speedster

About 1800 pounds - more-or-less.

Probably more.  I wouldn't be surprised if mine was around 2000 lbs.

My older pan based IM weighs right around 1,780 with 1/2 tank of gas and a Soob engine.

IIrc, the older pan based IM's should come in at about 1700lbs with a stock 1600. 

Beck's and pan IMs are on the lighter side. I think the tube IMs are heavier. Vintages a little more. CMC can range widely, depending on the chopper-gun marksman of the day. Heaviest by far are the SAS cars. I know, I weighed them with scales at Carlisle.

IIRC my Beck was, at 1700 pounds, the lightest Speedster/Roadster/Cabrio when Danny had his scales (The Hoopty not included).   The SAS cars were around 2500, with everybody else somewhere in between.  I have a fuzzy memory of some the newer IMs being right at 2000, but part of that was all the fancy shmancy stuff like power windows and A/C.

2335 # to be exact.  Plenty heavy, I think.  With the heavy frame, the Suby engine and all the water-cooled components, it does add up.  

I know we talked about weights before, mine (CMC built by me) weighed 1,596.  Alot can depend too on amount of insulation, tools, how full the gas tank is, spare tire, etc.  

Danny, what does your Spyder weigh? 

Dave and Al, that's nice to know.

This is something we don't talk or think about very much, and it is to our detriment. More stuff does not necessarily make a car better. Weight makes a big difference, and the cumulative effect of all the stuff that gets bolted on our cars really changes the dynamic.

What kind of engine in the car? An AL "bubble-top" Type 1 case weighs 20 lbs more than the comparable Magnesium case. Brakes? SoCal's wide 5 set is quite a bit heavier than CBs AL set. Wheels? EMPI wide-5s are not light, nor are steelies. Even stuff you don't think about like exhaust can weigh a lot, or not very much- I'm redoing mine for the 450th time because while I like the sound, it weighs about 50 lbs.

The cumulative effect of a bunch of this-'n-that is a car that is no longer as light as it could or should be. I drove Joel Schlotz's car last fall when I visited him in Chico and it was a revelation. Very simple, pan based car with a nice 2110 and not a lot of goo-gaws. The car was probably at least 300 lbs lighter than mine, and it drove like it.

Some stuff is worth the weight (Rich's 2.7L Type 4, for example), but a lot of it is just lazy casting from some third world manufacturer. All of it hurts the "feel" of the car, and requires better systems (brakes, etc.) to support the additional weight. Dr. Porsche slayed the giants of his day the same way Colin Chapman did his: by "adding lightness" and staying true to the KISS principle.

It's easy to get lost along the way in in this regard.

Very true Stan. Compare a Rolex Series production Porsche, or Corvette for that, matter with an off the dealer floor similar model, it is like comparing apples to oranges. Interiors are gutted of everything, body panels, hoods, doors, trunk lids are replaced with lightweight ones, often the dashes are removed completely to be replaced by a thin aluminum gauge panel, seats are light weight fitted racing buckets. Disc brake rotors are often massive lightweight slotted ones that weigh about half of the stock ones.

We got a chance to tour the Corvette pits at Sebring in '06 with a friend who is a Corvette Chassis Engineer for Chevrolet and works closely with Corvette Racing. We were told the average Street Corvette Z06 curb weight of an '06 model was around 3,350lbs...the same model Corvette Racing used. The racing Corvette's weighed in at just a little over 1,900lbs curb weight with a full 38gal fuel cell add in the drivers weight at an average 180lbs and ready for the track it weighs just under 2,100 lbs...now that is a weight savings!

I agree with Stan and GR that one of the most effective ways to increase performance is to decrease weight.  However, very few of us own cars that are used primarily for track, road racing, or autocross.  Almost all of us have some form of street car, with occasional track use.  That doesn't mean that a heavier car is better by any means, but compromise is a livable reality for most of us.

There are really two different ways to achieve lightness: 1) remove the unnecessary and heavy parts and be done, or 2) replace the heavy parts with light parts.  Option 1 is inexpensive, and we can retain the stock parts for a future sale or change of use for the car.  Option 2 in never inexpensive.  Lightened parts are almost always produced in small batches, from unobtanium or similar metal.  Demand is limited to those of us who are willing to pay premium prices in an attempt to scratch that hard-to-define itch that our significant others will never experience.

Even for those of us who approach the borders of OCD regarding our rides, trade-offs are inevitable.  Are we willing to pay $4000 for uber-light wheels and the best treads on the market? Maybe not today, or this decade, but somewhere down the road, when the kids are self-sufficient, the mortgage is history, etc., etc.

My car will continue to change over time, hopefully improving at each development stage.  But, like it or not, in many cases we are the guys who do what VW/Porsche engineers did in the 1950's, i.e, design and road test mods that will accommodate the improved, high performance engines and trannys that propel our rides across the country.  Many of us are less risk adverse than others.  I have had some successes with mods and some failures.  Not my plan, but that's the way it is.

Bruce, mine weighed 1450 with a half-tank of gas back when I set the suspension up when I first built it. I corner-balanced it and it was about 10 pounds lighter in the RF, which is where I ended up putting my 5 lb. Halon bottle(7-8 pounds). A good idea to put useful weight where it is needed to balance it out. Since then I have added a stock 13mm front sway bar, the ragtop, and my gas heater(20 pounds total) so closer to 1500 pounds. I'm thinking the heater is lighter than the heater boxes it replaces.

You guys are so right about weight being added to make the car "better". Definitely easy to add unnecessary weight but sometimes it is stuff that makes the car more user friendly and livable. I will weigh all the components on my brake replacement, soon to be accomplished. Replacing CSP solid discs and stock rear drums with Airkewld 4 piston front/single piston rear discs w/e-brake. Hopefully the scales will show the same weight or a minor reduction, but if braking is improved a small weight penalty is worth it.

1. Corvettes have gotten chubby over the years. Circa '82 they targeted 3000 lbs as the out-the-door weight. They were close, but not quite. And they just didn't care: All those creature comforts make a lot more car sales than they prevent. 

2. 200-300 lbs or so of the modern sports car's heft is in door bars and other steelie frame tidbits that the government mandates as crash protection. Another 100 lbs or more is in air bags & such. Big Gummit making sure today's knuckleheads live to crash again.

3. I know you all know, but it bears repetition: If you're rocking under 2000 lbs in a four-wheeled conveyance on American highways today, you are rolling very, very light.

4. I believe Bridget's about 1700 fully dressed, but am keen to find out for sure.

Jim;

Being from Santa Cruz at sometime in your life, as I recall, had some exposure to sailing. Beer can races at the SC Yacht club are legendary. But I digress.  I won't ever go back and add up the cost of new sails... mylar, kevlar,... and what ever is today's flavor of the month. Becuz,  one crappy tack  and you have lost!

Mylar, Kevlar, light , light  weight!!

Art

I crewed (foredeck) on a Capri 22 in the lightweight handicap keel class several summers in Santa Cruz and many more at the Mission Bay and the San Diego Yacht Clubs.  Good times. Nothing like a super-fast reach and a couple good jibes to get your blood pumping.

Crossing the shipping lane on the way to Catalina, Capt. Ron & bos'n mate Corgi Bob, keep an eye out for Somali pirates!