On Friday, I had a day off, so I took a trip down to see Gareth at Ace engineering who kindly let me use his scales
After a nightmare getting the car up the slope into the workshop, we then struggled to get it up onto Gareth's 'weighing ramps' again due to the splitter! Haha
So, this a pre diet weigh in. Tyre idea being to weigh it now at the start, then weigh it again when I'm done stripping bits out.
I wanted an accurate and repeatable fuel state for the weigh in, simply guessing 'half a tank' or similar wasn't going to be accurate enough.
I decided the most accurate way to get a repeatable level was from a full tank.
I filled up at a station close to Gareth's (8 miles) with the pump handle dead vertical, to the first click. I then drove steadily to Gareth's to weigh it
I realise the fuel useage on those 8 miles could vary, but at 20mpg it'd use 1.3kg of fuel, and at 35mpg it'd use 0.75kg of fuel, so we're talking less than a kilo of discrepancy with economy at extreme ends of the scale. I'm way over thinking this I realise, but why not
So, 54L of fuel plus a few L the filler neck, I'm assuming 54L at weigh in. Petrol has an SG of 0.737kg/L, so 54L of fuel will be 39.8kg. For the sake of this, let's call it 40kg for each weigh in.
Right, to the weigh in, meth tank full. Fuel tank full, no driver:
1197kg. Minus the 40kg of fuel, puts the car in at 1157kg.
And the wheel weights:
Given that it was setup in the Pets at Home car park with a tape measure, to have the wheel weighs within 5kg side to side is a miracle.
It was 1130kg 2 years ago, before the bigger seats, 6 point harnesses, plumbed in fire ext, splitter, wing, bigger brakes, meth, and a few other bits, so I'm actually pretty happy with the result.
With me in, the cross isn't quite so great:
But interestingly, due to the corner weights being slightly out, my weight goes to the front left, not the front right as you'd imagine. So it's currently sitting 'up' on the front left and rear right. I'll re-do the ride height set with dad sat in the drivers seat at some point and that'll be close enough for now.
Having done the weigh in, drunk lots of incredibly nice coffee, and out the world to rights, I blasted home 65 miles without venturing onto a single boring main road. A272 the whole way across from Billingshurst to west neon, then an even more obscure route back to home, thoroughly enjoyable!
All in all, a good day out, and I've got plenty of ideas to ensure that next time it comes in at 1140 or less with the full tank.
Target for the car without fuel is <1100kg