Inline6Merc
Well-known member
How much does a 1964 Mercury Comet (4door, 6 banger) weigh?
How much does a 1965 Ford Mustang (Coupe, 6banger) weigh?
How much does a 1965 Ford Mustang (Coupe, 6banger) weigh?
Car weight
- Thread starter Inline6Merc
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Inline6Merc
Well-known member
Is that really a major diforance if you were racing? What can i do to lose some weight?
Inline6Merc
Well-known member
Sorry i have a 64 Comet with a 200.
Curtis
Inline6Merc
Curtis
Inline6Merc
A
Anonymous
Guest
400 lbs is huge if it's really that different. In drags, the rule of thumb I've heard is that every 100lbs is 1 tenth of a second (I think?) It factors in for road-racers, too. Less weight = more acceleration. Have you ever noticed a difference in the way your car drives with just you vs. 2-3 passengers (about 400 extra pounds)?
Thing you can do to lose weight-
Remove the spare tire, jack, etc. Anything not bolted down. If you can live without it, get rid of radio & speakers, A/C, and any other un-needed accessories.
If it's a dedicated racer, gut the interior of all non-essentials, including passenger seat, back seat, carpet, dash padding, etc. If it's available to you, fiberglass hood and fenders is another, more spendy, way to trim more weight. For drag racing, you can run a bare minimum of gas to get it down the track. Full tanks = balast. There are even drag racing fuel cells that you could replace your gas tank with.
It's all about how far you want to go. You can get into a lot of money to trim those last few pounds. Removing un-needed stuff is the cheapest way to go about it. It's sort of like free horsepower, since you aren't lugging around all that extra ballast, the power to weight ratio improves.
As another reference point- my '67 Mustang with 200 in stock trim weighs in at 2750 with 1/2 tank of gas and nobody in the car. Once I'm completely done with the mods, I want to weigh it again to see where it's at. Some of the mods trim weight, while others add.
I don't know how much you can actually save with all that stuff removed, but I saw a Fox body 'Stang lose 85lbs at the track by ditching the passenger seat. YMMV.
--mikey
Thing you can do to lose weight-
Remove the spare tire, jack, etc. Anything not bolted down. If you can live without it, get rid of radio & speakers, A/C, and any other un-needed accessories.
If it's a dedicated racer, gut the interior of all non-essentials, including passenger seat, back seat, carpet, dash padding, etc. If it's available to you, fiberglass hood and fenders is another, more spendy, way to trim more weight. For drag racing, you can run a bare minimum of gas to get it down the track. Full tanks = balast. There are even drag racing fuel cells that you could replace your gas tank with.
It's all about how far you want to go. You can get into a lot of money to trim those last few pounds. Removing un-needed stuff is the cheapest way to go about it. It's sort of like free horsepower, since you aren't lugging around all that extra ballast, the power to weight ratio improves.
As another reference point- my '67 Mustang with 200 in stock trim weighs in at 2750 with 1/2 tank of gas and nobody in the car. Once I'm completely done with the mods, I want to weigh it again to see where it's at. Some of the mods trim weight, while others add.
I don't know how much you can actually save with all that stuff removed, but I saw a Fox body 'Stang lose 85lbs at the track by ditching the passenger seat. YMMV.
--mikey
A
Anonymous
Guest
I think it may have been Carrol Smith. He certainly makes that same point in "Tune to Win."
For a sedan-turned-racer, there's a lot of big ticket weight items that can come out really fast. Reminds me of the weight redux in Gran Turismo II. Cheap first go around, then more expensive for fewer gains. Life IS a video game!!
Woot!
Now where did I put that cheat code??? *rummages around frantically*
--mikey
For a sedan-turned-racer, there's a lot of big ticket weight items that can come out really fast. Reminds me of the weight redux in Gran Turismo II. Cheap first go around, then more expensive for fewer gains. Life IS a video game!!
Woot!Now where did I put that cheat code??? *rummages around frantically*
--mikey
I know XR (1966-1968 ) Falcons were 2750 pounds to 2910 pounds as a six, and most GT pack 289 Mustangs were about 2950 pounds or so, so 2850 pounds was an educated guess.
The a 200 cube 90 hp (125 hp gross) engine, with 2450 pounds, if the engine is optimised with the right gearing, is a 18.4 second quarter miler.
Add 400 pounds, to 2850 pounds, it drops to 19.3 seconds.
The extra 400 pounds is like 11 hp off a same engined Falcon, or an extra 0.9 secs over the quarter.
Each extra 360 pounds is a 10 hp loss, or 0.8 seconds.
Each extra 36 pounds off is like 1 extra stampeding pony, or 0.1 seconds.
The really good thing is you can find the first 50 hp ( 1800 pounds off!) with just headers, carbs and gearing, and then maybe a cam. If you do a head modification, then your into Mustang Geezer Teritory.
If you got an old 79 Falcon 500 like mine, its 3395 pounds, and does 18.7 seconds without air conditioning and an auto. Later that year, the Falcon GL came out with 3064 pounds. The quarter mile time was only 18.1, a drop of 0.6 seconds for 331 pounds.
There you go. Funny thing is, the GL Falcon never rode or handled as well as the older, fat Falc. Those 331 pounds came right out of the chassis stiffness.
x.
The a 200 cube 90 hp (125 hp gross) engine, with 2450 pounds, if the engine is optimised with the right gearing, is a 18.4 second quarter miler.
Add 400 pounds, to 2850 pounds, it drops to 19.3 seconds.
The extra 400 pounds is like 11 hp off a same engined Falcon, or an extra 0.9 secs over the quarter.
Each extra 360 pounds is a 10 hp loss, or 0.8 seconds.
Each extra 36 pounds off is like 1 extra stampeding pony, or 0.1 seconds.
The really good thing is you can find the first 50 hp ( 1800 pounds off!) with just headers, carbs and gearing, and then maybe a cam. If you do a head modification, then your into Mustang Geezer Teritory.
If you got an old 79 Falcon 500 like mine, its 3395 pounds, and does 18.7 seconds without air conditioning and an auto. Later that year, the Falcon GL came out with 3064 pounds. The quarter mile time was only 18.1, a drop of 0.6 seconds for 331 pounds.
There you go. Funny thing is, the GL Falcon never rode or handled as well as the older, fat Falc. Those 331 pounds came right out of the chassis stiffness.
x.
A
Anonymous
Guest
I remember my friend's old '64 Comet Caliente 2 door was 2910lbs on the truck scale with a 1/2 tank of gas...
But that was with a 289 w/ headers and an aluminum intake...
I dunno how much weight diff there is between a 2 and 4 door...
I know a 6 is a little lighter than a SBF, although I can't remember how much
But that was with a 289 w/ headers and an aluminum intake...
I dunno how much weight diff there is between a 2 and 4 door...
I know a 6 is a little lighter than a SBF, although I can't remember how much
hotrodbob
Well-known member
If you are only thinking about drag racing then the wagon will work better as there is more weight over the rear tires. The other thing is much of the extra weight is in rear door suff inside them and interior parts. All of these should be taken out anyway for racing. Side glass can be replaced with lexan. The comet also has a lot more trim pieces then a like model Falcon or Mustang coupe. You will not get a wagon as light as a coupe, but you can get it close and wagons are kool! There is a group of racers in So.Cal. called the Long Roof Racers and they all run wagons. Some are down into the 8's in the 1/4.
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