comes from trim and accessories.

In reality, the quattro system adds less than 100kgs to the cars overall weight. So if 1000kg is possible in an A3, you'll manage 1100kg in an S3 if your actually trying.

In my daily i've removed anything that i can do without, but that wont detract too much from the comfort. I recon i've saved between 40 and 50kgs removing the broken AC compressor, rad and pipework, the cd changer and its enormous metal support bracket, all the plastic tat from the engine bay and the viscous fan and the rear speakers. Obviously after that point it starts becoming noticeable. I could probably drop another 10kg removing the rear electric windows and their wiring harness, and removing the original stereo/cd changer wiring, but i cant be bothered.

For a track day pulling the rear seats and spare wheel out is a 5minute job, and will probably drop 40-50kgs off the cars weight.

 

[S3 Paul]

Ive seen MK1 TT's on track and not doing to badly either.
They weigh around the same as an S3 ??

 

[Dani_B19]

Dont the 225 tt's actual weigh more than the s3's?

 

[<tuffty/>]

Dont the 225 tt's actual weigh more than the s3's?

The soft tops do... hard tops are roughly similar iirc...

<tuffty/>

 

[Prawn]

anything can be quick with enough power, look at the nissan GTR, it's almost 2000kg!

 

[S3 Paul]

Ive got my golf for full on track stuff,
I was just thinking about simple stuff i can remove the weekend before a track day or something.
I didnt buy the S3 to be a track car... but with decent power im hoping i can actualy have fun

 

[superkarl]

do you have uprated anti roll bars?
seems this was one of the things that was missing on westys latest track day. too much body roll, no matter how light.
i see you've got koni coilovers, so should be nimble on track i suppose

 

[Rosso TT]

The soft tops do... hard tops are roughly similar iirc...

<tuffty/>

MK1 TT 225 coupe are 80 kg lighter than S3, looking at the registration stiker.

 

[Westy]

MK1 TT 225 coupe are 80 kg lighter than S3, looking at the registration stiker.

Probably due to the tiny rear seats compared to the S3 ones.

 

[Prawn]

Do the S3's have a full size spare wheel? or is it a space saver?

If it's a space saver, then there's perhaps not as much to lose as I thought!

 

[Westy]

Do the S3's have a full size spare wheel? or is it a space saver?

If it's a space saver, then there's perhaps not as much to lose as I thought!

Space saver.

I keep meaning to get rid of mine as i'm carrying dead weight now I have 18" wheels with PCD adapters!

 

[colicabcadam]

get an old school mini

 

[DJ_Troopa]

I've got OZ Superleggera's on my car which are very light wheels. I definitely noticed a difference to the heavy S3 Avus wheels and my last BBS CH reps! Feels so much better!

 

[Westy]

Wheels make a huge difference, even the difference in feel between my 18" S4 wheels and my 17" S3 wheels. I will be on the lookout for lightweight 17"s for the track next year.

 

[s3dave]

I've got OZ Superleggera's on my car which are very light wheels. I definitely noticed a difference to the heavy S3 Avus wheels and my last BBS CH reps! Feels so much better!

yeah you certainly notice with the featherweight OZs...

 

[S3 Paul]

i know of a set of OZ super's a mate has on his golf... they need painting but... i keep on at him, he says make an offer. Ive no idea to be honest as they dont make them anymore to compair price, Any idea of the actual weight diffrence from stock S3 17 to OZ 18??

 

[Prawn]

depends which OZ, superturismos are heavier than superlegs and ultralegs, as they're a stronger WRC wheel, but still fairly light.

My ronal TT 6 spokes weigh about 13.5Kg per rim, my Rota force are 8.1kg per rim, and ultraleggeras in the same size are 7.2kg per rim.

Liable to bend if you run kerbs on track though!

 

[DJ_Troopa]

OZ Superleggera's are 8.3kg each That's for the 8x18's i have.