Lightweight auto slalom car...

[Outsider]

I was looking around today and came across some intresting figures.
The lightest car I've been able to find (from a not too in depth search) is the Geo Metro. The 1995-2000 model weighs in at 1808 lbs and the 1990 to 1994 model was only a whoping 1650 lbs.

Strip and gut the interior and you could get that number even lower! And you could most likely put a much larger engine in that, re-tune the suspension, and you might have yourself a pretty damn light and nimble car?

Just an idea for a project autoX car... what do you guys think?

[max attack]

I've alway's kinda liked the shape of the following generation of geo metro/suzuki swifts,pick the suzuki as it came with a 4cyl not the lousy 3 cyl.
Of course I see it kinda like a wrc car with big flairs,air dam and wings.I'd also throw a rotary in it and make it rwd with maybe a miata rear end,carbon fiber everything of course.:cool:

[Wedge]

Yup, the Suzuki Swift GT came with a high reving, 100hp 4-banger, that would go nicely into small lightweight like that.

[Marsh]

Isn't the SMART down in the 1600-1700 lb territory... and mid engine to boot!

[gatherer]

Originally posted by Marsh
Isn't the SMART down in the 1600-1700 lb territory... and mid engine to boot!

something like that .. I'm waiting for the coupe roadster to come out...

[sjd]

Originally posted by gatherer
something like that .. I'm waiting for the coupe roadster to come out...

If I remember right Fifth Gear tested it and didn't like it as much as the Miata.

[Outsider]

Originally posted by Marsh
Isn't the SMART down in the 1600-1700 lb territory... and mid engine to boot!
That's true.. I just read a review of the cabriolet, and that was 730kg (1609 lbs), so I imagine the non-convertible is lighter still.

It would be intereting to see if anyone will bring one to an auto slalom one of these days.

[TOYSRUS]

Get your hands on a modern 1st gen Elise or even the original elise and you would be competitive right out of the box. The first gen CRX's weighed in close to 1800 lbs stock and would be a better choice in terms of available performance parts/mods/swaps/ect.. I ran one for ten years and had it down to a streetable 1650 lbs without much effort.

[13inches]

Anyone know how light Angelo's Fiat is??

I'm almost ashamed of my 2250lb Miata.......... :(

[max attack]

I'm not liking the idea of rolling a smart car back onto its wheels after trying to solo,aren't those things like 4' wide,6' long and about 7' high?:D

[Steven Scala]

I got a Swift new in 1997 at what I believed was 1850lbs. with no options, brought it home and removed the wheelcovers, spare tire and jack...one week later, the backseat, interior panels, carpet and sound deadening were out, and rear pressures were jacked. (Yes, Mr. Insurance man, it's all for the sake of fuel economy. The environment, and all that...)

Took it to the HRC school that year and passed no more than two cars. (Actually, it was more like I'd gone around them as they were recovering from their half-spins at apex. Needless to say, they were a bit out to lunch.) Beyond that, I was able to stand the thing on its nose, braking maybe 25ft later than ze porsches, thanks in small part to some upgraded brake fluid, and in much larger part to having a closing speed of only 125kph. Moving to the back of the line during the lead-follow exercise didn't even require a lift of throttle...

Still, chucking into a threewheeler through Fabi 1 was fun and consistent in that car. It was way slow, and had a weebwobbly CG, but it was a really good roadgoing 'trainer' for learning to get on the gas hard and fast without breaking any traffic laws.

Also removed the front swaybar two years later, but should have done it sooner, as after four years of unengineered-for side load took a heavy toll.

Suzuki improved the Swift's fuel injection system in 1998, bumping power from 70 to 79hp...an increase I would have desperately craved.

I still wonder whether clearance for the twincam head would be a problem. Rumour has it that Huyabusa pistons are a simple swap in, too...

Steve

[B18C5]

Maybe I'm missing something here, but wouldn't swapping in a GTi engine into a regular Metro basically make it a GTi without the suspension? Why not just start with a GTi and work removing the weight from that? I'm sure any additional structural weight that the GTi's has over the Metro has to increase structural rigidity and can't be all that bad.

[Steven Scala]

Maybe I'm missing something here, but wouldn't swapping in a GTi engine into a regular Metro basically make it a GTi without the suspension? Why not just start with a GTi and work removing the weight from that? I'm sure any additional structural weight that the GTi's has over the Metro has to increase structural rigidity and can't be all that bad.

What a perfect world it would be if it weren't for rust.

SS

[Marsh]

Originally posted by max attack
I'm not liking the idea of rolling a smart car back onto its wheels after trying to solo,aren't those things like 4' wide,6' long and about 7' high?:D

Have you ever seen an echo?

According to Smart.com the coupe is 1.55m tall with a track 1.35m

The Echo is also 1.5m tall, but Toyota doesn't list track on their website. But it is a few cm narrower, overall!

Plus with much more steel I'd bet good money the Toyota has a much higher CG.