I've been considering buying and building a 2005-2009 Mustang GT and fitting it up to race. One of the things I would like to do is strip the car's interior to lighten it up a bit. My goal is less than 3000lbs. If anybody has done something similar, please respond. I'd like to know what you took out and how much each part weighed (approximates are ok). Thanks!!
Passenger seat, rear seatback (bottoms weighs almost nothing). Spare tire & jack, A/C compressor, stereo. Add an aftermarket K member & radiator support/front swaybar delete.
Nice list, STL.
The real question is, is this a strictly track car, or daily driver as well?
Interior panels & dash can be removed. You can replace the stock rims with LIGHTWEIGHT rims & save some good weight. A lighter shortblock, lighter 1 piece driveshaft, and better suspension etc will cut your weight down a TON more... But you'll obvioulsy not have as nice of a daily driver with interior panels missing haha!
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All show... So far. Exterior: Roush Front Fascia w/o chin spoiler, Black Billet Foglight Delete Grille, hidden smoked foglights, GTS Blackout Panel, smoked tail lights, WebElectric Sequential tail lights, MUSTANG 3rd brake light, 14" Shorty Antenna. Interior: Red piping, RVinyl Aluminum Dash Kit, CDC Aluminum Pedal Covers.
It all dependns on what you are willing to give up.
If you want to keep the car “nice” there isn’t much you can do that won’t cost a ton of money. Even though the car is a fat pig Ford did a good job of making it light. It simply has a ton of crap in it.
I spend an awful amount of time & money stripping weight out of my Roadrace bikes but I am not concerned with loosing any of their “comforts”.
When I got my car I planned on stripping what weight I could out of it and still have it remain “nice”. There wasn’t much there. You quickly get into removing luxuries, roadside equipment, features, etc. and the car is still never going to be light. The only way to strip weight out of the car would be to spend a ton of money if you want to keep it a nice street ride.
On the flip side if you want to go full racecar 2900# wouldn’t be very hard.
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I get asked why I carry a gun. I tell them its because stabbing people is gross.
Start with lighter weight seats. I installed some Corbeau LG 1's. They reduced 75-80 pounds from the car, and IMO, they are more comfortable than the stock leather GT premium seats the car came with. I also removed the Shaker 1000 trunk mounted subwoofers and amps, spare tire/jack, catalytic converters, installed a lighter flywheel, steeda lightweight radiator support, one-piece drive shaft, K-Member. With these and other weight reductions, I've reduced around 250 pounds from the stock curb weight. Just as important, the car is still comfortable to drive.
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2007 GT: Steeda CAI, UDPs, CMCV delete, BBK shorty headers, Pypes o/r x-pipe, MGW, Fidanza aluminum flywheel, Spydershaft, Eibach sway bars, BMR K-member, FRPP 4.10s, J&M LCAs, adjustable UCA and Panhard bar, Rotorpros brake discs, Hawk HPS brake pads, Steeda stainless steel brake lines and Magnaflows axlebacks, dyno tuned by ST Motorsports: 313 rwhp/318rwtq.
Drops 40 lbs also If ud want it really lite Id start yanking out all the engine parts and car parts that are not needed. Is this still going to be a DD? also if u want a quick wieght looser. take the spare tire out of the car
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USNA Class of '13
09 Dark Candy Apple Red GT
WHIPPLE S/C being installed this weekend! Hello 450rwhp!
Start with lighter weight seats. I installed some Corbeau LG 1's. They reduced 75-80 pounds from the car
The seats don't even weigh that much. You wouldn't save that kind of weight even if you took the seats out and sat on the floor.
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I also removed the Shaker 1000 trunk mounted subwoofers and amps
Great idea, who would want to listen to that?
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spare tire/jack
Nothing quite like being stranded on the side of the road to save a few pounds.
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catalytic converters
Sure, that doesn’t make it obnoxiously loud for drives longer than 15 minutes
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installed a lighter flywheel
20lbs for $370+ labor, smokin deal
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steeda lightweight radiator support
$180 and saves how much weight?
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one-piece drive shaft
$700 for 20lb. I'm speachless.
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K-Member
$500 for another 20lb. Outstanding!
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With these and other weight reductions, I've reduced around 250 pounds from the stock curb weight.
I'm only seeing about 160lbs and that's being generous. And at a cost of only about $1750 and that doesn't include the labor for the flywheel and the seats!
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Just as important, the car is still comfortable to drive
Of course it is. Your wallet is so thin that it doesn’t make your butt cheek numb.
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I get asked why I carry a gun. I tell them its because stabbing people is gross.
The rear seat delete actually only reduces 22 pounds from car. If you remove all the support hardware and seat belt brackets, it's more like 27 pounds. When I installed mine, I weighed everything seperately. I just recently sold it and replaced the rear seat. Although the rear seat delete is a good weight reducer, it allows in too much noise from the rear of the car, into the cabin. I wouldn't install one until driving comfort is not an issue.
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2007 GT: Steeda CAI, UDPs, CMCV delete, BBK shorty headers, Pypes o/r x-pipe, MGW, Fidanza aluminum flywheel, Spydershaft, Eibach sway bars, BMR K-member, FRPP 4.10s, J&M LCAs, adjustable UCA and Panhard bar, Rotorpros brake discs, Hawk HPS brake pads, Steeda stainless steel brake lines and Magnaflows axlebacks, dyno tuned by ST Motorsports: 313 rwhp/318rwtq.
If your gonna build a drag race car. Get a Fox or 03-04. If your gonna build one out of an 05. It better be a tube chassis car if your planning to get anywhere near 3000lbs.
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2007 Mustang GT Vista Blue 740RWHP/motor 904RWHP/spray 9.01 @ 152 mph 1/4 mile, 1.40 60' 2008 Clash of the Titans World Finals Champion 2009 Strictly Street Points leader/ET & MPH Record Holder
2009 GT500 Grabber Orange Vert 594 RWHP 11.5 @ 120mph it's my slow car!
Out of curiosity, not that I'm planning to do this, how much weight would a carbon fiber hood cut off?
Not much if you want a hood that will hold up like an OEM one does. To make a DD durable hood out of carbon it would need to be much thicker than you would think. Race cars, etc don’t have to worry about the hood holding up for 50,000mi and all the stuff that takes place over that length of time. Additionally a “street” hood needs a lot of bracing for the hinges, latch, bumpers, keep the center from caving in over 75mph, etc. Lastly you need a TON of resin too make carbon fiber smooth and paintable. That adds a lot of weight. As long as a race hood looks good from 50 feet and 50 mph it has done its job. Lastly a race hood can be made light and thin and be fastened to the car with a couple Dzus fasteners because when they want to get under it they simply pop the fasteners and take the entire hood off.
And the nail in the coffin is that there is not a lot of quality carbon being made out there. Sure, the F1 guys make it an art. But the goofballs in the back 40 don’t or simply can’t afford too. The price of an Autoclave big enough to make a Pre-Preg hood is astronomical.
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I get asked why I carry a gun. I tell them its because stabbing people is gross.
Minimizing Curb Weight: Stripping to Race. 
