HEADPHONES Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 I've often heard of the Zed being referred to as a bit "overweight" With no rear seats to add weight, is it just the engine itself that adds the LARD, or is the rear strut made of double density lead As you can see I have a very simplistic view on the topic but have always wondered why some consider the Zed to be Lardy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarnie Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 Fat drivers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK350Z Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 Fat drivers Damn, beat me to it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Husky Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 everything you could name (materials, design, etc) all comes down to money. Money is (sadly) at the heart of car developement and production less wieght costs more money here'th end the lesson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jak Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 Rear Hatch, I think I read somewhere its made out of squished planets... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wasso Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 Rear Hatch, I think I read somewhere its made out of squished planets... You're not far wrong, you need two olympic weight lifters to move it!! I heard it's the strenthening which has added the most weight? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rabbitstew Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 Fat drivers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris`I Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 Design and cost. As Husky says - to make something as good handling as the Zed means it has to be stiff - to be stiff and light you need to use good engineering and good materials which comes at a cost. Or you can brace the shat out of it with steel and it will be stiff, but no longer light. They have made it stiff *enough* and light *enough* for the price point, to get better you need to look at spending more money Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Husky Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 Look at the engine bay of the zed and think about it in a prototype process. Generally speaking most automotive companies follow a process where by your prototypes run in the manner of: Powertrain & chassis prototypes, these are normally hidden under a previous models body as they are mostly cut and shut jobs to shoe horn it in for testing purposes as these departments need mroe time in developement. Body prototypes, these advance on the engine prototypes, depending on the level of change sometimes they are still in a previous cars body and sometimes all wrapped up in camo as they resemble the finished shape. these also aim to have alot more functionality within the rest of the vehicle as they are a test bed for most depts. Production intent prototypes, these are meant to be exactly what will be produced but made in a "one off" manner. Manufactuing prototypes, used to develop the manufacturing processes. this is the fundamental way companies work and is no secret. So, back to the zed engine bay... The engine is designed for the car on test beds, then they are put into the chassis and developed from there in the first prototypes, at this stage the car is very immature and it is difficult to complete accurate tests on its driveability. As the car moves through its prototype stages nissan may have found the front end of the car needing a stiffen up. by this time the engine is designed and already in the car, it cant be moved, the plenum is already designed and being used. So how do we fit a strut bar in... the options available: -Place above the exsiting plenum, this requires a raising of the bonnet as there is a specified gap by law between any solid under bonnet parts and the bonnet itself for pedestrian impact purposes. -Lower the front of the plenum, this slightly starves the front two cylinders of air but allows the required clearences to fit the bar in without an alteration of the bonnet. Which one is cheaper and which one will nissan choose? Thats right, they starve the front two cylinders as its cheaper than all the other available options. And so the plenum spacer is a polular mod in the 350z Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtbiscuit Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 people put the zed on a diet, but even then she's still heavy, the chassis is hugely heavy; i think they hired brunel to make it out of pig iron all those lovely comfort parts you like; for example the seats, air con, radio, glass, carpet, centre console, and safety features all weigh alot, the boot lid is hugely heavy; also the LSD, gearing and engine aren't light either. if they were to do an no expense spared job on the zed, the chassis would be aluminium, the body would be carbon fibre, the engine would be a smaller V6 but supercharged or turbo'd from the factory, the seats would have no electronic gubbins but be functional carbon pieces. the dash would be minimal, the glass would be replaced (if it was for a track car) with plastic. and no fat people would be allowed to drive it, oh and it would then probably cost over 100k Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainSensible Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 I must say I do enjoy my 'luxury' glass, stops my hair being blown all over the place and my car being nicked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtbiscuit Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 I must say I do enjoy my 'luxury' glass, stops my hair being blown all over the place and my car being nicked. some of the top spec ferarri's use plastic in the windows, and they also don't open, you just get a little flap. so i would say electric glass windows are a luxury, if your not bothered about weight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrLizard Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 actually the engine isnt that heavy relatively speaking... the chassis and the subframes are heavy as they are steel, as someone said above this is to make it stiff... The 370z has a much lighter subframe and suffers handling wise because of it, although this is all rubbish until you start pushing the car to its limits glass and rear hatch all add up, doors are the heaviest removeable part in my opinion.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martinmac Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 Nobody going to mention lardy roadsters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
docwra Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 I think perhaps a different approach might answer this question a bit better .......... RX8 - engine weight 122KG , overall weight 1350KG RX7 - engine weight 122KG, overall weight 1270KG 200SX - engine weight 150KG, overall weight 1250KG 350Z - engine weight 160KG, overall weight 1550KG Sure there might be a couple more airbags in the Z33 (apart from the RX8), but there is 2 less seats than in the 200SX or RX8 .......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter10 Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 Don't forget, a couple of electric heated seats in the car would weigh in a fair bit also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GT4 Zed Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 All the points husky made covers why the zed is heavy but if you put it in context with similar cars you then realise is not just the zed but the whole industry suffer from the same issues. then when you add all the GT parts(heated electric seats etc) plus the crash test regs it all adds up! The only other way to improve performance is more power but then you have emissions and consequently tax and insurance band issues which will make the car uncompetitive in the market so their hands are tied But it takes some sacrifice, systematic approach in modding to realise the full potential of the zed and that is the real appeal. Eg you could get a 2003 zed for 6-7 grand and throw £30k at it and end up with bespoke performance and handling etc humbling of cars x3 the price because even those so called top of the range car eg Porsche turbo, GT3 GT2 GT2 RS, GT3 RS etc by aftermarket companies because they have to make compromises. I for one feel the zed is one of my best motoring experiences so far (i have had a few) and by far the cheapest but the most i got involved hands-on, as opposed to paying for mods/work to be done and drive off with the results, My two TVRs in the past (Tuscan and Cerbera) come neatly second. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slidemotorsport Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 well seen as all ive done on my project zed is strip the bitch out ive felt most of the weight!! wiring looms, theres fooking loads, as said the seats etc, all the rear parcel shelf kinda metal bracketery. i cant wait to weigh mine when its done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris`I Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 Why do people assume that rear seats add a lot of weight? In my experience, they way next to nothing in percentage terms of the whole car. The simple fact is that the Zed is made mainly of steel to save costs and where it shows is in the weight department. The 370z uses more alu, I think the doors are all alu now, but it still hasnt seemed to save much weight due to how much of the stuff they have to use for crash protection and stiffening in general. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrLizard Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 if only i could race without a roll cage... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
docwra Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 All the points husky made covers why the zed is heavy but if you put it in context with similar cars you then realise is not just the zed but the whole industry suffer from the same issues. then when you add all the GT parts(heated electric seats etc) plus the crash test regs it all adds up! I think perhaps a different approach might answer this question a bit better .......... RX8 - engine weight 122KG , overall weight 1350KG RX7 - engine weight 122KG, overall weight 1270KG 200SX - engine weight 150KG, overall weight 1250KG 350Z - engine weight 160KG, overall weight 1550KG Sure there might be a couple more airbags in the Z33 (apart from the RX8), but there are 2 less seats than in the 200SX or RX8 .......... Hello! The RX8 is a contemporary of the Z33, and the RX7 and 200SX stopped being produced in 2002 when the Z33 was first built. Why are these cars 300KG lighter when they arent really very different - the S15 200SX is made by the same company! Even a 2009 911 is under 1400KGs, a Cayman is under 1300 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.