The stock fabia is pretty heavy at about 1318kgs (mk4 golf gti weight!)

Taking into consideration that with a simple remap this car can hit 60mph in under 6 seconds.... thats an impressive feat, but i cant help but wonder how much faster it would be if it lost some weight.

In fact when i get mine during the 4th quarter this year my main goal will be to lose as much weight as possible while keeping the car as useful as stock..... i have 2 kids, a wife and a business which requires me to drive daily sometimes delivering stuff.

So lets get started:

Im thinking the spare wheel and all the tools, i can get recovered 24/7 within a short space of time in Taiwan so they are useless to me...... how many kgs is that 20kg?

Stock front seats, any idea what they weigh?.

Stock wheels, maybe consider downsizing to some lightweight 16's?

Full exhaust system

Carbon bonnet (even frp is fine)

Thats all i can think of so far, what do you estimate that saves?

The official kerb weight of the Fabia VRS TSi is 1243kg. This is the weight with all liquids etc and a 90% full fuel tank.

The spare wheel and tools weigh approx 18kg.

I don't know the OEM alloy weight, but by comparison the VW Polo GTI alloys weigh in at just over 11kg - buying some 17 x 7.5 Team dynamics Pro Race 1.2's will drop 3kg a corner from that and if you wanted to really go to town you could buy Volk CE28N alloys at the same size that weigh just 5.6kg each - a saving of over 5kg a corner.

A brake caliper upgrade can knock around 4kg a side off the front brakes and around 3kg off each rear if you go for some decent alloy calipers.

Stock seats are just over 25kg if I remember correctly - a lightweight bucket seat and aluminium frame can weigh around 12kg - so a saving of 13kg a seat there too.

An exhaust system will not save too much weight (around 5kg by deleting the pre-cat section and middle box) unless you spend loads on a titanium exhaust!!

Changing to a gell battery like a Varley Redtop one will save around 7kg over the Oem one.

a Dry weave Carbon bonnet will lop around 8kg off the OEM bonnet weight.

None of the above would affect the useability of the car and if you did the reasonable ones (ie not titanium exhaust or Volk alloys) then you could save around 80-90kg, which would bring the kerb weight down to around 1160kg

So, with a remap and weight reductions the Vrs will give around 220bhp at 1160kg = 189bhp/ton - a gain of 45bhp/ton

Oem set-up is 178bhp at 1243kg = 143bhp/ton

Quite a hike in performance, that equates to a gain of over 32% in power to weight ratio.

If you just did the remap then the power to weight ratio would be 177bhp/ton - a gain of 34bhp/ton

If you just did the weight reductions the power to weight ratio would be 153.5bhp/ton - a gain of 10bhp/ton over stock

Hope this helps

The official kerb weight of the Fabia VRS TSi is 1243kg. This is the weight with all liquids etc and a 90% full fuel tank.

The spare wheel and tools weigh approx 18kg.

I don't know the OEM alloy weight, but by comparison the VW Polo GTI alloys weigh in at just over 11kg - buying some 17 x 7.5 Team dynamics Pro Race 1.2's will drop 3kg a corner from that and if you wanted to really go to town you could buy Volk CE28N alloys at the same size that weigh just 5.6kg each - a saving of over 5kg a corner.

A brake caliper upgrade can knock around 4kg a side off the front brakes and around 3kg off each rear if you go for some decent alloy calipers.

Stock seats are just over 25kg if I remember correctly - a lightweight bucket seat and aluminium frame can weigh around 12kg - so a saving of 13kg a seat there too.

An exhaust system will not save too much weight (around 5kg by deleting the pre-cat section and middle box) unless you spend loads on a titanium exhaust!!

Changing to a gell battery like a Varley Redtop one will save around 7kg over the Oem one.

a Dry weave Carbon bonnet will lop around 8kg off the OEM bonnet weight.

None of the above would affect the useability of the car and if you did the reasonable ones (ie not titanium exhaust or Volk alloys) then you could save around 80-90kg, which would bring the kerb weight down to around 1160kg

So, with a remap and weight reductions the Vrs will give around 220bhp at 1160kg = 189bhp/ton - a gain of 45bhp/ton

Oem set-up is 178bhp at 1243kg = 143bhp/ton

Quite a hike in performance, that equates to a gain of over 32% in power to weight ratio.

If you just did the remap then the power to weight ratio would be 177bhp/ton - a gain of 34bhp/ton

If you just did the weight reductions the power to weight ratio would be 153.5bhp/ton - a gain of 10bhp/ton over stock

Hope this helps

Possibly the most helpful post I've read, cheers for the info

The official kerb weight of the Fabia VRS TSi is 1243kg. This is the weight with all liquids etc and a 90% full fuel tank.

The spare wheel and tools weigh approx 18kg.

I don't know the OEM alloy weight, but by comparison the VW Polo GTI alloys weigh in at just over 11kg - buying some 17 x 7.5 Team dynamics Pro Race 1.2's will drop 3kg a corner from that and if you wanted to really go to town you could buy Volk CE28N alloys at the same size that weigh just 5.6kg each - a saving of over 5kg a corner.

A brake caliper upgrade can knock around 4kg a side off the front brakes and around 3kg off each rear if you go for some decent alloy calipers.

Stock seats are just over 25kg if I remember correctly - a lightweight bucket seat and aluminium frame can weigh around 12kg - so a saving of 13kg a seat there too.

An exhaust system will not save too much weight (around 5kg by deleting the pre-cat section and middle box) unless you spend loads on a titanium exhaust!!

Changing to a gell battery like a Varley Redtop one will save around 7kg over the Oem one.

a Dry weave Carbon bonnet will lop around 8kg off the OEM bonnet weight.

None of the above would affect the useability of the car and if you did the reasonable ones (ie not titanium exhaust or Volk alloys) then you could save around 80-90kg, which would bring the kerb weight down to around 1160kg

So, with a remap and weight reductions the Vrs will give around 220bhp at 1160kg = 189bhp/ton - a gain of 45bhp/ton

Oem set-up is 178bhp at 1243kg = 143bhp/ton

Quite a hike in performance, that equates to a gain of over 32% in power to weight ratio.

If you just did the remap then the power to weight ratio would be 177bhp/ton - a gain of 34bhp/ton

If you just did the weight reductions the power to weight ratio would be 153.5bhp/ton - a gain of 10bhp/ton over stock

Hope this helps

head explodes...

The official kerb weight of the Fabia VRS TSi is 1243kg. This is the weight with all liquids etc and a 90% full fuel tank.

So, with a remap and weight reductions the Vrs will give around 220bhp at 1160kg = 189bhp/ton - a gain of 45bhp/ton

Oem set-up is 178bhp at 1243kg = 143bhp/ton

Quite a hike in performance, that equates to a gain of over 32% in power to weight ratio.

If you just did the remap then the power to weight ratio would be 177bhp/ton - a gain of 34bhp/ton

If you just did the weight reductions the power to weight ratio would be 153.5bhp/ton - a gain of 10bhp/ton over stock

Hope this helps

You and i think alike

Where did you get the standard weight from, i googled and came up with the 1300kg+ figure..... maybe that was a stock fabia diesel?.

I see ALOT of potential in this little car, alot of bang-per-buck for £14,000 new!.

One thing missed out is aftermarket shocks, they can save alot of weight in coilover form... myself i would prefer to upgrade to replacement bilstein dampers (ride quality is sublime).

Anything else that weighs a ton that can be replaced, what about the rear seats, what if someone made a replacement set that were lighter (i assume the stock backs weigh a TON!).

Dont eat for 24 hours....Theres a weight saving!!

You and i think alike

Where did you get the standard weight from, i googled and came up with the 1300kg+ figure..... maybe that was a stock fabia diesel?.

I see ALOT of potential in this little car, alot of bang-per-buck for £14,000 new!.

One thing missed out is aftermarket shocks, they can save alot of weight in coilover form... myself i would prefer to upgrade to replacement bilstein dampers (ride quality is sublime).

Anything else that weighs a ton that can be replaced, what about the rear seats, what if someone made a replacement set that were lighter (i assume the stock backs weigh a TON!).

Standard Kerbweight is from the Skoda Uk website - they have a PDF download of the brochure with all the weights. The kerbweight has an asterisk against it and this has a description to it that gives the kerbweight breakdown. I cannot find it in the PDF, but it is on the website.

You want MORE weight savings - you and me do think alike then.

Over here in the UK I know a man who can strip out the rear bench and take it apart and rebuild it with an alloy framework instead of the steel one. I don't know the exact weight savings, but those OEM rear benches aren't light - I've seen someone post 50kg, but I'd be more liable to say OEM weight is 25-30kg and aftermarket is around 15kg, so at least another 10kg off.

Replacing the OEM glass in the side windows and rear hatch with Lexan glass will reduce the weight by half and as this weight is high up it will also have the added benefit of reducing the centre of gravity a little.

Stripping out the sound deadening material will save you some weight too, but this means taking off the OEM trim, stripping off the sound deadening material and replacing all the trim.

If you are prepared to compromise on active safety, then the airbag systems can be taken out and then the errors deleted using VCDS. Similarly the OEM steering wheel can be replaced by a lightweight one, but you'd lose the gear-change paddles.

Coilover suspension will not save a great deal over OEM, a kilo or two at most per side, but I had Bilstein PSS10's on my Golf and I agree that they are sublime.

You could also get rid of the OEM engine cover and have a full intake added, which would save a little weight and add a few bhp in the process.

I haven't looked too deeply into Hubs, 2 piece discs, or internals yet, but there are a few kg in there

Now in the seriously demented category of weight saving you have the full strip out, but you want to keep it useable, so I'll not go there.

Hope this helps.

Also important is to keep the fuel tank under half full. The fuel tank when full carries 45litres of fuel weighing around 40kg. Keeping it under half full guarantees a quick 20kg of weight saving for zero outlay.

Also important is to keep the fuel tank under half full. The fuel tank when full carries 45litres of fuel weighing around 40kg. Keeping it under half full guarantees a quick 20kg of weight saving for zero outlay.

haha i always used to fill up with £10-£20 of fuel at a time when i was in the uk for this very fact!.

I think the rear bench is as far as i would go, i wont do the glass or sound deadening as i like a comfy/quiet ride... gotta draw a line somewhere, that and the wife would moan all the time.

First thing for me is the seats, i will look into getting a FRP bonnet made, should be pretty cheap in Taiwan.

i forgot another few things.

the hatch has 5kg of ballast....... bye,bye

also a lithium ion battery will save another few kgs

i forgot another few things.

the hatch has 5kg of ballast....... bye,bye

also a lithium ion battery will save another few kgs

I'm kinda curios, where is this ballast located?

Would be perfect if you could throw it out for some drag-racing .

I thought I read the ballast was 25kg?

I think it's towards the rear axle, but I don't know where exactly.

I've heard figures about the hatchback weighing 15 kg more, so a ballast for about 25 kg seems about right since it's less car from the beginning.

Still would help ALOT if you can actually get rid off it, maybe replace it with a 12" sub or something x)!

Surely it's there for a reason and will do more good than bad for the weight distribution?

if it needed more weight added to the back why didnt they just move the battery like bmw?

Under some hard breaking the back does squirm around alot normally so removing this ballast and the spare Tyre could lead to some 'fun' in the rain. Even more so if the brakes have been upgraded.

After all this would defo be worth getting it corner weighted

if it needed more weight added to the back why didnt they just move the battery like bmw?

I don't think the battery weighs 25kgs lol

I doubt that having more weight in the back will help at dragracing ;-). I'm just removing it for that, otherwise it will stay at it's placering!

Like I said, anyone who know something about it?

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If you make the rear end really light without lightening the front the defo more fun in the wet!!!

I'd get rid of the easy unsprung weight eg lighter alloy monblock calipers and lighter alloy wheels light cpomotives or Team Dynamics ProRace series.

Then get a lighter exhaust....even my stainless Remus backbox was lighter than the OEM backbox!!!

Lithium batteries.....very nice...even Porsche do them as a lightweight option....very expensive tho'!!!!

Lightweight race seats....have to watch comfort tho'!!!!

Get rid of the spare wheel

Eat less????

Don't carry any passengers???

If you make the rear end really light without lightening the front the defo more fun in the wet!!!

I'd get rid of the easy unsprung weight eg lighter alloy monblock calipers and lighter alloy wheels light cpomotives or Team Dynamics ProRace series.

Then get a lighter exhaust....even my stainless Remus backbox was lighter than the OEM backbox!!!

Lithium batteries.....very nice...even Porsche do them as a lightweight option....very expensive tho'!!!!

Lightweight race seats....have to watch comfort tho'!!!!

Get rid of the spare wheel

Eat less????

Don't carry any passengers???

Liposuction!

ITs funny as even with a remap,exhaust and weight reductions i probably wont hit 5.5 0-60 because i myself weigh close to 100kgs!!!!!!!!.

ITs an auto though so i guess my wife whom weighs like 45kgs could put in a good time

ITs funny as even with a remap,exhaust and weight reductions i probably wont hit 5.5 0-60 because i myself weigh close to 100kgs!!!!!!!!.

ITs an auto though so i guess my wife whom weighs like 45kgs could put in a good time

Time to start training her up!!!.....or lose weight!! I'm 177cm and only weigh 71 to 73kgs!

If only i weighed that little. I'm 1.86 and best part of 115 kg. I need to strip mine out just to get same weight as everyone else.

There was a thread on here a year or two ago about weight saving but most were a bit costly if you took the advice and if you have a family they are impractical. The most sensible one is only half fill the tank and go on a diet.

Time to start training her up!!!.....or lose weight!! I'm 177cm and only weigh 71 to 73kgs!

i managed a 5.64 0-60 and weigh 87kg, with 3/4 tank of fuel, and that was on inters track surface which is like a concrete pavement so id say you could achieve that time easily