e55 baller

Has anyone changed out what looks to be a 75 lb battery in the trunk of our cars?

I brought my last Audi S4 twin-turbo down from 3650 to 3400 by a number of things like lighter brakes, lighter rims, CF hood, lighter exhaust, no spare tire, and a lighter battery which weighed a mere 14lbs! All said it was like picking up an extra 20-25hp since roughly 100lbs is associated with roughly 10hp.

Now a couple of Qs --

even with BFGs would I lose that much traction assuming I lost 50lbs in the battery since its location?

How much do the stock rims weight?

Any guess on the minimum # of cold cranking amps does our car need to start in the winter?

Thanks

Thericker

Hey man...You inspired me! I'm gettin the HPS blower put on next month, and all I've been thinking about is other mods to increase total hp, So after reading your post, I took out and weighed my stock spare=40lbs!! and some other junk I had accumulated in the trunk another 30lbs..And I weighed the S class stock battery 57lbs!! I'm going to start looking for alternative batt replacements ASAP! Thanks for the Ideas

Mardeth

Im always been keen on lightening cars. This is very intresting. Especially unsprung weight of brakes and rims has a big affect. Some say that lightening 10lbs of unsprung weight equals to 100lbs of sprung weight. Probably more like 3-4x...

M5KILLR

yea its 4-1.

Vic55

So, I just dropped about 40lbs in unsprung weight from my rotors and another 18 from my wheels totalling 58x4.... this would mean 232 lbs of sprung weight dropped. In another words I just took out an imaginary 232 lb person from inside my car? My car does feel quicker.

e55 baller

Vic,

That sounds right. Upsprung weight is a killer. What kind of brakes and Wheels do you have?

I am searching for the weight of our stock rims. I know that the Toyo tires seems to weight the least too--I changed to them on my 18 inch rims on my S4 and dropped 4lbs in each corner moving from Bridgestones.

I definitely want to lighten her up but will not get stupid with any luxo interior or lexan glass or any crap like that...wouldn't be a Benz anymore.

Lady Wolf

All I have to do to get that done is tell my husband that I want to drive the car for a change Not that I am compaining mind you :v

houston

If you ever see Kim at the red light, make sure she has a trunk full of groceries! heh

Vic55

I got the HRE Comp C21's that weigh 20.5 lbs on each corner and the Evosport Rotors. You can see pics in the E55 sticky at the top of this forum (last page of that thread).

I believe the stock wheels are 27lbs in the front and 29lbs in rear. I had S03's on this car and they are tanks, very heavy. I now have PS2's and I know they are lighter but by how much I am not sure.

Mardeth

So Vic, do you feel that the car became faster?

Jakpro1

Just wish we could do a before and after to see if it really is worth all the effort $$$....or is it like a tenth or 2 increase etc...

Sounds great though....

e55 baller

For what it is worth I picked up 0.2 tenths on my Audi S4 before and after on my ET. My MPH went up by 0.5mph. Most of the gain was notcied in the 60 foot time as I had a 1.67 60-foot. this is with 400hp and 450 tq and AWD.

I expected it to stay even since no HP was really made except perhaps the lightened flywheel which went from 27 to 11 lbs casusing less parasitic drivetrain loss and more wheel hp.

Conditions were roughly the same, barometric, temp, etc.

Vick what did the rims and rotors set you back? Did you change just the front rotors and brakes? Does it feel like the stopping distance has been improved?

e55 baller

will these wheels fit our E55s?

http://www.tirerack.com/wheels/Displ...2FPolished+Lip

check out this extensive list of wheel weights

http://www.wheelweights.net

Vic55

The car does feel quicker, initial launches seem to pull better and reaction times seem to be quicker too especially from medium speeds on the freeway. Last night I was doing some stop and go tests and every time I launched it seemed very quick. I have a 996TT also and its modded and has super light wheels and I always thought the TT was quicker (not faster) but now the my E55 seems to have bridged that gap. I guess its time to drop the weight on those heavy TT rotors.

I changed all 4 rotors, the calipers and pads remained factory items. The rims and rotors were part of a package including Stages 1, 2, Cooling, and lowering module so I couldn't give you exact numbers. The brakes I know are going for about 2200 for all 4 corners. I have not made any heavy stops but the brakes have less pedal fade for sure.

FThornton666

Down Mcbean?

Vic55

Down and up.

Lady Wolf

McBean is a fun street but watch out as there are a lot of Sheriff's on it all the time. What I like to do is punch it when the light changes and then let up when I reach the speed limit. That's good for jaw droppingfrom the other cars as they pull back up next to you at a light!

Vic55

I used to like Rockwell Canyon but the Deputy got me in the TT and now I have to behave.

Mr Wolf

That would implies that she cooks....she makes great reservations though. Wolf

Bigdot

this is a little off but...... when im driving with the hard top on my SL (80lbs) it feels like a total diffrent car, then i take it off and it feels like i loast almost a 1/2 sec on my 0-60. little bits of weight removed rilly help quiken up a car.

E552006

Well, it's been a while since this thread was active but I thought I would let everyone know how my experiment with a light weight Odyssey battery has gone.
I picked up the model PC680.
Removed the stock battery which weighs around 60lbs.
Installed the new Odyssey which weighs 15lbs.
Strapped her in.
Started the car....no problems.
I just lost 45lbs
Also removed the spare so now my E is down to around 3950 dry from 4035.
Next step will be lighter wheels and rotors.
I am wanting to get down to 3800 dry.
If figured removal of the rear cats along with the resonator will be good for about 35 lbs. plus 34 for the rotors and 32 for 4 wheels. This all adds to 100lbs. Just need to find, or lose, 50 more.

Gavidev

Hi!

Keep us updated after you drive the car around for a couple of days to see if you have any problems with the battery. Great idea to imporve performance.
Best Regards
Victor

Vadim @ evosport

E552005: Sounds like you are on the right track. Just FYI, resonator and secondary cats on C32 were 26 lbs. They are slightly smaller in size as on 55s, so figure around 30 lbs.

E552006

Took several short trip tonight (10-15 miles) with no issues. I would be concerned if I live in a colder climate during winter but it rarely gets below 40 degrees here.
I will let everyone know if the battery does not hold up.
I drove my last Supra with a lawn tractor battery (about 20 lbs) for 2 years with no issues

E552006

Thanks for the info, about what I thought.
Any other things that you all have taken off of the E to lighten it?
I do not want to compromise the luxury of the vehicle. I want these impovements to be transparent.
Josh