General How to improve your Uno's performance in one hour...

[alexGS]

...reduce weight

I thought I'd put in a little effort ahead of the last Toyo Series clubsport event tomorrow... so I spent just one hour reducing the weight of my Uno Turbo.

Ever noticed how your Uno goes so much better when you are completely by yourself alone* than when you have a passenger? That's the difference that ~70kg of weight saving can do

Here are the items I removed:

Luggage compartment mat (Turbo version)____4kg
Std. spare wheel/jack/tool_________________14kg
Rear seats (split-fold)________________10.5 + 7kg
Front passenger's seat____________________13kg
Rear shelf________________________________2kg
Floormats (aftermarket)___________________2.5kg
Headlining________________________________4kg
Sun visors/grab handles____________________1kg
Rear seat belt buckles______________________1kg

Total___________________________________59kg
_________________(approx. 7% of the kerb weight)

I always wondered what these items actually weighed: I think that the best value items to remove are spare wheel, seats, and that insidious rubber mat that covers the boot floor (it also contains sound-deadening material on the Turbo). I'd say not to bother removing the headlining: only 4kg and makes the car a lot noisier with it removed! I guess I wanted that race-car feel. Also, my tailgate hinges need replacing so I had an excuse.

Incidentally if you're wondering how to get the 59kg saving up to the weight of a passenger - you could remove most of the petrol: I think I could save at least 20kg there - pity I filled up recently so I have at least 45L*0.737kg/L = 33.17kg there...

The carpet is the obvious next target: however, being an Uno, it is not terribly luxurious and I suspect weighs about 7-8kg at most.

-Alex


* ten points for guessing the song that I paraphrased

 

[Dunc Uno Turbo]

good isnt it

why do u think ive got mine stripped out to the max with mega lightweight seats hehe

Dunc

 

[Jai]

lose the red carpet?! never!!!

 

[thepottleflump]

Good work - you could go further still, out comes all the door cards, and do you really need a dashboard

I'm thinking about doing a strip down on my UT to hunt out and eliminate rust which is lurking. Unfortunately with winter well on its way it gets dark by 6:30pm so I have little time to do anything when getting home and my garage is too small to store and work on the car at the same time

How difficult was the headlining to remove, this would be my first target.

As for the song, no idea

 

[Chas Uno]

How difficult was the headlining to remove, this would be my first target.

Dead easy!

Remove the grab handles, sunvisors, rear view mirror and push in plastic plugs and it just comes down in one piece. Assuming you have an interior light, you can prise it out first then disconnect the wires.

It's a little more difficult if you have a sunroof fitted as the aperature is glued to the sunroof surround. On my mk1 the headlining fabric had become very brittle and just broke apart where it was glued to the sunroof. I ended up cutting round the edge, which wasn't too much of a problem as I planned to recover it anyway. Thing is, that was nearly two years ago and the headlining is still sitting in my spare bedroom...

 

[Jai]

Thing is, that was nearly two years ago and the headlining is still sitting in my spare bedroom...

you still using it as a lining for your four poster bed?

 

[Dragyth]

If you have an air compressor and a puncture repair kit (2kg at most), your car will still pass an MOT without a spare wheel... If you're really pedantic, some wires from the loom, electrical wires, have been doubled up on themselves (i-e, they're go there, back, then there again), take the loom out, chop them all down to size, and stick it back in. saved nearly a kilo!

How about rear windows? Could replace them with plexiglass. Rear pillars that the parcelshelf go on... rear wiper... passenger side doorlock and no central locking. This is getting fun.

I reckon I could bring a UT's weight down to 700kg without a word of a lie. that's 145kg. =)

 

[Dragyth]

Serious point, anyone got clumps of mud wedged in their arches? That must contribute to 2-3kg of weight, at least.

think about how much a bag of compost weighs.

 

[Rob-mint-mk1-uno]

...reduce weight

I thought I'd put in a little effort ahead of the last Toyo Series clubsport event tomorrow... so I spent just one hour reducing the weight of my Uno Turbo.

Ever noticed how your Uno goes so much better when you are completely by yourself alone* than when you have a passenger? That's the difference that ~70kg of weight saving can do

Here are the items I removed:

Luggage compartment mat (Turbo version)____4kg
Std. spare wheel/jack/tool_________________14kg
Rear seats (split-fold)________________10.5 + 7kg
Front passenger's seat____________________13kg
Rear shelf________________________________2kg
Floormats (aftermarket)___________________2.5kg
Headlining________________________________4kg
Sun visors/grab handles____________________1kg
Rear seat belt buckles______________________1kg

Total___________________________________59kg
_________________(approx. 7% of the kerb weight)

I always wondered what these items actually weighed: I think that the best value items to remove are spare wheel, seats, and that insidious rubber mat that covers the boot floor (it also contains sound-deadening material on the Turbo). I'd say not to bother removing the headlining: only 4kg and makes the car a lot noisier with it removed! I guess I wanted that race-car feel. Also, my tailgate hinges need replacing so I had an excuse.

Incidentally if you're wondering how to get the 59kg saving up to the weight of a passenger - you could remove most of the petrol: I think I could save at least 20kg there - pity I filled up recently so I have at least 45L*0.737kg/L = 33.17kg there...

The carpet is the obvious next target: however, being an Uno, it is not terribly luxurious and I suspect weighs about 7-8kg at most.

-Alex


* ten points for guessing the song that I paraphrased

Na not the carpet, that red carpet.... hope ur putting all this back in.... dont waste a good uno...:bang:

 

[bigfathairybiker]

I removed the spare wheel, rear seats, carpet, rear half of roof lining... but...

I added 4 sheets of 8ft x 4ft or 1inch birchply, about 8 rolls of flashbanding, 8 runs of 0/4 gauge copper wire and 8 runs of copper pipe and several extra batteries, several boxes of screws, 8 cans of expanding foam...

Damn... maybe I need to get lighter seats..

 

[Rob-mint-mk1-uno]

I removed the spare wheel, rear seats, carpet, rear half of roof lining... but...

I added 4 sheets of 8ft x 4ft or 1inch birchply, about 8 rolls of flashbanding, 8 runs of 0/4 gauge copper wire and 8 runs of copper pipe and several extra batteries, several boxes of screws, 8 cans of expanding foam...

Damn... maybe I need to get lighter seats..

any pics

 

[bigfathairybiker]

A few piccys from the start of the build about a year ago.

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a21/bigfathairybiker/Uno%20Build/DSCF0544.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a21/bigfathairybiker/Uno%20Build/DSCF0545.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a21/bigfathairybiker/Uno%20Build/DSCF0541.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a21/bigfathairybiker/Uno%20Build/DSCF0540.jpg

 

[Rob-mint-mk1-uno]

take it thats gonna be one phat stereo system, got any pics of it complete..

 

[Chas Uno]

you still using it as a lining for your four poster bed?

How did you guess?!!!

I know how to improve a Unos performance in an hour. Take it to a dealer, p/ex for Punto HGT, drive away much quicker but with empty pockets!

Must admit that when I've taken a load of people in the car then they all get out, the difference in performance is amazing I once had two friends both weighing over 20 stone, another friend at 12 stone and me at 10 stone in my old Uno. When they all got out and I drove off it felt like I someone had put nitrous oxide in my fuel The car went from being VERY slow to erm, not so slow!

 

[Rob-mint-mk1-uno]

U know i had 5 up in my 45's a few years bk now and i must say for a 999cc it still pulled along, i had a 4" back box with just a straight pipe going to it sounded like i was dragging a bin lid down the road with me lol... bk in the days

 

[Rob-mint-mk1-uno]

How did you guess?!!!

I know how to improve a Unos performance in an hour. Take it to a dealer, p/ex for Punto HGT, drive away much quicker but with empty pockets!

Must admit that when I've taken a load of people in the car then they all get out, the difference in performance is amazing I once had two friends both weighing over 20 stone, another friend at 12 stone and me at 10 stone in my old Uno. When they all got out and I drove off it felt like I someone had put nitrous oxide in my fuel The car went from being VERY slow to erm, not so slow!

I take it ur uno is in the uk with u, as im fairly new and last time u was on line in the usa im sure of it

 

[Chas Uno]

I take it ur uno is in the uk with u, as im fairly new and last time u was on line in the usa im sure of it

Yup, my Uno is in the UK and so am I now, as of last Friday Spent three months over in the USA, and when I left it was still hitting 100 degrees during the day. I saw more rain in the last week than I did in 6 weeks in California :bang:

Ah well, my Uno's running good so I've got something to keep me happy!

 

[Dragyth]

My dad had a 45-s, I'm sure there were at least 4 6+ footers in the car.

I've gone up steep devon hills in my Uno T with my foot to the floor with 4 in the car.

Me & another 12ish stone, 6', and two large-ish ladies. hah. don't ask.

Apparantly I was "Driving really fast!!" but it seemed pretty feckin slow to me.

@ 1.0BAR, my Uno, with me and a 14.5st bloke in it, and I think a 12" sub (25kg or so) could only manage 9 secs 0-60!

Sans bloke, sans sub, i'm sure it would do a sub *cough* pun *cough* 7 sec 0-60.

 

[5doorturbo]

went 4 up to manchester once, 200 miles each ways, roasting hot summers afternoon

had a lil race with some lads in a cinq sporting, gotta say the roadholding at a ton was mighty impressive and it pulled more than i expected

worked all 70 of my brake horses that day...let my poor baby have a rest the next day n washed it to make sure it knew i loved it

 

[electricmice]

I recently finished a strip down and rust hunt with my MkI and basically all I had left inside the car was dash, seat and steering wheel and the difference in performance was pretty f****** amazing. Under the carpet there's underfelt that's pretty heavy plus the thick cladding on the firewall that weighs a ton. After some welding and sorting, waxoil, mastic, sealant and new underfelt the car is all back together again ready for winter. As for the performance I'm not too bothered now cos with all the fumes from the chemicals I'm high as a kite and driving like my mum within minutes of being in the car...................................M.