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mprtklr
04-06-2004, 06:00 PM
Thank You NHTSA and DOT. while getting my car finished at the body shop, i decided to counter the weight of my stereo a little bit. I removed the front and rear US bumper bars, and other the the fact that the front covers like 1/2 of the intercooler which is now exposed, i lost 42 pounds off the car.. 42 pounds!!! measured on a home scale.

559EVO
04-06-2004, 06:08 PM
You think it will affect handling?

leaveit2bevo
04-06-2004, 11:39 PM
dont get into a accident your car will be gone

GokuSSJ4
04-07-2004, 12:05 AM
some peeps started doing same thing , is cool if you plan to just track the car . but on the streets :yikes: , just becareful ... IMO i would find a differnt thing that you can remove weigh of the car , instead of messing with safety equipment ...

Braves
04-07-2004, 12:39 AM
dont get into a accident your car will be gone
Yup not worth the risk IMO

Blaze
04-07-2004, 08:13 AM
You can shed a pound or two by removing your air bags too....

(just teasing)

Safety equipment like bumpers are there for a reason, but the bumper is only the first line of defence. There is quite a bit of metal between you and the front of your car. You have the frame, cruple zones, the engine that will drop down and slide under you and hopefully some fuzzy dice!

Mostly likely only if if were traveling at devestating speeds, or hit a narrow object (pole) would you have a life threatening problem. In which case, the 44 lb bumper will not help much as it will be the force of the impact (your brain against the front of your skull) that kills you.

(knock on wood that it never happens)

I'd love to see a write up with some pictures on how you did it. (for track purposes) You might also want to fabricate a air dam now that the bumper section is missing.

One more point I'd like to make regarding this for street use: If you're in a minor fender bender and the insurance discoveres that the bumper was removed...you can probably consider your policy (or at least the claim) null and void.

Cheers,

Jason

GokuSSJ4
04-07-2004, 08:26 AM
still removal of the bumper support is unsafe (street driven) at the track its find , but went it involves a crash i want as much protection as i can and not total the car ....
Blazegt4 brought up a good point , if your planning on driving the car on the street insurance may be an issue and just for saving 44 lbs .
there are other ways about that , Blurr wrote a write up on weigh saving, and there other things and if you plan to get hard core on it , just by you removing your sound system you can be close (if not more - not sure how much your speaker box weigh) to it. You can even remove all panels , removal of AC , removal of power steering , spare tire , removal or carpeting and etc...

mprtklr
04-07-2004, 08:28 AM
they are on my car, i just wanted to weigh them. its really only 4 bolts. take off the front and rear bumper and there are 4 screws holding each on, unscrew and take them off.

mprtklr
04-07-2004, 08:36 AM
my only contention, is that the rest of the world doesnt have those bars, so THEY (read: rest of the world) doesnt feel them neccessary.

GokuSSJ4
04-07-2004, 08:49 AM
are you sure there only on the Evo ?????
there are several cars that use bumper supports , and they might be a crazy reason why they weight 44 lbs .... :?
In japan they have a lot lighter bumper supports and at least there were some companies like benen (not for the evo ) that use different bars to replace and reduce weight from the bumper supports (mainly for track use ) but then again japan doesn't have the same crash enforcement (or strict ) like the US does , since a lot of there models end up being a lot heavier once they come to the US for crash safety ...

apexstrafer
04-07-2004, 08:51 AM
my only contention, is that the rest of the world doesnt have those bars, so THEY (read: rest of the world) doesnt feel them neccessary.

exactly, they're US-only items. I don't think they would have any safety benefit whatsoever in a crash, but the insurance implications are enough to make me keep mine on, for now at least.

Blaze
04-07-2004, 09:00 AM
The US and Australia both have very strict safety regulations for vehicles.

I wish I could post some good numbers about population ratios and the damage sustained in accidents here verses japan. I don't have any numbers, but they might be interesting to see.

The fact that they weigh 40 odd lbs is probably for functionality reasons (duh). But the fuctional reason is probably that it's either designed into a crumple zone, or the US spec bumper is different/lighter.

Anyone know of some good threads on weight savings? I'm looking around to see if anyone makes a single piece drive shaft. All those U-joins and center bearings make me nervouse. I went to a single on my Z and it make quite a nice difference (weight/torque/power distribution).

Cheers,

Jason

CarPhoto.net
04-10-2004, 10:01 AM
The front bumper support will protect your Oil cooler and intercooler.

Without it the bumper support, items will be destroyed at a very low speed.

highenuff14
04-10-2004, 11:14 AM
Your other option would be to have someone custom make a replacement out of titanium or other strong, yet light weight alloy. But that may be a lot of money.

mprtklr
04-10-2004, 11:35 AM
since this has come back, i have also discovered something else.. since your front bumper screws into the front bar, the front bumper sags down without it. apparently those 2 screws hod it in position.