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550 weight loss?

9K views 36 replies 11 participants last post by  TTM 
#1 ·
Hi,



First post, so please don't bite. I have been searching the archives for answers, with no result so far.



I am possibly in the market for a 550 and I am interested to know where or if it is possible to reduce weight effectively with reversible and clean mods. For example, the full electric seats look very heavy.




The 550 is a remarkably heavy car by my standards and I am not sure I understand where all of this weight comes from.


Thanks,

Timo
 
#2 ·
The weight comes from a steel space frame, steel suspension, big wheels and tires, and luxury items like the electric seats. 500+ lbs of big V12 and a tough transaxle add weight, too. The 550 is a GT, not a sports car.
 
#6 ·
Not much you can do to easily lighten up these cars beyond simple bolt-on stuff. Lighter wheels, lighter battery, lighter aftermarket exhaust combined might drop 100-120 lbs or so. Beyond that, yeah the stock seats are heavy, so you could spend big $$ and find a set of the optional carbon "racing" seats, or install aftermarket racing seats (Sparco/Cobra/Corbeau, etc), so maybe another 80 lbs or so there. Beyond that, you're looking at removing sound deadening material, maybe swapping the heavy stock aluminum hood for a carbon hood (more big $$, if you can find one) and then really tearing into to car to lighten it up more. Realistically, dropping around 200 lbs or so is probably about all you can do without going down a rabbit hole that would ruin the car's civilized GT character and require significant mods. Not to mention big $$$! Or, save your pennies and wait for a Prodrive 550 GT1 race car to come up for sale.
 
#8 ·
Remarkably heavy? Depends on what you compare it to. It's about 100kgs heavier than a Porsche 992 or a Jaguar F-type. It was just ahead of its time!


Have you driven one, properly? They are fun to drive, great weight distribution, and very controllable. And because of that, remarkably good fun on passes (I mean the Alpine type, but overtaking as well).


I wouldn't worry about it so much and just keep it as it was, or find a different car that suits your tastes better.




Onno
 
#9 ·
Remarkably heavy? Depends on what you compare it to. It's about 100kgs heavier than a Porsche 992 or a Jaguar F-type. It was just ahead of its time!


Have you driven one, properly? They are fun to drive, great weight distribution, and very controllable. And because of that, remarkably good fun on passes (I mean the Alpine type, but overtaking as well).


You are so right sir .....I would know just a few more miles to 90 k on my wonderful 550 :)
 

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#12 ·
Thanks for the replies.
I confess I have not driven one. I am used to cars with a power to weight ratio varying between 0.35 and 0.40 hp/kg, which at 0.27 hp/kg the 550 falls short of. Perhaps I need to drive one to get a feel of where its qualities are hiding.
 
#16 ·
It is not a light car, that is for sure. And it is not a sportscar. But it is a continent crusher with excellent handling due to fabulous weight distribution and actually a lot of fun on the track even though that is not what it was built for. I don't know any production GT's with manual gearbox that have the kind of hp/kg ratio that you quote, certainly not from 1996.



With a sports exhaust it produces around 500bhp and about 600nm of torque. It is certainly quick enough for me, 0 - 200kmh (120mph) in 14.4 secs. So it depends on what you want. It is a GT, but a very capable (and stylish) one, that is huge fun to drive.


If you get to drive one, please be aware of the very long throttle travel. Some owners don't even get to experience what she can do because they don't use the whole throttle (and because of the torque you never need to, it is just a lot of fun when you do). And be wary of short shifting, she can overpower the rears easily. But if you know what you're doing (which presumably you do given your quoted figures), then she is a pussy cat. I don't know any decent driver in my circle that doesn't like them.





Onno
 
#19 ·
My 575 is going on a diet.

Currently building a full titanium exhaust, with valves, and stainless equal length downpipes. I expect this to drop at least 100lbs off the car.

I pulled the inner foam out of the steering console while de-stickying it, 3lbs dropped. I never thought weight could be lost there, lol.

Next up for me is coilovers, which should drop a few pounds over the OE units. Followed with light wheels; 2 piece brake rotors (4lbs per rotor) and some Ti hardware (2.5lbs for lug bolts)

Some other areas to think of for easy weight reduction:

Headers would drop the weight of the factory manifolds/cats (possibly SAI system) and downpipes.

Brand of tire. Different tire brands and models have different weights.

Brand of battery. Like tires, different brands and models of a battery have different weight. Generally Deka is significantly lighter than other brands. A smaller battery is also an option.
 
#20 ·
I'd be very hesitant to change tyre brand for the saving of a few kilos. Adhesion is much more important and I personally would never change from the Michelins. They transformed my 550 when I swapped over.
 
#22 · (Edited)
Ti catback. Bumping diameter to 2.5"
The secondary cat/downpipes could be Ti, but for longevity in that high heat area of the exhaust we decided on stainless.


Weight has nothing to do with the stickiness of the tire.

18" Rear:
Continental Extremecontact with 340 treadwear weight 27lbs
Michelin Supersport with 300 treadwear weight 27lbs
Yokohama A052with 200 treadwear weight 27lbs

19" Rear:
Continental Extremecontact with 340 treadwear weight 27lbs
Pirelli PZero with 320 treadwear weight 30lbs
Michelin 4S with 300 treadwear weight 29lbs
Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 180 treadwear weight 26lbs
 
#30 ·
Onno, last year when having its major belt service I put Michelin Super Sports on my 575M. They have met all of my expectations.
 
#33 ·
Lets get some facts and figures in this thread:

Stock seats weigh 58 KG for the pair, I believe excluding the electric motors + assembly to move them back and forwards. I can't check now as I'm banned from fchat again, they truly lost the plot over there. Depending what type of seats you go for, you can save as much as 46 KG.

Battery weighs around 18KG, a large lithium battery weighs 3kg. So 15 KG saved there.

Stock exhaust cans weigh an impressive 19kg EACH (!). Replacing them with a set of Fabio's valved items you'll save 24.2 kg, or the unvalved versions you can save as much as 30.6! And that's just the cans...I hope @Fiammenghi Italia can advise how much can be saved over the rest of the system, I suspect quite a bit with the 6-1 exhaust! Lets put a very conservative figure of 60kg savings for the exhaust.

We've now saved 121kg without even trying.

There's quite a lot of weight to be saved in wheels (important weight too, as it's unsprung), but I'd be careful on that as not many wheels suit the Maranello well....

120KG heavier than a dirt bike. That's a lot of weight to be removed. Full set of Fabio's exhaust will unleash decent extra power as well, I believe close to 550bhp. Modern tyres, brake pads, better brake fluid...will be cheap fixes that makes the car feel better without negatively impacting anything. Power to weight ratio with this will be about on par with a 599 GTB.
 
#35 ·
Thanks all for your contributions and interesting feedback.
BAS, did you weigh the car after removing 121kg, and if yes what was the figure?
Not me, sadly, but I've spend a great amount of time verifying certain parts of the 550. Without a 550 until I return to Europe hopefully early 2021, plan is a 550 build with substantial weight loss (aiming for minimum 200kg lighter, which actually isn't too hard on a 550, but also keep it very streetable). Build will be inspired by the Ferrari 360 CS, 599 GTO, Trev's 360 manual CS, and of course Ferrari's own abandoned ''575 Challenge Stradale'' project.
 
#37 ·
So I finally got the chance to drive a 550, thanks to a very helpful and enthusiastic local owner who was happy to share with me some of his limited time with his pride and joy.
It was everything I expected - a very nice, well-balanced package, comfortable and sporty at the same time. However it was equally frustrating as I could not help feel that this potentially terrific engine had a burden of excessive weight to carry on its shoulders, preventing all of its thrust to shine through, being relegated to express only a bit of its aural glory through a set of humble Tubi rear sections.

My gut feeling after stepping out was that I should just move on as a 550 would most likely never to satisfy me as a driver's car, as right now it makes little sense pouring several tens of thousands in one without even being sure of removing at least 200kg. The 550 however is such a f'ing beautiful car, and the immense satisfaction and feeling of achievement I would experience just knowing I would own arguably one, the only Ferrari I ever considered possibly owning one day since I seeing one in 1997, just can't seem to fade away. Hmmmm....
 
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