Leicht wie Luft

Fancy German title has to mean that this is serious, or important, or both; and it kinda is..

The first leg of this Journey came to a conclusion on Saturday with a Weigh In, two and half years after it started. Out of the Factory, the 993 Carrera Coupe weighed in at a svelte 1370 Kilos, which by modern standards isn’t bad [the new incoming 992 weighs 1635 Kilos], but this was still a little lardy for me and so spawned an excellent excuse to see, within reasonable cost and effort, how much trimming I do to the Coupe.

Bumper to Bumper, I have examined, considered and executed choices based on that premise since the Get Go; AirBags, Factory Seats, Sound Deadening, In Car Entertainment and choice Engine Components have all been scrutinised and swapped out for a Lighter Alternative, or removed entirely.

Yes, one could argue that Safety also took a bit of a Hit with the AirBag deletion, but hey if you wanna make an Omelette etc.

This is not to say that the Leichtbau-ing is over, but for now it has reached a very pleasing, successful and satisfactory conclusion. There are still areas that I can happily attack with a Scalpel; the Engine [again], the Sunroof Delete option, thinner RS style Rear Screen, lightweight Battery.. You can see that I have been thinking about What’s Next already.

As I rolled the Pig onto the Scales at the Scrap Yard just outside Burgess Hill, I started to lower my expectation. 1370 Kilos from the Factory. It’s be nice to have lost 100 Kilos. 1275 Kilos was the number I had in my mind the day before, but now, I was starting to doubt that. Had I removed that much Dead Weight? Sure, my Back will testify that I had [those Factory Seats..!] but how much difference can Sound Deadening make? And a Stereo delete? An Adult Passenger will weigh 70-90 Kilos; had I removed that much?

So, with Trepidation, I parked the Pig, stepped out, and walked into the Office for the Number..

One;

Two;

Four;

Zero..

1240 Kilos..! Now that brought a smile as wide as the 993’s Hips to my Sun soaked face..

I was so pleased, so rewarded, and so happy that I had gone beyond my expectations and lightened this Porsche to the extent that I had.

As I pulled away from the Weigh In, the 993 felt lighter than ever.

This wasn’t and isn’t the end of the Journey, and by no means the end of my Life with the 993, this is my [Hyperbole Alert!] Forever Car. I hope you have enjoyed the journey thus far, will join me on future adventures..

Hasta Luego Amigos..

Post Script
Weight Comparison of some of my favourite lightweighted 911:

• 991.2 RSR Cup 1243 Kilos
• 993 Carrera RS 1238 Kilos
• 964 Carrera RS 1285 Kilos
• 997.2 GT3 RS 4.0 1360 Kilos
• 997.1 GT3 RS 1370 Kilos