[Nino Beano]

hey all! you probably do not know me but I recently had my eclipse rebuilt with the help of my grandfather and now I have a vengeance for the streets. I'm going to do everything I can to it and I need help from people on this forum because my education and google aren't enough. Since I'm in college money is tighter and because of this, I'm going to build it on stock internals/make it light and fast and use it as a daily for the remainder of college, afterwards then, I'm building the engine/trans, and now there are questions that I need answered in order to continue past the stump I'm at now.

Since I went with the Spyder GS Auto, the second heaviest Eclipse, I am prone to more work. I need your guys' help with the following for right now if possible:


Weight Distribution Ratio [Rear Mounted Turbo/Batt/Radiator Idea]
Weight of the AC System [Weight Reduction]
Weight of the Convertible top and Hydraulic system for it [Know a guy who can make a custom carbon fiber latch top]


PLEASE NOTE: i love all criticism

pics are just to show where im at rn externally after front and right side skirt rebuild

 

[Sabertooth^2]

1: you don't want a rear mounted battery, turbo, etc on a fwd. You'll just take away grip from the front and have to compensate with heavier wider tires in the front to restore some grip. Moving the radiator back there introduces a mountain of issues as well that you'll have to address through aero modifications. You'll need a fairly complex setup for it to work. Then it still won't be very good for weight distribution or effective without serious body modifications, which also wouldn't work too well on a convertible

2: removing the AC compressor, condenser, evaporator, and lines is good for about 40lbs

3: you're gonna spend an insane amount of money on that to then realize the body is still heavier than a coupe, and not as rigid until you add a cage, as is common on most chassis, with few exceptions in the high end market


I absolutely vote you scrap the idea and wait until you can afford something else. Otherwise you'll spend thousands to realize it's still not very good. You could full on gut the car and it'll only be as light as a stock GS manual. I'm talking no top, no door glass, no door guts. That trans is a serious anchor, and that chassis really is heavy. Overall a very bad point to be at for what you want, literally the worst 4G for both light and fast

 

[Nino Beano]

1: you don't want a rear mounted battery, turbo, etc on a fwd. You'll just take away grip from the front and have to compensate with heavier wider tires in the front to restore some grip. Moving the radiator back there introduces a mountain of issues as well that you'll have to address through aero modifications. You'll need a fairly complex setup for it to work. Then it still won't be very good for weight distribution or effective without serious body modifications, which also wouldn't work too well on a convertible

2: removing the AC compressor, condenser, evaporator, and lines is good for about 40lbs

3: you're gonna spend an insane amount of money on that to then realize the body is still heavier than a coupe, and not as rigid until you add a cage, as is common on most chassis, with few exceptions in the high end market


I absolutely vote you scrap the idea and wait until you can afford something else. Otherwise you'll spend thousands to realize it's still not very good. You could full on gut the car and it'll only be as light as a stock GS manual. I'm talking no top, no door glass, no door guts. That trans is a serious anchor, and that chassis really is heavy. Overall a very bad point to be at for what you want, literally the worst 4G for both light and fast

Thanks for this idea! I should look into that beforehand.:twak: I will commence a search for the perfect vehicle.

 

[Sabertooth^2]

I'm glad you took it well. I felt bad writing it, but it is true.

If you can get your hands on a cheap GS manual you'll be all set for turbo. If you go GT, you can go auto or manual and have strong transmissions. But you'll have issues with trying to break 285whp without either head work, or a rear mounted turbo setup