Hey guys. Just for experimental purposes, I took all the back seats out and the spare tire and gear just see what the car felt like minus the poundage temporarily of course. It sure does feel more peppy! I wish all the gears felt like 1st though :-( 2nd gear feels a lot better though. The nose jumped right up going hard into 2nd with a little chirp chirp instead of the lull before getting to 4.5k rpms. The only mod I've done is the autozone filter on the maf. Eventually, I would love to convert this thing to electric if possible. All torque at 1rpm would be rad. Anyways, just thought I'd share. Thoughts?

 

That's pretty awesome. Think I might take the spare tire out...

 

man I've been wanting to do this. for a LONG while haha but....im sure my parent's wouldn't be to happy about it, and I'm always going out with friends...it's good to know it makes such a difference though, as i expected. what are you thinking of converting to electric?

 

electric FTW! lol, but you cant have fun with exhausts n' all that jazz with an alectric motor. That idea makes me think of the Prius "beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee" *electric motor* lol

 

oh....an electric motor!? hrmmm would definitely be interesting...alot of people have been wanting to convert their standard cars into electric vehicles...the xD kind of has the look for it.

 

So what does all that removed stuff weigh? Seats are actually lighter than most people think. Give us DATA!!! please?

 

Well, I carry a Vox amp with two 12's in it back and forth for band practice and gigs and estimate it to be around 50lb's or so. The back seat row is comprised of the bigger section and the smaller one. I know the bigger section was heavier than the amp. If I took an uncalibrated guess at all the stuff I took out it would be maybe 150lb's or so total counting the tools and trash I had floating around.

Well, electric cars are coming along with the battery technology. I wouldn't be able to do this for at least 2-4 years though after I graduate school and get settled with a job. But anyways, I've seen lots of conversions for economy and a few for racing and it's pretty impressive. Here's an electric car that will hopefully change the "prius" attitude towards them... except for the $100k price tag.

http://www.teslamotors.com/

But your right, this car converted to electric as is looking stock, would fit the stereotype. I would like to convert to electric, but drop it, add some cool wheels, all kinds of suspension upgrades and all. I'd be the toaster no STI or vet saw (or heard) coming if I'm able to do it right!

Dream on,
Bryan

 

150lbs for the back seats seems way high. Step on a scale and let us know.

 

SO true. man....it amazes me the sound a Prius make's when its turned on. and that sound is utter silence.....i can't get over it hahah

 

if it matters that much to you, why dont you do it? yay for common sense

 

150lbs sound about right. Believe it or not..!

I remove the rear seat from my Yaris and along with the spare tire they were around that ( Don't remember the exact weight now)

The 60/40 seats have a bunch of metal rails that make for most of the weight.

And yes... removing this weight makes a huge difference.

Actually must of the time I run with out them...

Is just a matter of 15-20 min to remove/install them.

 

Yeah, I mean I'm not a calibrated scale but it's all actually pretty heavy with the steel bars and rails. I would weigh them, but I put them back in already b/c I had to drive a few people around this weekend. If I had a second car, I'd leave the seats out permanently and build a foam block floor to make it all flat in the back because it really did make a substantial difference.

By the way, I noticed the mpg's were slightly better for the first 50 miles, but after that, it returned to 33mpg city but keep in mind that was because I was having lots of fun in 1st and 2nd getting a feel for the better power to weight ratio and on the stupid new 10% ethanol crap my local gas station just added...

 

cool idea. I did that to my last car since I built it for autoX. but it was just too loud for everyday use. so everything went back in. but I wouldn't think the gas mileage would be signicant;y better. I never paid attention in my last car cuz it didn't matter.