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Lightening the front end

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chevelledude

New member
Hi, I'm new to the forum but even so I can't seem to find any good leads about how to lighten my car. I've got an 04 gtp with a little under 100,000 miles. I'm looking for a way to lighten the front end specifically due to the fact that I just got the car and in about 3 months my tires are bald and also I would like to get a bit better fuel economy. It's all stock except for new dis coils, plug wires, spark plugs, k&n filter (stock box). I'm also curious did they come with aluminium sub-frames, cause I'm pretty sure that's whats on it but I've never had that on anyother car. Does anyone also know the factory weights for things like the exhaust and tires. Just trying to think of things that I can replace with smaller lighter counterparts.
 


They already have an aluminum subframe.

Rims weight roughly 18-22 lbs if they are 17's. Buying aftermarket rims will just make things weight more unless you spend a stupid amount of money on rims that are like 12-15 lbs. Any tire in that size is going to weight roughly the same aswell.

There really isn much weight you can remove from the car other than taking all the interior out/spare tire etc etc.

I'm sure you could remove a couple items in the engine bay to reduce weight, but in the end we are talking like 20-30 lbs if that. Things like the engine pull brackets and the engine cover.

Factory exhaust is likely lighter than an aftermarket because they use bigger piping.
 
Given that your tires are bald you might want to consider a proper alignment. I don't think weight is your issue
 
I agree, sounds like poor alignment and possibly driving habits (spinning tires,etc.) You could also relocate your battery to the trunk.
 
With a FWD you want the weight over the front. Relocating the battery to the back is just counter productive.
 


smoke14 said:
He was asking how to lighten up the front end.
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There''s not a whole lot of weight to remove up front IMO. These cars are tanks no matter what you do.

But to answer the question: battery to trunk, fiberglass hood, fiberglass fenders???, and that's about it.
 
Well, were the tires close to bald when you bought the car?

Did you rotate the tires every 7500 miles?

Better yet, pickup a tire tread depth gauge and rotate tires based on tire wear.

Two things you can do to lose weight that no one has mentioned thus far:

Put an L36 top end on your engine, superchargers are heavy, plastic intake manifolds are not.

Install headers. Cast manifolds are heavy, thin wall headers are not.
 


stealthee said:
It will never handle better, its a Grand Prix.
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Hey, coming from learning to drive with a minivan, my Grand Prix (my first car) handles awesome. I always take a sharp 90° turn at the 30mph speed limit, and watch people behind me slow down on the same turn. Except for this morning, a Camaro kept up with me, lol. Sometimes when I drive one of the work vans, I accidentally do the speed I usually do in my car, and feels like I'm about to flip the thing.
Of course there's a lot better handling cars out there, but I love the way my car handles. I don't think I'd like an insanely stiff suspension like you see on those sporty neons, with 0 body roll, it almost looks dumb. And if I do ever want it to be a bit better, I'll throw a Dorman sway bar on it. The Moog links on the stock bar was already a large improvement.

To the OP, if you're looking for better tire wear, less weight isn't the answer. If you're looking for better handling, do the dorman sway bar with moog links, and new struts if you really serious.
 
My Stealth handled 100 times better than the Grand Prix does when the Stealth was stock. With coilovers it absolutely blows away the handling.

If you drive a car that actually does handle well, you will be disgusted by how a GP handles.
 


matt5112 said:
Handling isn't even in the OP.

OP's goals are increased fuel economy and reduced tire wear.
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No, but if his tires went bald in 3 months then just lightening stuff up isn't going to cure his issues. Making sure the suspension is tight and properly aligned will cure fast balding tires. As for fuel economy he would be better suited making sure all proper maintenance is done and that he keeps his foot out of the throttle.
 
Here is good list I've done so far.

Engine mount Brackets 4lbs they can just go.
Engine cover 2 lbs ditto
aztek front bumper mount, it's aluminum and 9 lbs lighter can get at JY for 10 bucks.
use turnbuckles as top motor mounts, 4lbs
lighter weight pulleys that save a few lbs.
a 75 series battery will still crank the car and I assume you don't have a sterio but it's 12 lbs lighter.
headers are 20 lbs lighter than manifolds and give you more power and mpg's
Bonnie bracket on the ICM saves 5 lbs.
You can also remove the hood liner and the firewall liner that's another 5 lbs or so
that's about it right now but you figure that's 50-60lbs gone which isn't a crazy amount but it's not a bad start.
 
Ive removed around 25-30lbs from my front end area. Im also looking for additional ways to rid some weight,would like to get up to 100lbs but might be hard without extensive removal of things. In total though I've deleted about 66lbs and I feel some difference.
 
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