mlg

already ditched hood struts, 1 spring on trunk, spare and tub/jack, also lost battery for 15 lb dry cel, thanx mlg

DarkXerox

Low-calorie diet + exercise

hooleyboy

I just went to the track and i ditched the spare and all other junk in the junk. that totaled 50lbs of stuff. I would maybe do with some lighter wheels. The stock amg wheel is heavy could find yourself cutting a bunch of weight Based on the Internet a 2005 C55 (my car) weights 3586lbs without me in it and based on the HP at the fly wheel being 362 this car has about a 10 to 1 Horsepower to weight ratio. I'm sure you know what that means but if you don't... It means for every 10lbs a 2005 C55 makes 1HP. So If you remove 10lbs from your car you would feel the effects of an additional 1HP. 20lbs 2HP, 50lbs 5HP and so on... your peak HP will never change it will just feel faster. My math might be of a bit its kinda close. hope this helps.

hooleyboy

If you want more accurate results add your weight to the car and then know what your wheel HP is and that will give you a better idea as to how much you would have to cut so with me in my car I am 200lbs wheel HP i hear is 305ish not sure thought that would make my car have a 12.4 to 1 HP to lbs ratio.
Note... for every pound you take off your HP to weight ratio changes so you have to redo the math after each time you cut weight.

wawy

Do you drive a C55 or C32? Hood struts and spring on trunk? -- Never thought of doing that. What battery are you using and what is your current weight reduction with what you have done so far??? One thing I can think of in addition to what hooleyboy mentioned about lighter wheels are light weight rotors and removing the stock resonator.l...

mlg

stock batt weighs 40 lbs more, alos save weight w lighter batt tray and hold down.

MRAMG1

+1.

You will NEVER notice the differenece in your car shredding 40lbs "Unless it is ALL unsprung weight, brakes, rims, etc". Again this has been dealt with in depth on this forum. Check out Carbon fiber hoods, etc. SAVE YOUR MONEY, and Quit eating out

See yeah

c3232c

I have been looking at some enkie wheel weights, I have found a set of 16X7 that weigh 16 pounds. They are OR-52's. The backspacing is 38. I plan on picking up a pair for the rear if they fit. And they are around 110.00 each!

MRAMG1

Although I personally like Enkie products and used them on a few race cars, I don't think that a 16" rim will clear are front brakes. Also, 7" rim is VERY narrow for trying to fit some large meat on them. try to find 8" or larger. The LAST thing you want is less contact patch in the world of performance cars. Trust me, it will make the C feel like it is driving on ice.

See yeah

Sorry, didn't see the rear part. Me bad.

c3232c

I will do some research and see what how fat I can go with the 7. My car suffers from altitude sickness here in Utah(4400ish) so wheel spin at the track isn't much of a problem.

crazeazn

jenny craig!

p rossi

lightweight seats, our weigh alot

loungn14

+1 100 lbs a piece

m3_eater

Or just buy a different car. The sheer mass of the W203 is one of the things that made me sell mine!

That said, what I wish I had money to do is buy a C55 and totally gut the interior - turn it into a full-on track rat. Some Bilstein PSS9s + stiffer sway bars, a Quaife LSD, and warm over the engine just a bit (but still keep it mostly stock). I think that would make a wonderful car you could beat on all day and then drive home.

wawy

I've read on the SLK forums that some of the SLK55 owners even went as far as removing the sound and heat insulation from under their front hoods. I can't imagine this can account for much but I haven't tried it so I don't know.....

JToups386

I'm a little surprised to see the levels some folks will go to in order to shed weight on these cars. I could understand it if these were truly "race cars", and you didn't mind carving them up. Believe me, I try to make anything I drive faster than it was when I acquired it. However, these are luxury sport sedans that are designed to give comfort while still being somewhat fast. My point is simply this --- if you want a lightweight hot rod, then why not buy something of less value and prestige. Having come from racing my Z28 the past 8 years, it was not at all uncommon to see them w/o the back seats, passenger front seat, hood insulators, internal bumper supports, washer fluid reservoirs, center console, glove box and rear speakers.
That's all fine and dandy if your goal is to have a lightweight track car. However, do you really want to turn your expensive MB into an aluminum foil shell w/ no amenities? I think not.

Yes, there are some simple heavy items you can benefit in losing weight from the car, ie the battery, wheels, spare tire/jack, etc. Those make sense as they do not de-value the car nor do they lessen it's luxury.

If you really really want a lightweight car, I recommend buying something with 2 doors, and of much less value, like an F-body or if you really want to drop lbs, grab a rice-racer like a Civic. Then you can hack away all day long and have that 2500 pound "hot rod" that's about as much fun to drive as a lawnmower...
If you still prefer to lose weight on your MB, then look at the recommendations in my paragraphs above. That'll shed plenty for you, and leave you with a fast shell of a car that once was a MB...

MRAMG1

Right on my friend Toups386

I REALLY can't understand why ANYONE would gut a C32 in the hope of making it a FULL blown race car. IT ISN'T gentlemen. But it IS a truely GREAT combination car with GOOD track capability. I know, because I do it. Heck it is only 4 seconds slower then my old race car at Beaverun, and that was on street tires, compared to R1's for my REAL RACE car.

As the man said, if you want a race car, BUY ONE
DON'T destroy what make the C32 a world class sport sedan, cause I am here to tell you, unless your wallet is bottomless, YOU WILL NEVER GET IT TO THAT LEVEL! And if you do, it will be worth about $3000.00.

see yeah

IngenereAMG

The most noticeable area of weight reduction will be (as stated), to unsprung weight. The car will turn in better to corners and the steering will feel more alive. When I put my Ferrari 348 on a 'diet', using extremely light Challenge wheels made a monster difference. I cut weight in other areas as well, but that was very noticeable.

Of course there are many areas on these cars that could stand with a bit of weight loss, but in the end you have to decide what you really want in a MB/AMG road car. These are made to be luxury/performance cars, not track day weapons.

On the other hand, you could visit www.triforlife.net for some real weight management from my day job!

mlg

thanx for the enkei sugg , price sounds rite, ill ck it out

redfarsi

remove the carpets,tints if you got em, replace the seats with some recaro(if your serious about weight reduction just remove the seats completely and put a plastic container or flip a 5 gallon bucket upside down and use that as a seat). remove the back seats?. take out the cd player/6 disk changer. if you have a cassette in your deck, remove it. Change the steering wheel. remove the Mercedez-Benz emblem on the hood. deflate your tires. You should loose like 20lb to each wheel(correct me if i underestimated it.lol) remove the cup holder and the lighter. remove the center arm rest. remove the spare and all that crap in the trunk. don't wear clothes when you drive, especially jeans. remove the air bags. finally install code 3 performance 2piece rotors. Thanks for reading and good luck!


Also remove all badging.

wawy

MRAMG1

Now you have the right idea

But don't forget the carpet, head liner and sound deading material and that should cut you down atleast .1 seconds

Ses yeah

mdncn2762

Also get a haircut. Thats good for a couple grams.

cdd

Very funny.

wawy

An interesting comparison that can be used is the weight difference between the C55/C32 and their two-seater counterparts - the SLK55 and SLK32. I'll use the C55 vs SLK55 for now as I readily have the figures:

C55
362-hp, 376 lb-ft of torque, 5.5L, 24-valve, SOHC V8
C55 Curb Weight: (3,583 lbs)

SLK55
355 hp, 376 lb-ft of torque, 5.5L, 24-valve, SOHC V8
SLK55 Curb Weight=(3,420 lbs)

The SLK55 is 163lbs lighter..


Stock for stock, the SLK55 seems to be able get in the high 12's no problem while the C55 pulls low 13's consistently. Now, there may be other factors at play here to account for this difference but I would say the weight difference definitely comes into play.

As per some of the suggestions already, dropping 100lbs from the C55 (or C32 for that matter) should be something that could be accomplished without too much effort. IE:

Spare, jack, etc =50lbs
Remove resonator and replace with straight/X-pipe =10lbs
Replace stock battery with light weight battery like an Optima =20lbs or more??
light weight rotors??
Rims??
ETC....