Mr K
01-04-2008, 11:19 AM
I thought I'd lighten the car a bit and measure the improvements in acceleration and economy.
I took out the rear seats, spare wheel, load cover, etc and measured the before and after acceleration. 0-60 times improved by just under 3s!
Not only that, but economy, especially round town, improved dramatically. Up from around 50mpg to around 65! I reckon it's because the mass of the car has been reduced - those seats are heavy. Remember F=ma, so if you reduce the mass you get better acceleration from the same force, or on the other hand, if you keep acceleration the same, you need less force. You do a lot of acceleration in urban driving, hence the reduction in fuel consumption.
If you don't need the seats, give it a go!
Mark
I took out the rear seats, spare wheel, load cover, etc and measured the before and after acceleration. 0-60 times improved by just under 3s!
Not only that, but economy, especially round town, improved dramatically. Up from around 50mpg to around 65! I reckon it's because the mass of the car has been reduced - those seats are heavy. Remember F=ma, so if you reduce the mass you get better acceleration from the same force, or on the other hand, if you keep acceleration the same, you need less force. You do a lot of acceleration in urban driving, hence the reduction in fuel consumption.
If you don't need the seats, give it a go!
Mark