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Originally Posted by spamman450
so i was reading the thread on the guy that wanted to put a 240d engine in an 300sd for better mileage, and it got me to thinking. what if someone where to take a 240d, remove the fenders, hood, truck lid, and the rear quarter panels and make a set of each of these from carbon fiber or fiberglass? i know this is far fetched and the amount of money required to do so would be economically unfeasable but, if this where to be done how much of an increase do you think there would be in fuel mileage/performance?
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Though it would decrease weight somewhat. the sheet metal that could be easily replaced (fenders, trunk lid, hood), doesn't add up to too much weight and I think would be expensive to fabricate in fiberglass. As far as the Panzer(tank)-like safety concerns, I find it hard to believe that the sheet metal in these assemblies confers the majority of the protection offered by the cars. The frame and steel-safety cage probably do this. Fiberglass, done right, can be stronger than steel sheet and give some bouce, so it might be even more protective than what is there.
Now as regards things you could remove to lighten the package, removing the US bumpers is pretty easy and might do something for you. They are probably 50-70# combined, and the US ones certainly do not help the aeordynamic efficiency of the vehicle. Interestingly, they also don't serve much of a safety function, mainly having an effect at <10 mph and even there primarily serving to minimize damage to the vehicle in a low speed collision. they are there more for your insurance company than for you. So running without them or with Euro replacements (which look neat) might be one way to drop a little weight and improve aeordynamic efficiency.
And yes I'm the
who wanted to put a 240d engine in a 300sd chassis.