Why is our car so heavy?
 

Given all the lightweight advertisement on cars, wikipedia info consistently shows how every car keeps getting heavier over the years. It's a given considering the improved reinforcements, creature comforts, etc. It just bothers me when it still keeps getting heavier when they are advertising carbon fiber this and that, lightweight forged wheels, aluminum panels, and so forth.
Our car with the loaded options is roughly 3300lb.
The Evo 9, with 4 doors, backseats, awd drivetrain weighs about the same. Even if its 4banger is lighter than the V6 in ours', the weight is somewhat balanced with the turbo parts.
The Porsche Cayman S I drove weighs only 3000lb., and it's also a rwd 2 seater. It felt just as sturdy and comfortable as the Z, plus more.

I think a lot of the weight difference between the Z and the Porsche can be located in the materials used in the manufacture of the car. A little here and there, as we all know, adds up in the end. While the Evo IX is the same weight, I don't think it has as much safety equipment as the Z. If you redid the roof and stripped out the airbags up there you would save quite a bit of weight, with the side benefit of lowering the CG. That's just my opinion though and could be entirely wrong.

The Porsche Cayman S is a much smaller car,so it should be lighter than the Z.

:confused:

The "smaller" car theory actually has a lot to do with it. You can see it when comparing to the early Z's like the 240's. They look like compact cars when you put them side by side, though our 370Z is a lot more ridgid, safer etc... Also, looking at modern light weights like the Lotus Elise, the Z looks like a boat. Tire/wheel weight has more to do with unsprung weight, which is another topic altogether. Every ounce counts, and usually the lighter stuff is more expensive. There is a lot that goes into the design and engineering aspect, and I would suspect Nissan had to compromise on some stuff to keep the Z financially viable or retain certain design elements. They could have done better, but the Z is far from "heavy"

:werd:

Not really sure where to start with this one.

14" rotors and 4 piston brakes
RWD configuration
19" wheels/tires
Heavy unibody

"Heavy" is also relative...

370Z compared to an Elise, yes, is very heavy.

370Z compared to a Challenger SRT8, no, is not heavy.

As mentioned above, lightweight materials generally cost more money, which leads to more expensive sticker prices. If Nissan thought people would buy a $60k Z car, I'm sure they could shed some serious weight.

Safety equipment and luxury amenities.

Go back to the early days when many cars didn't even come with AC. They didn't have power adjustable seats, air bags, crush panels everywhere, sound deadening, luxury materials, etc. There is a lot that goes into these cars and making them attractive to 95% of the buyers out there that are just want something nice and sporty to drive daily.

Not to mention real lightweight materials are very expensive as was mentioned earlier. The Z can come as light as 31xx lbs or as heavy as 33xx in coupe form depending on how you option it out, so it's not exactly a heavy car by today's standards. But from a performance standpoint it's not necessarily light either.

If you actually look at the dimensions on the Z it's not really a "small" car. It's got a robust chassis and drivetrain and all of that is going to lend itself to just being a heavier platform than truly small cars.

how is 3575 lbs "the same" as 3230 lbs??

The Z is actually very lightweight compared to current generation sports cars in its price range. and how many times does a new model get lighter than the previous? (as in the Z34 is lighter than the z33)

I put helium in my tires before I race :ugh2:

On a serious note, my car on a scale with me in it and everything (down to the sheet metal) out of the rear weighed in at 3512 or something like that.

True. The only car I can find that overlaps is the Genesis Coupe. Looks like they have some trim models in the 32xx range.

The Evo I think is around the same weight as well but it's based off of the subcompact Lancer and it's pretty bare bones inside as far as luxury appointments go.

The only cars that are lighter than the Z are more expensive. Corvette, Cayman , etc.

Yeah, the Z is a fatty, should write a letter to Nissan.
If they fix it maybe they will retrofit it on the earlier years.

:bowrofl:

I think people get overly concerned with the weight of these cars. Yeah, it's not as light as a 240Z, but it's not as heavy as a GT-R either. And look at how those things perform!

Yep and like power it is all in the balance.

:iagree:

A lighter weight GT-R would be pretty amazing. Same with the Z, if they are done right.

most car's listed weights are pretty far off....see below

Adding all the bose junk, navigation, power seat motors, etc is gonna drive it up. But the curb weights given by manufactuers are accurate enough for comparisons between models.

3512-3230 = 282 of which the poster probably weights at least 175.

Mail your congressman and tell him to stop supporting car safety laws.

Z32 TT 3,500 pounds

I weigh in at 220. So that leaves 62 lbs of stuff that came out of the car's rear. I can't see the spare, bose sub, jack equipment etc. weighing that much but who knows... maybe?

08 evo x (gsr, mr will be heavier)

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q...2006/IMG-1.jpg

empty trunk, full tank, no rear




z with 3/4 tank (which can't be used, of course)

http://img14.imageshack.us/img14/1812/cornerweight.png


I'd say this is pretty close, but that is just me.


Of course, the MR will be heavier, but that's a lot closer than most people make it out to be.



Actual weight aside, the Z drives much lighter due to better weight balance and steering feel. Never been a fan of the way the EVO drives at all...

Glad there is nothing on those sheets to actually substantiate that.

You can damn well bet if the Evo actually weighed what a 370 does that Mitsubishi wouldn't be reporting it as 300lbs heavier.

We need to find every car and get to some scales. Apparently there can be a pretty big difference between manufacturer claim for curb weight and actual curb weight. And the difference can go either way.

Sounds like you aren't very familiar with the EVO trim levels. The GSR weighs a lot less than that 3500lb figure you keep tossing out...
Evo X curb weight: 1,420–1,600 kg (3,131–3,527 lb)
Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Not sure what you mean by there is nothing to substantiate that...those are independently posted weights on cars....

Too many damn trim levels. I found an MT article with the Evo SE and they had it at 3,563. I'm guessing that's the "nice" Evo, not the totally stripped down evo.

it's between the mr and the gsr

:icon14:

So which Evo is the heaviest?

i think now it is the MR touring. It's also like 40 grand:icon14:

In response to the OP, the Z weighs what it weighs because of:
size
quality materials
cool electronic gadgetry
safety equipment

The real answer, though, is: don't worry about it.

The z is pretty freaking light for what it is, 33xx well equipped is nothing to complain about, and the car drives a lot lighter than it is due to well-engineered vehicle dynamics. The Z feels razor sharp on almost any road, and I never really found myself wishing the car was lighter.

You lose more weight and your start losing the high speed stability the Z has (unless you add downforce), and since the car is not exactly hurting for torque, I see no reason to fret about the weight. Sure, it would be slightly faster around a track with a couple hundred less pounds, tenths of a second around a track don't mean much for the way most of us drive...

I think most of the guys that complain about the Z's weight need to spend more time driving and less time playing Forza. The Z's dynamic is sick, about as good of an experience as you can ask for...and isn't that why we love our cars?

:icon18:

The MR Touring ditches the aluminum roof and puts back on a steel one with a glass sunroof. A GSR compared to a standard MR just has different wheel well liners.

Sounds like you are full of crap. Thats weight from all countries. The american GSR is 3517 and the MR is 3572. You are wrong and making stuff up, as usual.

I don't buy manufacturer numbers, and true stock numbers are useless:tup:


Mitsu's weights are based on a full tank, nissan's are not. The Z probably has about 120lbs under an equivalently equipped GSR, and 200 under a loaded MR.

In track form (trunk cleared, no rear seats, etc,) the Mitsu is comparable, but the weight distribution is pretty eh.

and how do you know that? curb weight is defined as all fluids at their normal levels and a full tank of gas.

And no MFR in their right mind would list their car 300 lbs heavier than it is.

If you really think an Evo X weighs the same as a 370z you have lost your mind.

I did some research and I am comfortable saying the (US Spec) Evos are all 3500+. At least the current generations.

The weight sheet Red posted must have involved some weight reduction.

I'm talking cleared trunk/seats, etc, and I'm really only concerned with independent weightings. I've seen the Z tested as high as 3425, and I know it doesn't weigh that much....

It did. Cleared trunk, no rear, etc, like I said in the post.