Well since there is not much to do on adding HP to a XK....I'm thinking if I shed weight it will be free horse power!

I already removed:
1) Rear Muffler (30lbs)
2) Plastic Engine cover (1 pound)

Tools and spare tire will be next.....

Do you have any other ideas on what I might be able to remove?

 

How about the rear seats and spare tire and tools. Also floor mats.

 

I agree the rear seat but you have to fill the area carpet, alcantara or anything not to ruin the looks. You can also go lighter wheels for around 80lbs if you get 20LBS wheels, remove some sound dampening...

 

Errr - I guess we're moving into more radical territory now.

• If you don't use the satnav, dump the nav computer.
• If you are a daily driver or can hook up a battery tender every night, downsize the battery to a smaller AGM unit - i.e., rather than going AGM for more power, go for the same or less in a smaller, lighter package.
• Ditch the fancy but very heavy seats for race buckets.

But then, if you want a lightweight car, I'm not sure an XK is the place to start.

 

These guys are pretty funny, but there zero -sixty time improved from 11.1 sec down to 7.8 sec

 

I was thinking of finding a very used XKR for a track car but then I realised how much weight I would have to shed and the expense. It can be done, if you look in the racing section of this forum there is gorgeous red XKR race car someone fabricated but I'm sure it was some major coin. I'll see if I can find the thread.

 

Hmmm, you could try replacing the battery with a lighter weight one!

 

Don't forget the rear luggage compartment cover... Probably a couple of pounds there.

 

When I put my street-racer, 500HP, RX-7 on a diet, nothing was off-limits. Used a lawn mower battery, 14lbs carbon racing seats, changed the whole exhaust for light weight one, got rid of the ABS unit, got rid of the windshield washer tank and pump, tossed the heavy steering wheel with the bag, punted the rear wiper with its own pump and reservoir, got rid of the rear plastic shelf, trunk carpeting and got ultra light weight racing wheels at 17lbs each for 9.5 wide wheels with light weight tires. End result, about 260lbs weight savings, going from 2860 to 2600 lbs with about 3/4 gas in the car. Plus, what I forget to list off the top of my head. Oh, yeah, tossed the high priced stereo setup that saved me 18 lbs.

You will have to really change the car to save appreciable weight. For my car that started at 2860, 260lbs savings is significant. For a car that starts 1000 lbs heavier, no so much. The best way to tell how the weight effects the car is to invite some friends of your choice (weight wise) to ride along while you try out the handling. That is when you realize that 2 big people in the car (400 lbs) will handicap that car's handling very badly.

I purposely put small sized racing seats in my car. My trim 190lbs frame fits very tightly, as racing seats should but, I have an excuse for not taking BIG people for a ride when they ask. They simply won't fit and I simply don't want that much weight in my car. 200+ lbs very noticeably ruin the handling

Edit: Of course, spare tire and tool kit departed, as well. If I wanted to go more radical, would have replaced the back hatch door with carbon and lexan, as well as replace the side doors with carbon and lexan. Those would have netted me over 100lbs more but, would have required side roll bars for protection and for mounting the carbon doors.

Edit #2 - Light weight racing brake calipers installed.

Albert

 

Due to crash test requirements and the demand for more refinement, most cars are built heavy in the basic structure. Sure you can knock off the odd 2-300 lbs in accessories and sound deadening, but after that you are into serious stuff like thinner windows and plastic doors.