I was reading the Pontiac Fiero Performance Portfolio book (thank you secret santa ), and came across an interesting line in the Dec 1983 Car and Driver road test, speaking of upcoming revisions:
"The plump body structure is going to be put on a strict diet as well, though it's not clear how much weight will be lost, or when."

First off, was this ever done, and how much of a change was it? It doesn't seem like much was reduced, if any. Anyone know what was planned to be done, that perhaps we could do on our own? I just hate my car being so heavy
"The first strike against the Fiero is that it was born fat. Despite its modern, plastic-over-metal design, it weighs in at 2580 pounds -- a whopping 400 pounds more than an X1/9. (In the Fiero's defense, it's a roomer and quieter car.) The Fiero was rushed into the GM production system so quickly, we're told, that not all of the needed weight trimming was accomplished."
(from the same article)
Maybe a question to ask at the 25th if there's a Q&A...

Edit 6/17/2012: List compiled and formatted by Stubby79:

1986 Fiero GT Parts Weights:			

		    Quantity	lbs/ea	Total
Exterior:
Chassis / Space Frame	1	600	600		
Engine Cradle		1	60	60		
Wheels /w Tires		4	35	140
Body Panels		1	100	100	(~193lbs complete)
Hood			1	44	44		
Decklid			1	29	29		
GT Wing			1	10.6	10.6		
Spare tire tub		1	7	7		
Quarter Panels		2	3.2	6.4		
Bumpers(+beam/eggshell)	2	18	36	(Need breakdown)	
Doors			2	60	120	(75lbs/ea complete??)	
Door Glass		2	10	20		
Regulator		2	7	14	
Windshield		1	20	20	?
Mirrors			2	2	4		
Rear Glass		1	14	14		
Sunroof			1	14.3	14.3		
Tail lights		2	4	8
Headlight Assemblies	2	10	20	


Front Suspension:		
Control arms		4	6	24	?
Brake pads		2	2	4		
Spindle /w Rotor	2	20	40		
Calipers		2	4	8		
Swaybar			1	9	9		
Crossmember		1	20	20	?
Steering Rack		1	17	17		
Coil Springs		2	6	12		
Shock Absorber		2	3	6		
Steering stabilizer	1	2	2		

Rear Suspension:			
Rear Strut 		2	8.1	16.2
Rear rotors		2	8.8	17.6
LH Axle			1	15.9	15.9
RH Axle			1	19.1	19.1
Rear Tie Rods(complete)	2	2.65	5.3
Rear Springs		2	9	18
Rear Spring Hardware	2	6	12
Control Arm		2	6.8	13.6
Rear Hub		2	4.85	9.7
Rear Calipers		2	7.8	15.6
Rear Pads		1	5.2	5.2
Rear Knuckles		2	11	22

Drivetrain:
Engine			1	362	362	(2.8l V6, no A/C)		
Trans			1	100	100		
Flywheel		1	23	23		
Clutch components	1	12	12		
Fluids			1	128	128		
Exhaust System		1	26	26
Rad			1	7	7		
Rad Support & Fan	1	15	15		
Coolant Overflow Bottle	1	2	2		
Coolant Pipes		2	2	4	?
Gas Tank /w pump 	1	17	17
Brake Master		1	5	5	?
Battery			1	35	35		
Wiring (inc. Chassis)	1	20	20	?			

Interior:
Seats			2	34	68		
Carpet			1	40	40		
Tire Jack & Iron	1	9	9		
Spare Tire /w jack	1	30	30		
Pedals			1	10	10	?
Door Panel		2	10	20	?
Trunk Carpet		1	6	6		
Blower Fan		1	4	4		
A/C Components		1	33	33		
HVAC			1	22	22		
Steering Column		1	12	12		
Steering Wheel		1	8	8	?		
Dash			1	14	14		
Shifter, cables		1	5	5	?
Console			1	20	20		
Interior Plastics	1	15	15	?
Seat Belts		2	6	12		
Speakers		4	2	8		
Stereo			1	5	5		
Headliner		1	6	6		
Subwoofer & amp		1	10	10	?
Bulkhead		1	4	4	

Total:					2696.5

He notes:

quote I probably missed a few minor things. Let me know if I missed anything major. If anyone has weighed anything with a ? next to it, let me know that too...they're estimated to keep the final weight correct.

[This message has been edited by kwagner (edited 06-17-2012).]

They made tests with aluminum spaceframes. I think only two where build. It weighed 68% less, had 42% more
torsional stiffness and 54% more bending stiffness.
This would have been a tremendous improvement but unfortunately........

------------------
Jürgen Martin
white GT 87
Germany

quote Originally posted by Brembo-Fiero: They made tests with aluminum spaceframes. I think only two where build. It weighed 68% less, had 42% more torsional stiffness and 54% more bending stiffness. This would have been a tremendous improvement but unfortunately........

This would cost a small fortune in todays market to reproduce---but one can dream ---I wonder if anyone has attempted it ??

What about just stripping the body to the frame and drilling 1/8th inch holes every 2 inches? (Kidding!!)

Anyway, that does sound really interesting. "If only" and "What might have been" come to mind often when speaking of the Fiero

Was there a special method to make it, was it some aluminum alloy? According to "Producing the P-Car", 280 stamped steel pieces come together as 6 substructures (minus the cradle), and then put together to form the main body. One could theoretically take the sections apart, get a CAD file made, then to a CNC machine to duplicate out of an aluminum block. Would that work? No idea how much aluminum stock that large would cost, though.

quote Originally posted by kwagner: No idea how much aluminum stock that large would cost, though.

I can find out --as I`m working with another member right now on some t.b. & intake spacers, and thats the next thing for us to check...

if your local library has road and track back issues, look back through the 1988 issues. there was a short article about the end of the fiero, but it included a short blurb about an aluminum cradle and lighter quad 4 they were auto crossing.

Let us not forget the 5-star crash rating. Where other cars of similar size were worse in an accident.
Funny thing is the Fiat X1/9, the MR2, The CRX, etc were lighter weight but they were also smaller cars with shorter wheelbases.
Why the magazines back then compared the Fiero to them was to make the imports look better because the import companies PAID to have their car compared to a Fiero on purpose.

However, The Fiero was slightly lighter then the other car it should have been classed with.
The Mazda RX-7 had the same wheelbase, similar performance (during the 80's), weight was within 100lbs, and they were in the same class for the IMSA racing.

It all comes down to what the magazines are getting paid to compare.

Anyhow the Fiero's weight is not bad when compared to vehicles of the same size/class.

back in the late 80's when i was working up at B O C Powertrain in Lansing MI they were doing the quad 4 development. there were people who said that one of the alum. fiero chassiss's were there and that they were talking about putting one of the quad 4 motors in. i was working for gm research at the time and we were working on drive by wire and an electronically shifted getrag 5 spd. they had several supercharged and turbocharged versions of the quad 4 in various platform vehicles that were drivers. they also were the support for fueling eng. in california that built the aerotech that a. j .foyt drove to 267 mph at fort stockton texas. never did see the chassiss but drove the proto's around the area and they were mighty impressive.

I agree with Oreif,

There is a real bias by some writers when reviewing cars in the popular car magazines. That's why I look at the data they publish more than the comments they make. I used to own an Opel GT. It was a fun,to drive, reliable car that got 45 miles per gallon overall (not bad for the 1970's). The review in Road and Track lambasted the car for poor fore-aft weight balance (not the actual handling) between the front and rear. It was listed as 52%/48% Front/Rear. In the same issue they were praising another car (with a fancier German name) which had a 42/58% weight balance.

From my perspective it doesn't matter what the weight balance (or weight) of the car is, but rather the cornering, braking and accelerating ability (high fuel economy would be nice too!). In fact the weight of a vehicle often is related to structural strength - thats why the Fiero was a much safer car in an accident than say, a Fiat X 1/9 (which, by the way is slower than a stock 4 cylinder Fiero).

As to the Fiero being overweight - take a look at the Solstice/Sky - even with 21st Century technology it weighs over 3000 pounds and has a trunk large enough for a toothbrush or two.

[This message has been edited by NewGT (edited 12-02-2006).]

Yes, but, wouldn't it be nice if it weighed less? Less weight to accelerate and brake, means your engine and brakes are now more effective.

Apparantly the frame itself is only 600lbs of the 2800lb car, if the articles are correct. I checked some other threads on here listing weights of various parts, but I still don't see where the rest of the weight comes from.

Lighter would be better, but probably less safe unless accomplished with high tech alloys which weren't available or too expensive for a Fiero.

The rest of the weight - ~200 lbs for body panels/trim. 180 lbs for wheels/tires. 70 lbs for seats. 360 lbs for engine (all cast iron block/heads) not including accessories. 70-100 for Tranny. Spare tire - 35 lbs. Carpeting ~50 lbs. Gas Tank ~ 45 lbs. Suspension w/ brakes, shocks, steering, springs ~300 lbs. (This adds up to ~2000 with the chassis). Add the Exhaust system, Clutch/flywheel, Glass, Dash, Console, Gauges, Mounts and other hardware, Battery, Wiring, Headlamp mechanisms, Jack, Power accessories, Air conditioning, Radiator, Hoses, Lines, Fluids and 2700-2800 lbs doesn't seems so far fetched.

[This message has been edited by NewGT (edited 12-02-2006).]

Think about it: add the glass, doors (they are really heavy); all the electrics like wiper, headlight, & window motors; the wheels, brakes, suspension, crossmember & cradle; radiator/heater assy. & water; front & rear bumper reinforcements; AC components; seats , carpet/padding, & other interior peices; not to mention the engine/trans/axles. Then the body panels of which the major components are fairly heavy in stock form. It all adds up pretty quickly.
If the spaceframe weighs only 600 #s, that gives me a lot of hope that I'll get my solo project down to even less than I expected. I plan to eliminate most of the parts mentioned above except the drivetrain & suspension, including lightening the spaceframe, body panels, & suspension.
I'll do a right-up when I do it.
>EDIT< Oops didn't refresh the page before posting: a little redundant with the above post... :-)
~ Paul
aka "Tha Driver"

Giggle Cream - it makes dessert *funny*!

[This message has been edited by Tha Driver (edited 12-02-2006).]

Hmm, every little bit does add up. Looks like I forgot to count a few things

Part of Fiero's weight comes fromt the fact that those non-structural body panels, (while not terribly heavy) are nevertheless adding weight while not contributing to the strength of the vehicle. So the frame has to be made strong and solid enough to support all the weight of the car. A unibody of similar size is probably going to weigh a few hundred pounts less.

An all aluminum frame would have compensated nicely, but would have been cost prohibitive on anything less than an exotic supercar.

Not only that Fiero is quite a bit bigger than most cars in it's class. It has almost the same width as a Firebird due to the gas tank in the middle.

Ps - As for drilling holes in the frame, in my business those are called "lightening holes" and it's standard practice.

[This message has been edited by jscott1 (edited 12-02-2006).]

quote Originally posted by jscott1: Part of Fiero's weight comes fromt the fact that those non-structural body panels, (while not terribly heavy) are nevertheless adding weight while not contributing to the strength of the vehicle. So the frame has to be made strong and solid enough to support all the weight of the car. A unibody of similar size is probably going to weigh a few hundred pounts less. An all aluminum frame would have compensated nicely, but would have been cost prohibitive on anything less than an exotic supercar. Not only that Fiero is quite a bit bigger than most cars in it's class. It has almost the same width as a Firebird due to the gas tank in the middle. Ps - As for drilling holes in the frame, in my business those are called "lightening holes" and it's standard practice.

It looks like pontiac did that for the rear framerails...

quote Originally posted by FieroWannaBe: It looks like pontiac did that for the rear framerails...

A lot of that was to add crush zones - it's the area that folds up in an accident to absorb energy. It's the main thing that makes modern cars safer than the old full-frame cars.
~ Paul
aka "Tha Driver"

Guy: "You look familiar - have we met before?"
Girl: "Jerk! I had you arrested for exposing yourself!"
Guy: "Well...you'll have to be more specific..."

quote Originally posted by kwagner: Yes, but, wouldn't it be nice if it weighed less? Less weight to accelerate and brake, means your engine and brakes are now more effective. Apparantly the frame itself is only 600lbs of the 2800lb car, if the articles are correct. I checked some other threads on here listing weights of various parts, but I still don't see where the rest of the weight comes from.

There is a lot of iron in a fiero. It seems to me that one (a car designer) could loose a couple hundred pounds with out to much trouble. More aluminum and plastic and less iron sould be pretty easy..?? Personaly....I'd like to take a good bit off of the unsprung side. Iron hub carriers and rotors are pretty heavy.

Sorry to bring up a month-old thread, but I thought it would be better than starting another one, since there is already some info here.

quote Originally posted by jscott1: As for drilling holes in the frame, in my business those are called "lightening holes" and it's standard practice.

Say I had a project car stripped down to the frame, and wanted to add some "lightening holes". Is there a standard set of rules to follow? ie, 1/8" hole every 2 inches, but no closer than 1" from the edge of any piece, something like that? I was reading up on lotus elises, and I find it fascinating that it has an engine with a horsepower rating similar to the standard v6, yet can achieve what many would consider high performance characteristics. Of course, this is because it weighs so much less. Accelerating, handling, and braking are almost automatically improved with reduced weight. From what I read (on the internet of all places), the design philosophy/motto of lotus is "Performance through low weight". Sounds like a good idea to me. The only downside to lowering weight is: possibly more expensive parts, and possibly less structural integrity.

If weight reduction (while being street legal and still nice looking) was the goal, what potential parts are out there for use?
- aluminum flywheel, lightweight forged pistons, aluminum block ($$$), aluminum heads? (I forget if the are already or not)
- switch to the lightest transmission (I would assume the muncie 4spd)
- remove a/c (you're stripping the car already, so it would be easier to do)
- electric water pump
- I doubt you'd find a lighter alternator, but it's possible.
- Move the battery to the front, try to find a lighter one (I know weight varies, but not sure how much). Moving it to the front would change balance, but prob add weight for the extra length of cable you'd run.
- I think I remember reading the rad was already pretty light for its size. Maybe find one a little smaller?
- there's a couple different wheel options on tirerack that are around 20lbs. There used to be a set that was white, can't remember who made them, but I think they weighed around 15?
- I don't think there's any glass substitute that would pass inspection, but if you have a sunroof you could remove that and replace it with a piece of fiberglass or something.
- reduce the weight of body panels (either replace them with something lighter, or perhaps hollow them out?)
- replace dash with some fiberglass for bare essentials. lighter gauges? remove stereo, climate controls, replace with something smaller
- remove carpet, replace with some cloth-upholstered particle boards, or perhaps diamond plate (like the plazma, though that isn't everyone's taste)
- what about replacements for the control arms, brakes, and rotors? Those are really heavy.
- replace springs and shocks with and airbag system? would it be less or more weight? might end up being more once the controls and tank are factored in.
- replace headlights with a set of kmunson's flushmounts
- drill some holes in the frame
- replace gas tank with a fuel cell put up front where the spare tire is? It would shift some weight around, yes, but a fuel cell would be a more efficient use of space I think than the current tank, from the cut-away pics I've seen. Maybe find a rectangular-shaped fuel cell that fits the current tank's position (roughly)?
- comfortable lightweight seats?
- switch to manual windows, mirrors, and locks
- do something about the doors

Any other ideas? I'd love to pursue this. First thing's first though, gotta get my project car inspected

quote Originally posted by kwagner: Was there a special method to make it, was it some aluminum alloy? According to "Producing the P-Car", 280 stamped steel pieces come together as 6 substructures (minus the cradle), and then put together to form the main body. One could theoretically take the sections apart, get a CAD file made, then to a CNC machine to duplicate out of an aluminum block. Would that work? No idea how much aluminum stock that large would cost, though.

No, that would NOT work. Aluminum doesn't have the same strength as steel, so an aluminum part made to the exact dimensions of a steel part will be much weaker. Look at engine connecting rods and compare the thickness of steel connecting rods with aluminum ones. The aluminum ones are MUCH thicker in order to be strong enough, but they're still lighter.

The aluminum space frame parts would have to have the same body and suspension mounting points, but the rest of it's size and shape would be different to achieve the required strength.

I realized that, but forgot to mention it. That's a dangerous mistake of ignorance to make, thanks for correcting it.

Edit: 06/17/2012 - check the first post for the most current info
Edit: Updated 06/16/2012 for sources F and G
Edit: Updated 05/09/2009 for source E (thanks, jstricker )

Ok, I was reading through some old and archived threads. The basic fiero weight range is 2700-2900. I saw threads about people gutting the interior and such, and not losing that much. So I decided to take a different approach, a fiero "from the ground up", to try to pinpoint the "piggy" areas. I went from the front to the back of the car, writing down anything I saw. If I've missed anything, let me know so I can add it.

weight (in pounds, total), Quantity (if applicable), Part, reference (links to references are given at end).
I would also really appreciate any help in filling in the blanks. Thanks

This is for an 86 gt, 5spd. Most of the stuff should be universal, though.

18 - Nose, front bumper (egg cartons and and I beam) - E
600 - Main space frame - A
7 - Radiator - B
15 - Rad support/fan - B
? - Overflow tank
20 - 2x Headlight assemblies with lights - E
44 - Hood with headlight doors - E
? - 2x Fender
4 - Plastic spare tire well - B
30 - Spare tire - D
6 - Tire jack - D
3 - Tire iron and tire bracket/pole - D
3 - A/C evaporator - D
2 - A/C accumulator - D
7 - A/C condensor - D
? - Windshield washer resivoir
3 - Brake master cyl - B
3 - Clutch master cyl - (estimate based on above)
? - Front cross member
34 - 2x Front wheel - B
? - 2x Front tire
6 - 2x Front caliper,3,B
14 - 2x Front rotor - (estimate based on rear from B)
26 - 2x Front spindle - (estimate based on info in B)
? - 2x Front lower control arm
? - 2x Front upper control arm
? - 2x Front shock
12 - 2x Front spring - B
? - 2x Front upper ball joint
? - 2x Front lower ball joint
? - 2x Front brake line
14 - Steering rack with tie rods linkage - B
-- steering damper w/ bolts/nuts: 2 - F
9 - Front sway bar - B
? - Heater
3 - Wiper motor - B
? - 2x Wiper
? - A-pillar plastic panel
? - Windshield
16 - Dash w/speakers - B
2 - 2x Mirror - B
? - 2x Rocker panel
150 - 2x Door - B
10 - 2x Interior door panel - B
6 - 2x Speaker,armrest,kick panel - B
? - Pedals (clutch,brake,gas)
40 - Carpet (driver and pass) and firewall - E (30 = carpets - B)
? - Front wiring
5 - Main gauge cluster and surround - B
1 - Aux gauges - B
3 - Radio - B
? - Climate controls
20 - Console w/ skeleton - E (just skeleton = 1)
12 - Steering column - B
3 - Steering wheel - B
? - Shifter
? - Shifter surround
14 - Gas tank - B
74 - 2x Seat - B
6 - 2x Seat belt - B
? - Sunroof
? - Headliner
2 - 2x sunvisor - F
10 - ECU housing and glovebox - B
1.5 - ECU (84SE) w/ cover and 4 nuts - F
? - Wiring from ECU to rear
2 - Interior plastic trim - B
2 - Behind-seats carpet - B
? - 2x Intake area panel
? - Rear clip
? - Decklid
? - Wing
? - 2x Vent
? - Battery
? - Clutch slave cylinder
376 - Engine (2.8L V6, fully dressed incl alternator and A/C) - C
-- upper plenum w/ EGR hose attached: 8 - F
-- middle plenum: 6.3 - F
-- alternator: 11 - F
35 - Flywheel, clutch, pressure plate (stock) - C
102 - Transmission (5spd Getrag) - C
1 - A/C compressor lines to frame lines - B
? - Cradle
? - Throttle cable
? - Shift cable
? - Select cable
? - 2x Rear brake line
? - 2x Coolant line
25 - Exhaust (no cat) - B [ 26 - Exhaust (cat back) - G ]
2 - 2x Inner quarter surrounds - B
? - Output shafts + CV joints
? - 2x Rear lower control arm
? - 2x Rear strut
? - 2x Rear spring
? - 2x Rear spindle
14 - 2x Rear rotor - B
? - 2x Rear tie rod
? - 2x Rear ball joint
6 - 2x Rear caliper - (estimate from B)
34 - 2x Rear wheel - B
? - 2x Rear tire
6 - Trunk carpet - B
4 - Blower fan - B
8 - 2x Tail light - B
17.5 - Rear bumper, facia, and egg carton - E
? - End clip
-------------------
New total so far: 1918.5.
There's ~800 pounds left in there somewhere. Looking forward to finding out where
-------------------
Sources, in no particular order:
A: Pontiac Fiero Performance Portfolio
B: https://www.fiero.nl/forum/Archives/Archive-0000...
C: http://fp.enter.net/~rockcrawl/weights.htm
D: antinull.com later in this thread
E: https://www.fiero.nl/forum/A...050119-2-054753.html
F: armos in this thread
G: Stubby79 in this thread

[This message has been edited by kwagner (edited 06-17-2012).]

My trike (originally an 85 GT auto) has everything from the door jams forward removed except the tunnel, shifter, gas tank, and some of the floor pan. I've added a Yamaha Venture front end (mostly aluminum), a motorcycle seat, radiator, VW master cylinder with brake pedal, and about 100 lbs of steel. It weighs 1800 lbs and performs about the same as my 87 GT with it's highly modified 3.4L.

okay heres the stuiff i removed so far:
estimated with a bathroom scale ^_-
ac compressor 13 lbs
evaporator 3lbs
accumilator 2lbs
condensor 7lbs
spare tire 29.5lbs
jack 6 lbs
tire iron and tire bracket/pole 3 lbs
random bolts and screws .5lbs
total removed: 64 lbs

this is from an 85 2m6

Thanks, I'll add it to the list

Triker: do you still have any of the front end from the fiero? Since it's presumably in pieces or not complete, it would be a good candidate for some weighing.

apprently electric window motors are heavy...i know that they really arent that bad to do without i`m considering getting rid of them.. also not to sound sarcastic but hasanyone ever thought of the weight of the driver.. sounds kinda dumb but hey still matters in the end.. also the windshield washer resivoir and the weight of the fluid.. i`m gonna guess around a few pounds and i would say the exhaust has to be decently heavy.. we know the decklid is light.. also the coolant .. i know i`m probably beating a dead horse but believe it or not the fluids can weigh alot.. just my $0.02

I built the trike in '99 and most all the parts and pieces went to the dump. It had been wrecked in the front so there wasn't much worth salvage. I still have the radiator, fan and shroud, heater core and a few other odds and ends.

quote Originally posted by CheshireGrin: apprently electric window motors are heavy...i know that they really arent that bad to do without i`m considering getting rid of them.. also not to sound sarcastic but hasanyone ever thought of the weight of the driver.. sounds kinda dumb but hey still matters in the end.. also the windshield washer resivoir and the weight of the fluid.. i`m gonna guess around a few pounds and i would say the exhaust has to be decently heavy.. we know the decklid is light.. also the coolant .. i know i`m probably beating a dead horse but believe it or not the fluids can weigh alot.. just my $0.02

the resivoir is very light i pulled mine out when i was taking out parts of the ac its made out of thin plastic
if you had fluid in it tho it would weigh quite a bit... if i need it id just put a tiny amount of fluid in (if i dont take that system out lol)

the front hood is not as heavy as i thought it was i lifted it on my own several times when it was removed

the driver would be a possible problem
some ppl could weigh low 100s some high 300s and you know that is obviousily a diffrence
im 220 my self.... but im 6'6 with a medium build... i couldnt prob loose much weight without sacrificing health so i wont even take that into consideration

I love kwagner's post. Let's fill in his (?)'s. I know people out ther have specific weights for his blanks (i.e. ?). This info could help us all and we could archive this for future reference! Let's all weigh in our pulled parts!

------------------
carpe diem

Thanks
I know there's a number of people with a lot of parts lying around. I actually have a spare cradle and some rear suspension components collecting dust, I'll weigh them if I can find a scale.

sunroof is 18 pounds with the brackets
sunroof plastic wind thingy is 1 pound or less
just anouther chunk of info to help ya out ^_^
-null

[This message has been edited by antinull.com (edited 01-13-2007).]

quote Originally posted by kwagner: Say I had a project car stripped down to the frame, and wanted to add some "lightening holes". Is there a standard set of rules to follow? ie, 1/8" hole every 2 inches, but no closer than 1" from the edge of any piece, something like that? I was reading up on lotus elises, and I find it fascinating that it has an engine with a horsepower rating similar to the standard v6, yet can achieve what many would consider high performance characteristics. Of course, this is because it weighs so much less. Accelerating, handling, and braking are almost automatically improved with reduced weight. From what I read (on the internet of all places), the design philosophy/motto of lotus is "Performance through low weight". Sounds like a good idea to me. The only downside to lowering weight is: possibly more expensive parts, and possibly less structural integrity.

I've been trying to reduce the weight of my fiero. Since I bought a lotus elise last year I've had to chance to work on my Fiero but It would take an insane amount of work to match the power to weight ratio of the Elise. The body/chasis of the elise only weighs 150lbs. and comes with 1.8l 190hp aluminum motor. I'm gonna start with new lighter seats and remove the spare tire and accessories plus lighter rims.

------------------
Henry
Red / Silver 86' Pontiac Fiero GT
Ardent Red 05' Lotus Elise
http://www.abendanio.com/albums/fiero/
http://www.abendanio.com/albums/Lotus/

[This message has been edited by habendanio (edited 03-27-2007).]

hey trust me if i could fit in / afford a lotus i would have one right now lol
ive allways liked lotus

not sure how accurate my scale is but

about a pound each on all six ball joints

2 lbs. for each front shock

8 lbs. per rear strut

[This message has been edited by mploucha (edited 04-17-2007).]

quote Originally posted by kwagner: What about just stripping the body to the frame and drilling 1/8th inch holes every 2 inches? (Kidding!!) Anyway, that does sound really interesting. "If only" and "What might have been" come to mind often when speaking of the Fiero Was there a special method to make it, was it some aluminum alloy? According to "Producing the P-Car", 280 stamped steel pieces come together as 6 substructures (minus the cradle), and then put together to form the main body. One could theoretically take the sections apart, get a CAD file made, then to a CNC machine to duplicate out of an aluminum block. Would that work? No idea how much aluminum stock that large would cost, though.

You would come out better and faster by casting the pieces.

Anything else to add here? This is a great archived post that deserves updating.... please break out your dope scales and your bathroom scales and fill in the blanks. It will help us all..

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carpe diem

Bump for recent questions asked. Still have alot of blanks to fill in..........

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carpe diem

Ah, I thought this thread fell into the archives long ago, I'm glad I found it again. I've got a few new parts to bolt on to my fiero, so I'll get them weighed sometime soon and post the findings. Meanwhile, here's an idea on fluid weights:

Oil: 8lbs
Coolant: 30lbs
Washer fluid: 8lbs
ATF: 17lbs
Manual Traxaxle Oil: 6lbs
Fuel: 65lbs (Full tank)

Wow, up to 128lbs of fluids. That's crazy!

oh, and I found this intersting little bit of information in another thread. These are supposedly offical weights, by year and model.

1984 Coupe/SC 2464
1984 SE 2480
1985 Coupe/SC/SE 2505
1985 GT 2572
1986 Coupe/SC 2504
1986 SE 2531
1986 GT 2696
1987 Coupe/SC 2546
1987 SE 2567
1987 GT 2708
1988 Coupe 2547
1988 GT 2735

quote Originally posted by NewGT:As to the Fiero being overweight - take a look at the Solstice/Sky - even with 21st Century technology it weighs over 3000 pounds and has a trunk large enough for a toothbrush or two.

I have a 2006 Solstice that I ordered new back in June of 2005. The Solstice doesn't weigh over 3000 pounds. It's official weight is 2,860. Which is quite good considering that A) Pontiac Fieros with the V6 typically weighed in at over 2,700 pounds, and that the Solstice comes with all of the modern features that typically weigh down a car (Antilock brakes, air bags, etc...). The fact that it is as light as it is, probably is due to the fact that it's chassis design is nearly as revolutionary as the Fieros. The Solstice has a mandrel bent frame (using pressurized water). This technique is shared (as far as I know) only with the current generation Corvette production. So... it's not a bad design at all. The Miata is only lighter because it's a smaller / weaker car.

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Todd,
2006 Pontiac Solstice
2004 Volkswagen Beetle Convt. (Wife's)
2002 Ford Crown Victoria LX
1987 Pontiac Fiero SE / V6
1981 EZ-GO Xi875-A "Miami Dolphins" Medical Cart
1973 Volkswagen Type-2 Transporter
1973 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme 350

Doors are often excrutiatingly heavy. I think new doors can be engineered to fit the original skins and be made lighter. My brother and I have long wanted to make a simple titanium door frame with as little metal as possible. This could greatly reduce the weight, but safety is a concern, in the event of a hit on the door.
Also, the cradle would be an easy piece to remove. I'm surprised someone hasn't manufactured a lightweight alloy cradle to replace the original.

Here in Maryland you don't have to get your car inspected once it's over 25 years old. If you have the same situation, you could replace your windows and sunroof (except, perhaps, the windshield) with a high quality clear plastic. As awesome as glass is, it's expensive.

I've heard the Lotus Elise has automatic windows because the motors were actually made lighter than the cranking mechanism. These motors could perhaps be made to work for the Fiero.

A couple of ideas anyway,
-Michael

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"A guy know's he's in love when he loses interest in his car for a few days." -Tim Allen

He who dies with the most toys... still dies.


Check out my restoration!