Weight reduction attempt.
 

Hello everyone,

I will try to reduce my tt 225 weight as much as possible while retaining some level of comfort, and will be documenting the process in here. The plan is to make my own fiberglass parts in order to spend as little money as possible, and to be able to mold the car to my liking.

I will leave you with the first picture from my teardown. Hope you guys/gals enjoy it!https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.aud...82755293a6.jpgDashboard and glovebox off!!!

Rear trim and seats removal.
 

Removal part 2
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.aud...6504e94470.jpgRear seats out! (That tube is a cheap temporary subwoofer enclosure).
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.aud...3fa429632b.jpg
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.aud...cf561f6021.jpg
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.aud...c7a6d3b719.jpgRear trim and jack holder.
I plan to weigh everything I take off and post it once I'm done removing stuff.

Teardown part 3 + mpg increase
 

Hello,
Today I finished removing the trim left on my car and also ended up mounting my extra battery and subwoofer amp.https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.aud...59e0d86a1d.jpgRear speaker cover

I had to remove the bolt that holds the seatbelt to the floor in order to release the trim.
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.aud...c984761206.jpgIs an 18mm (I think).

The disc changer got replaced by secondary battery they weight about the same, so no harm done.https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.aud...dd39442b65.jpgDisc changer off and secundary battery new home.https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.aud...39222bf559.jpgSubwoofer amp also got a new place.

That is all the stuff I plan to remove from the inside of the car, and so far the car feels more nimble and fast. Plus (according to the cluster) my mpg got from 19 to 24!!!

I'll weight the stuff that got taken off tomorrow (maybe) and post the info.

After that I will remove the counterweight, and
I plan to fabricate a fiberglass dashboard on the weekend.

Teardown part 4
 

I plan to install a rollcage, so I decided to go all out an remove the rest of the trim.

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.aud...26c7651dfc.jpg
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.aud...ed2a7ca6d4.jpg
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.aud...4b14e041ce.jpg
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.aud...3b439c4a39.jpg
I still have some stuff left to remove but right know I'm trying to figure out why the windows stoped working :$

If anyone has an insight on the relay number for the windows please let me know.

Windows fixed and MPG update.
 

Hello, for anyone wondering about the windows it turned out to be the dreaded fuse 14. Apparently this particular fuse is tied to several circuits, so when I cut the wires from the visor lights it blew.

MPG UPDATE!
I have been able to drive the car more and the MPG on the city seems to hover between 21 and 23, so my first post was not accurate. MPG did improve though.

I officially have reached the point of no return.
 

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.aud...41fc03b63f.jpg
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.aud...120a6b20ce.jpgSide sheets that hold part of the roof interior
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.aud...476163ae42.jpgMaking space for the rollcage
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.aud...fc368e6a42.jpg

Local scale numbers
 

I took my car to the scale and it came out at 3295lb (with me in the car). It does not look impressibe but, I weight 205lb and the car had my subwoofer, amp and extra battery in (about 50lb, I'll weigh them later). Therefore, 3295 - 255 = 3040lb! I am almost under 3000lb and I have not removed the counterweight, emission stuff, or anything from the exhaust! I think 2800lb or under is duable! I still have some stuff left to remove from inside the car and I plan to do a custom exhaust soon (hopefully). I'll keep posting my progress for everyone.

Tread resurrection
 

I still have the car, but moved to a new city about 3 mo after I started this. I did not the have time or money to continue, so for about one yr and a half i didn't do anything significant to the car. I landed a very good job about 3mo ago and I am planing to continue with this project. Right now I am looking to get a set of rpf1s 17x8 and after that ill provably look for lightweight seats and other parts. My goal is to get the tt as close to 2000lb as possible. Just to recap so far I tore the interior out of the car, installed coilovers, 3" downpipe, lighter muffler, evap delete, r8 ignition coils, big high flow filter with heat shield, apr stage 1 remap and removed the rear bumper(it helped to stable car at high speeds).
I think the car is sitting at 2900lb right now and understand that 2000lb is a long stretch, but i think is duable with some rather extreme measures. Wish me luck and I am open to suggestions. Thanks.

Interesting project. Can you post a pix of what the car looks like w/o the rear bumper? Removal of the bumper stabilized the car at high speeds? <Head scratch> Rounded bumper causes rear lift? How high did you push it?

140

[+QUOTE=JoeKan;25287032] Removal of the bumper stabilized the car at high speeds? <Head scratch> [/QUOTE]

Hi JoeKan, and yes cutting the bumper stabilized the car at hihg speeds (or at least thet is my theory). Right after the weight removal and before cutting the bumper the car would wobble from the back when reaching 90+. This got fixed after I cut the bottom part of it.
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.aud...60cb9a6e7a.jpg
This is what it looks like right now I acctually got a lighter 3 inch muffler to replace the heavy 2 pipe one.


Yes, i've done a lot of reading on the car's engine, suspension and aerodynamics actually the reason i staterd this thread is because i could not find much on weight reduction (at least not in my goal range). Anyways after a lot of reading i understood that the rear bumper creates a parachute effect and on top of that the roundness creates lift (or at least that is the conclusion I came to). On my reading I found out a few things worth the attention of anyone that wants to push this car. Right now Ill just mention the aerodynamic bits.

1: the car is less aerodynamic than a mk3 vw golf/gt1 😆.

2: The shape of the car itself creates lift. The roundness of our cars resembles an airplane wing which creates lift under speed (that is how the hunk of metal we call airplanes are able to fly).

3: There have been accidents that have taken lives due to the inestability this car has under speed (you can look it up)

Sooooooo...

There is quite some work to be done before you push this car to high speeds.
From the beginning I planed to push this car that is why i've spend a lot of time researching and if you plan to do the same i recommend you read. 🍻

You've done your homework. Nice neat trim job. That explains why rear diffusers and tightly tucked in rear bodywork have become so popular over the last few years. The TT would certainly have benefitted from that technology.

No - I don't plan on pushing the car that high. In my neck of the woods, get caught 25mph (40kmh) over the speed limit, and your car gets impounded for a week (on the spot - you walk home), you get a hefty fine and 6 points on your licence (max 10 - over 10 and you loose your licence & get more hefty fines). Then if you renew, you're paying substantially more for insurance based on the number of points you've collected - you only loose 3 points per year.

I'm more into canyon running. We have a wonderful original 2 lane Trans-Canada HWY that runs through Fraser Canyon. About a 2-3 hour run - depending on what time of the day you go. Most of the traffic now takes a new, more direct highway, so at the right time of the day, the highway is mostly deserted. Just mind your speed through population and known speed trap areas.

As I acquired the TT from Japan a few months ago, I'll be sorting out the handling characteristics of the car this summer and will probably recalibrate/rebuild the suspension over next winter for the following summer. Until now, I've run the canyon in my former '72 Mercury Capri (the German one), Golf Mk.1, a few Golf Mk.2s and my current daily, Golf Mk.4 TDI.

Man! you have it bad with those laws in Canada, I tought cali was bad, (haha). Anyways, I love canyon riding too bro, so keep us posted on your build. Maybe ill learn something from it.


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Wider and lighter wheels.
 

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.aud...98c22b3b0.jpeg
found a set of wheels on offerup with tires pretty cheap and jumped on them. I am not a fan of the color but that can be fixed. They are 18x8.5 so I had to run a 15mm spacer at the front to clear the coilovers. Ill be replacing the clutch and upgrading to a single mass flywheel in about 3 wheeks. Ill keep on posting my progress.