Carbon Interior Install - Day Four - The Weigh In

Thought I'd take it easy this evening and decided to get the scales out (for the 2nd time this year already!)  So on with the weigh in!

First off, and first onto the scales! Are the two curved panels - and they weighed in at 556g (for both).

The two curved panels weighed in at 556g

And the two carbon versions weighed in at 442g, which is a saving of 114g!

The two carbon curved panels weighed in at 442g

Now onto the heavier stuff, where a greater weigh saving should be seen (at least I hope so!)  The two interior panels weighed in at 1.862kg

The two interior panels weighed in at 1.862kg

And the carbon versions weighed in at 1.162kg - exactly 700g lighter...

The two carbon interior panels weighed in at 1.162kg

And the part where I thought there would be the biggest saving - the carpeted rear bulkhead.  I originally went for a carpeted interior for a number of reasons, one of which was that I wasn't too keen on the powder coated and highly riveted finish that the rear bulkhead would normally have.  So I've weighed the carpeted rear bulkhead, which weighed in at 2.310kg

The carpeted rear bulkhead weighed in at 2.310kg

To give a fair test and to compare like for like, I removed all the carpet from the bulkhead and weighed it 'bare' (well with a touch of left over adhesive!).  It weighed in at 1.538kg - so nearly 800g lighter without the carpet.

The bare bulkhead weighed in at 1.538kg

And onto the carbon rear bulkhead - this weighed in at 1.030kg, which is had a kilo lighter than the 'bare' version and 1.3kg lighter than the carpeted bulkhead.

The carbon bulkhead weighed in at 1.030kg

So the combined weight savings by fitting the carbon interior are:-

• Based on a replacement interior for a car with bare alloy panels (no carpets) the total weight saving is 1.322kg - so a 68p 'cost per gramme' saving!
• Based on a car with a carpeted bulkhead, the total weight saving is 2.094kg - which works out to 43p 'cost per gramme' saving... or an even bigger saving if you didn't buy the carpets in the first place!

And finally... The two 'knee panels' came out, and I can't see me refitting them - so that'll be another 'free' 324g saved.

The two knee panels weighed in at 324g

Not only that I've had a good look at the wiper assembly and this seems pretty easy to remove too - and has a 'rumoured' weight of 7kg!  The only problem is the removal will leave three holes in the scuttle - so a new scuttle will have to be ordered, painted, stickered up and refitted.

All in all the total savings from this removal / refit are nearly 2.5kg (including the knee panels) - which should give approx 5bhp / tonne performance improvement.

Next on the agenda is to add all this 'lightness' back to the car.  I'm really looking forward to fitting everything back together and seeing what it all looks like - I'm sure there'll be a few irritants on the way, but looking on the positive side I'm half way there!