Jump to content
SAU Community

Recommended Posts

I'm contemplating ditching all the engine bay components of the air con system but from what I have read through searching, there's only 10kg's worth of gear and bugger all gained from not having the belt attached. Sound about right?

My car is a dedicated track/fun S13 but it is still street reg'd (though not road worthy I'm sure). I've done some basic weight reduction stuff like removing all the boot stuff, spare wheel, jack, rear seats, rear speakers and parcel shelf, upgraded the drivers seat and put some volks on it but that's mainly in the rear so any more weight removed should probably come from up front.

Who has done this and what did you actually find afterward, worth the effort? The issue for me is not comfort as I don't drive it on the street but more about re-sale when it comes time to let it go.

FYI my car is only a CA18DET with a turbo back exhaust, front mount and a bit of boost. I realise I will gain more from a turbo upgrade etc and that's coming, just interested in the air con removal for the moment.

Link to comment
https://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/287292-before-and-after-of-air-con-removal/
Share on other sites

  • Replies 69
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

You've pretty much already slapped up what the gains are (nothing at all really)

Look, there is a gain... is it worth the time and effort?

Not really when you still have sound deadening material in the boot/rear and extra wiring, dash and other things which tip much more in terms of weight.

But as you don't wanna go to far - just do the turbo when you are ready.

If you really want gains, have a side pipe made up and drop the exhaust @ track days, you'll find a lot more than 10KG's there

It depends on what you're looking for. the a/c on its own will make bugger all difference but if you combine it with the myriad of other little things that make bugger all difference it becomes a worthwhile collective.

My car is a street/track car as well and i have thrown out the a/c, the heater, all stereo equipment, rear wiper assembly, boot furniture, inner guards, rear seats, undertray, rear parcel shelf, rear seat belt asemblys, and so much more i cant think of atm. Next on the hit list is the sound deadening material and from there I will start replacing stock parts with c/f. first on the hit list is the boot and the hinge/strut assembly.

Weight removal is as good as a horsepower upgrade with the added benefit of being easier on suspension and braking etc. In the end it all comes down to how serious you are.

on an sr the bracket is a big hunk of cast iron so there is a reasonable weight saving

On an rb it's alloy so you save about 3kgs less.

On a CA i have no idea

If you have cooling issues remove the condensor, other wise leave it all alone.

Edited by badhairdave

As far as weight saving goes, 10kg is hardly a deal breaker. As far as performance goes, well consider this: My PB at Morgan Park was set when I forgot to turn off the a/c on my second last run of the day. This was an otherwise stock WRX. So much for the a/c sapping performance.

Consider also the benefit off having a cool cabin when you're lapping on hot days. With the rest of the interior stripped out, the interior can get extremely hot on a warm sunny day. The effect of having a cool, alert driver will do much more for your lap times than stripping 10kg of dead weight out of your car.

My next rally car is going to have the A/C left in. Specially good for de fogging on those rainy night time stages.

You've pretty much already slapped up what the gains are (nothing at all really)

Look, there is a gain... is it worth the time and effort?

Not really when you still have sound deadening material in the boot/rear and extra wiring, dash and other things which tip much more in terms of weight.

But as you don't wanna go to far - just do the turbo when you are ready.

If you really want gains, have a side pipe made up and drop the exhaust @ track days, you'll find a lot more than 10KG's there

Side pipe is another option but that does cost more money, removing the AC in the short term is free. (Will cost to get re-gassed later though)

It depends on what you're looking for. the a/c on its own will make bugger all difference but if you combine it with the myriad of other little things that make bugger all difference it becomes a worthwhile collective.

My car is a street/track car as well and i have thrown out the a/c, the heater, all stereo equipment, rear wiper assembly, boot furniture, inner guards, rear seats, undertray, rear parcel shelf, rear seat belt asemblys, and so much more i cant think of atm. Next on the hit list is the sound deadening material and from there I will start replacing stock parts with c/f. first on the hit list is the boot and the hinge/strut assembly.

Weight removal is as good as a horsepower upgrade with the added benefit of being easier on suspension and braking etc. In the end it all comes down to how serious you are.

Sounds like you're pretty serious lol I think that's half my issue. Wanting to get busy on it but not wanting to go too far due to issues arising with re-sale. Sure it's reg'd but not many people will want a fully stripped out 'street' car lol

on an sr the bracket is a big hunk of cast iron so there is a reasonable weight saving

On an rb it's alloy so you save about 3kgs less.

On a CA i have no idea

If you have cooling issues remove the condensor, other wise leave it all alone.

No cooling issues thus far (did have some oil issues but fitted a cooler) but I bouht it in the cooler months, only had it since May or so? The radiator appears to be a brand new item.

As far as weight saving goes, 10kg is hardly a deal breaker. As far as performance goes, well consider this: My PB at Morgan Park was set when I forgot to turn off the a/c on my second last run of the day. This was an otherwise stock WRX. So much for the a/c sapping performance.

Consider also the benefit off having a cool cabin when you're lapping on hot days. With the rest of the interior stripped out, the interior can get extremely hot on a warm sunny day. The effect of having a cool, alert driver will do much more for your lap times than stripping 10kg of dead weight out of your car.

My next rally car is going to have the A/C left in. Specially good for de fogging on those rainy night time stages.

I didn't know anyone ever ran with the a/c on for track days. Am I alone in thinking that seems a bit 'soft'? Sorry no nice way to say it =\

I didn't know anyone ever ran with the a/c on for track days. Am I alone in thinking that seems a bit 'soft'? Sorry no nice way to say it =\

Haha no need to sugar coat it - yes I have grown soft in my old age and am very proud to admit it.

What happened was, as I was sitting at the start, I had the air conditioning on (was a hot day, wearing long sleeves and jeans, black interior yadda yadda). Yes - I like to keep cool while I sit at the staging area. When my session started, I forgot to turn off the a/c, like I normally do once I hit the track. That was my point - the one time I forgot to turn off the A/C was the session that I recorded my PB out there. Obviously the A/C coultn't have affected my performance too much.

It might be soft to try and keep comfortable, but when you eliminate one source of potential brain fade (specially in long rallies in the middle of summer) I'm more than happy to be called soft.

Track days on the other hand, well yeh no need to leave it on while you're out there racing.

OK I'll turn the knife a bit more then and say maybe you're just not consistent enough with your lap times to get the gain :) Though I'm saying that purely for the comical value as I'm in the exact same boat :D

Hmm...

Sounds like you're pretty serious lol I think that's half my issue. Wanting to get busy on it but not wanting to go too far due to issues arising with re-sale. Sure it's reg'd but not many people will want a fully stripped out 'street' car lol

Like i said mate, its free horsepower. You wouldnt know it was missing by just looking at the car, And i have kept it all if i ever want to return it to stock.

The car is loud but hey, I freakin love it. i can drive it for hours at a time and never get tired of the sound of an angry RB. It shits me when i get near home so I usually take the long shortcut just so I can hear it some more. :D

OK I'll turn the knife a bit more then and say maybe you're just not consistent enough with your lap times to get the gain ;) Though I'm saying that purely for the comical value as I'm in the exact same boat ;)

Hmm...

Yeh probably not. I'm not used to this black sticky stuff where going sideways actually costs you time :)

Still, even allowing for a bit of inconsistency, it shows that the power loss from A/C on hardly has a huge impact on lap times. Just for the record, my times on the day were 4th fastest outright, beaten only by two very modified GTR's on slicks or semi's, and the same model WRX as mine but with about 400HP and mega dollar suspension work. Mine was bog stock, still with spare tyre and kiddy seats in the back. I must've been doing something right.

Rip it out Dan, AC in an S13 is balls anyway! 10kg's is still 10kg's... hard to get that loss in other areas.

I love my A/C in the failvia S13... ;)

I just lost 10kg's in body weight over the last 3 months so that justifies leaving the AC IMO :)

lol I take it you're not the type to us AC while staging Dane?

Im with you mate, noice n cool whilst waiting to hit the track!

But on topic, i am in the same boat. Have a road registered S13 that only comes out for track work and to the mechanics. So trying to get the most out of the car whilst retaining re-sale ability is a fine line! I have just stripped the boot and rear seats. Sometimes passanger seat comes out for a few kg's of saving... But going to the next step of carpet, sound deadening, parcel shelf etc etc is one i am a bit dubious about....

I can't recall ever using it in the 180, even when it was a daily. It killed performance way too much for me... and windows are aaaaaaaalright :D

you could do with a bit of a tan aswell, that is a key point.

Although you probably had shit gas if the A/C was poor - thats another issue all together :D

C'mon Ash, you know you enjoy my white glow, it drives the girls wild :D

But yes, no doubt the gas was no good but I'm not a big AC fan. I'll only use it if I have to. The Clubbie loved it though, it was like it wasn't even on.

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now



  • Similar Content

  • Latest Posts

    • Place the new daughterboard in the case and mount it using the 3 small black rivets provided, and reconnect the 3 factory ribbon cables to the new board Then, use the 3 piggyback cables from the daughterboard into the factory board on top (there are stand offs in the case to keep them apart. and remember to reconnect the antenna and rear cover fan wires. 1 screw to hold the motherboard in place. Before closing the case, make a hole in the sticker covering a hole in the case and run the cable for the android unit into the plug there. The video forgot this step, so did I, so will you probably. Then redo the 4 screws on back, 2 each top and bottom, 3 each side and put the 2 brackets back on.....all ready to go and not that tricky really.      
    • Onto the android unit. You need to remove the top screen because there is a daughterboard to put inside the case. Each side vent pops out from clips; start at the bottom and carefully remove upwards (use a trim remover tool to avoid breaking anything). Then the lower screen and controls come out, 4 screws, a couple of clips (including 3 flimsy ones at the top) and 3 plugs on the rear. Then the upper screen, 4 screws and a bunch of plugs and she is out. From there, remove the mounting brackets (2 screws each), 4 screws on the rear, 2 screws top and bottom and 3 screws holding in the small plates on each side. When you remove the back cover (tight fit), watch out for the power cable for the fan, I removed it so I could put the back aside. The mainboard is held in by 1 screw in the middle, 1 aerial at the top and 3 ribbon cables. If you've ever done any laptop stuff the ribbon cables are OK to work with, just pop up the retainer and they slide out. If you are not familiar just grab a 12 year old from an iphone factory, they will know how it works The case should now look like this:
    • Switching the console was tricky. First there were 6 screws to remove, and also the little adapter loom and its screws had to come out. Also don't forget to remove the 2 screws holding the central locking receiver. Then there are 4 clips on either side....these were very tight in this case and needed careful persuading with a long flat screw driver....some force required but not enough to break them...this was probably the fiddliest part of the whole job. In my case I needed both the wiring loom and the central locking receiver module to swap across to the new one. That was it for the console, so "assembly is the reverse of disassembly"
    • But first....while I was there, I also swapped across the centre console box for the other style where the AV inputs don't intrude into the (very limited !) space.  Part# was 96926-4GA0A, 284H3-4GA0B, 284H3-4GA0A. (I've already swapped the top 12v socket for a USB bulkhead in this pic, it fit the hole without modification:) Comparison of the 2: Basically to do the console you need to remove the DS and PS side console trim (they slide up and back, held in by clips only) Then remove the back half of the console top trim with the cupholders, pops up, all clips again but be careful at the front as it is pretty flimsy. Then slide the shifter boot down, remove the spring clip, loose it forever somewhere in the car the pull the shift knob off. Remove the tiny plastic piece on DS near "P" and use something thin and long (most screwdrivers won't fit) to push down the interlock and put the shifter down in D for space. There is one screw at the front, then the shifter surround and ashtray lift up. There are 3 or 4 plugs underneath and it is off. Next is the rear cover of the centre console; you need to open the console lid, pop off the trim covering the lid hinge and undo the 2rd screw from the driver's side (the rest all need to come out later so you can do them all now and remove the lid) Then the rear cover unclips (6 clips), start at the top with a trim tool pulling backwards. Once it is off there are 2 screws facing rearwards to remove (need a short phillips for these) and you are done with the rear of the console. There are 4 plugs at the A/V box to unclip Then there are 2 screws at the front of the console, and 2 clips (pull up and back) and the console will come out.
    • So, a bit of a side trip, but one that might be interesting for people with JDM cars and japanese head units. I know @Pac previously posted about a carplay/android auto adapter he installed which used the AUX input, and @V35_Paul put in one of the Tesla style units that replace both screens. The option I went with was a Lsait LLT-YF-VER5.87_2 (https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Lsailt-8GB-Android-Multimedia-Interface-for_1601187633672.html). Price was $1,150 for a single unit although they are much cheaper if you are willing to buy 2....$857ea. Make you you get the version 2 not version 1, it is faster and has a better UI - this is the manufacturer listing: http://www.lsailt.com/product/348.html. BTW if you've never bought from Alibaba before, don't be concerned....these guys can't stay in business unless they are responsive, ship fast etc, they were excellent (probably faster shipping than most local places) So, this was my task for a lazy Sat afternoon....looks complex but was all done in a few hours (it probably helps that I had some of it apart before so it was a bit familiar). I also decided to add a HD USB drive recorded at the same time and the unit also supports an aftermarket reverse cam (if you don't want to retain factory) and also AV in and HDMI out It looks much worse than it is, in fact in was genuinely all plug and play (no custom wiring at all). This video was pretty good (skipped a few steps), unfortunately they are an Aussie seller but no longer sell this unit (I guess Carplay/AA adapters are easier to install and much cheaper) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5hJfYOB8Dg
×
×
  • Create New...