Diet ICE?

I've decided the primary objective for Slowtra at least for the remainder of this year and next would be to at least lose its nick. Fast is the opposite of slow and there are 2 ways to be fast. One is to build power and the other is to lose weight for a better power to weight ratio. As many would have read from my earlier posts the N16 Sentra is already a big and flabby car and this got worse with all the mucho heavy ICE gear and sound deadening. The ICE is especially bad with more than 25 kgs in the boot itself.

In a bid to lose weight, the Slowtra lost it's spare tyre, car jack and tool kit. I know many will be shocked and say this is impractical but hey it costs zero ringgit and I'm desperate to lose some weight. The spare, jack and tool kit easily weighs more than 20 kilos and I can put everything back should I drive really long distance.

The next step is to simplify the ICE. I've decided to ditch the Focal 27KX subwoofer and its customized enclosure, the wiring, bracketry, etc. The Steg K series K202 amplifier powering the sub had already been sold to a Bro. This leaves the TRU amp and the Focal 165 K2P 6.5" 2 ways in the front door and its tweeters on the A-pillar as the only ICE gear left in the Slowtra. Told you I was desperate. The amount of weight lost is as follows:

• Focal 27KX - 7.2kg
• Steg K Series K202 amp - 3-4kg
• Sub enclosure, panelling, acryllic windows, VDH speaker cable for the sub, etc - ~5kg (I didn't weight but I'm pretty sure this is very under estimated)

Total weight lost from the simplified ICE setup is easily more than 15kgs and possibly close to 20kgs for a combined total lost of ~40kgs (Simplified ICE + spare + jack + tool kit). Driving home the butt dyno immediately registered power differences of several horsies especially during 3-4th gear acceleration. Of course don't expect similar sound quality but hey even with my full ICE setup my home system blows it away in terms of SQ. So long as it delivers "decent" sound quality for my daily driving I can live with the revised ICE. Plus don't forget by the time the engine and exhaust mods get thrown in I'll be enjoying the exhaust note more and possibly some psssh sounds rather than the ICE. Oh and competition spec brakes deliver a nice squeal every time you do a slow stop. Need I say more?

Pix of the revised simplified ICE setup. Really neat looking and I get my boot space back. Problem now is how to fit a rear strut bar?

And this is not the end. I'm looking to ditch my TRU amp (~4.8kgs) for something much lighter like the Alpine PDX series of Class D amplifiers. Class D is more efficient than traditional class A/B leaving to smaller more compact circuitry with less neat for heat sink area. This leads to much smaller and lighter amplifiers albeit at the expense of sound quality but as I mentioned the brief now is for less weight rather than outright sound quality. The Alpine PDX-F4 weights nearly half my TRU Billet Series B2110 at only 2.87kg. Anybody want a mint condition preloved TRU Technology amp?