Weight loss

treeroy

Member
Diesel has just ticked over £2.00 at the cheapest petrol station around me. I am considering stripping weight out of the car to help MPG. Like as much interior as possible, door cards speakers carpets headlining etc and any non essential components, anything on the exterior that can be removed etc.

Has anyone done this and know roughly how much weight it's possible to realistically remove?
 
Would start with a JDD if yours is a TDI75
Very much depends on your journey type if that will do what the OP wants. I love the JDD in Tonka but wouldn’t be sure it equates to better MPG returns in itself. Much of my mileage is done below 70mph (in fact below 60) and in a hilly area so whilst I love the JDD, I suspect I’d actually get better mpg with the standard box.
 
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Have recently replaced my TDi 90's coolant temp sender, and coolant thermostat. Now the engine temp. needle sits at 90C once engine is warmed up, instead of 60C, and mpg has gone up... all thanks to this forum
 
Unsprung weight will make a good difference to economy. A set of pepperpots with skinny tyres would make a big difference to start.
I've witnessed + 2mpg from 17 to 15 pepperpots at least, sad as it sounds, but I guess the topic is red hot now and the mpg geeks can have our day in the sun 🌞. I posted the wheel weights somewhere but it was almost 4kg a wheel I think!!
 
It will no doubt vary car to car but as a general guide a 10% weight loss equates to a 3% reduction in fuel consumption.
As Steve indicated, light wheels and skinny tyres (low rolling resistance) will give the best value improvement

The biggest saving in removing all the interior trim will probably be because the car will be so unpleasant to drive, you wont want to go far anymore.

Cheers Spike
 
Biggest weight saving would be to remove the OSS and replace with the standard roof.
Has anyone done that? That would be interesting, but I like the extra light in the cabin, so would want to keep at least the front one, or keep both glass panels, but remove all OSS parts, so it would be like a Tesla glass roof. Either way I assume that's a LOT of work.
 
Has anyone done that? That would be interesting, but I like the extra light in the cabin, so would want to keep at least the front one, or keep both glass panels, but remove all OSS parts, so it would be like a Tesla glass roof. Either way I assume that's a LOT of work.
I would be confident that it’s the glass and mountings that make up the majority of the extra weight rather than the cables and motor. Whilst one can remove (or indeed retro fit!!) an OSS it’s as close to impossible as any mod on an A2.

OSS and climate control (or indeed not having them) are definitely the two ‘options’ it makes sense to choose a car with (or without) rather than trying to add (or remove).
 
Diesel has just ticked over £2.00 at the cheapest petrol station around me. I am considering stripping weight out of the car to help MPG. Like as much interior as possible, door cards speakers carpets headlining etc and any non essential components, anything on the exterior that can be removed etc.

Has anyone done this and know roughly how much weight it's possible to realistically remove?
I have a bike in the shed you can have for free😱
 
I've been doing some googling of late looking at wing mirror cameras, like you seeing increasingly on lorries, I either end up on sites for lorries or rear mirror camera set ups though.

So, aero options as well as weight? Trimming the already small ears off. maybe even a small weight gain with a light monitor and camera over the heavy glass and mechanism?

Also need to look into the legislation around it, I presume only problem might be the retrofit aspect due to cars already being on the road with cameras for wing mirrors same as the faff with LEDs
 
My A2 has got OSS so I've tried to compensate about that 30kg+.

Things I've sorted:
(1) Puncture fix kit completely removed of front foot compartment. Tub of putty is rather heavy, same with compressor. ~4kg
(2) Boot wooden false floor removed, not needed and gives more room. ~3kg
(3) Rear bench headrests removed. ~1kg
(4) Retractable boot cover removed, not ideal but the rear window is dark enough, just don't keep things in there overnight. This is heavier than I expected. ~5kg
(5) OSS is broken and can't afford to fix it now, so I've removed the motor, quite heavy bit. ~1.5kg

I've added a fix punture spray and few little bits, so I've saved around 12KG. Not bad, but still far from the extra weight of OSS.
 
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If you can get away without having the rear seat in at all (and have a strong back) that bench weighs about 38kg on its own - more than two split rear seats together! I'm running my daily driver around in van mode since I almost never need to carry more than one passenger but regularly need the space in the back.
 
And of course not to forget the front passenger seat. If not needed, it is just a dead weight driving around. Do not forget on the seatbelts.
Climate compressor is also not light.
All the interior door trims and electric window motors would add some weight also. Do not forget on the central locking mechanism, pretty heavy since it is not a light A2 specific part + 4x. Just tape the doors.
After that you can start with sunshades removal. Few grams there.
If you do not care about safety, airbags are the next thing to remove. Not light…
Sound insulation under the engine cover is the next thing to go.
Lighter battery, factory fitted is a large and heavy beast.
Next, radio needs to go (1kg there), you will not be able to hear it anyway. Do not forget on CD changer (if the car has it). When you are there, just rip all the audio related harnesses and cables. Should be at least 1-2kg in there.
Front passenger storage compartment: half a kg at least.
A2 sign at the back and 4 rings at the front are just fuel guzzlers. Do not forget to tape the holes.
Fuel up only to half or even less. 20 kg saving there.
Take a scotch tape and tape all the opening on the car.
And for real fuel savers: every time you go to drive the car, you need to go to the toilet and take nr. 2.
Not to forget: tire pressure up to 4 bars…



OMG

Seriously: just lower the speed and you will get much better mileage. I usually drive on motorway on acc set at 95km/h and i get aroung 4 l/100km (70.6 mpg) with Octavia 2.0TDI DSG. Removing interior trim will add noise to even now noiser TDI in A2, thus leading to higher fatique and less safety to all. Skinier (but legal) tires are definitelly the option, also check that engine and brakes are in perfect condition. This can quickly lead to higher fuel consumption.
 
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