If memory serves me well I think once upon a time a came across somewhere selling carbon fibre bonnets and front wings. I'm curious if these are still available and if anyone knows where to get them. I'm looking into balancing out the weight of the car a bit, since basically all the weight is at the front I want to reduce front end weight. In the future Ill probably think about moving battery and fluids to the back.

At the moment it's all just excited speculation at the thought of getting the car back on the road after more than two years but I'm keen to find out my options.

Also while I'm posting in the bodywork area. I want to replace my front bumper metal and plastic cover, will mk1 or mk2 golf or jetta ones go on or is the size / mounting all wrong?

The car is a MK2 polo coupe. Any info muchly appreciated.

I wouldn't say ALL the weight is at the front, with the Polo stripped to a bare shell the front end actually becomes lighter than the rear for some odd reason. I don't know exact weights but you can easily lift the front end in the air and the back takes a lot more strength to lift. This was with a mk2f but I'd guess the mk2 is much and such the same....although they are lighter to start with.

Anyway add to that the weight of the rear beam and a full tank of fuel and you have a fair bit of weight over the back end.

I've had a search online but can't find anywhere doing carbon panels for these. I doubt there would be much of a market for such things anyway. The front wings aren't exactly heavy and I'm sure you could cut the bracing out of the bonnet to save some weight there. Obviously carbon fibre panels would be much lighter but I don't know if you'll find any.

Battery relocation is a good idea though, not just for the weight transfer but also access to it and helps prevent the battery try rusting away.

I don't know if there is much else you can do to remove front end weight apart from sound deadening and useless plasticy bits. Then if you do any handling mods like front subframe, chassis bracing or even stitch welding then you're likely to add that weight back on and more.

Thanks, I was just thinking the engine would be one of the heavier parts but of course with that lump of a rear axle and a tank of fuel it probably is quite heavy at the back. Cheers then I guess I'll save some money and leave it as is, why mess with perfection after all I love the way the car handles. I am going to stiffen it up with a full set of strut braces though.

Do you have a idea of the strut braces you are going to get? Many are cosmetic and are not intended actually reduce flex. I'm not too sure how much Polos flex at the struts. A better if more expensive solution is a ppp subframe. Stage 2 or 3 ideally.

I have seen mk1 golf bumpers on a polo as well as the early mk1 polo bumpers but IMO they don't look great due to the mouldings in the polo metal.

Stinky Pete has done a lot of (extreme) weight saving on his, drilling out huge sections of the inner body work and then finishing them so as to reduce weaknesses but one you start down that route its in for a penny!

Front seats are heavy, so some lighter ones will help but as said above, there's not a massive amount of weight to easily lose. Even the sound proofing is negligible. Totally stripping to metal would probably provide a significant reduction but then you're compromising onmcomfort.

Someone used to sell fibre glass panels as well as Perspex windows and such but I'm. Of sure if anyone on here ever got any

I'd seen a few sets of strut braces on ebay but in many of the sets listed the kink that goes around the airbox appeared to in the passenger side (UK near side) but my air box is in the drivers side (off side). This made me sceptical. What's a ppp subframe and are you able to recommend a set of braces that would actually increase rigidity?

I have found somewhere that does polycarbonate windows but the link is currently lost in a sea of bookmarks.

See the PPP section in the sub forums for the sub frames.

I don't know of any brands for braces, but OMP put their name on some things, but it's hard to know whether its any good. Personally I've not bothered and instead have a GT rear axle, which is stiffer and a stage 3 frame. If you do go for a brace, make sure it's one that bolts to the turrets. The one you saw was maybe a generic or flipped image as all Polos had the air box in the same place.

A front subframe (stage 2 or 3) is the best mod you can do to increase chassis strength up front. I have a stage 2 on mine and the difference is night and day compared to a car without one. As for strut braces the only one I have is a rear one that bolts between the rear turrets. It looks to be made out of decent CDS tubing which is why I bought it. Front braces however a lot of them seem to be made from thin aluminium and even when bolted up tight can be flexed by hand, so I've never been convinced. If you can find an OMP one, they look better but they are just a straight bar rather than following the lines of the engine bay.

Cheers, I did think 100 quid for a full set of braces was a bit too good to be true. Perhaps I'll save up for one of the ppp subframes then, what's the main different between stage 2 and stage 3 and would I need some sort of blocks to fit it with the arb. I do have poly bushes but read something about needing something more to fit a subframe.

Edited 28 September, 201510 yr by Saint Jimi

ARB blocks are needed for a stage 2 frame to bring the arb forward enough to clear the frame as well as bringing the wheels to the Center of the arch when lowered. Is your car lowered?

The stage 3 gets rid of the arb completely and makes a semi-wishbone type set up at the front. Not a true wishbone set up. Due to the loss of the arb, stiffer suspension is advised to reduce body roll. I have one fitted to my car but haven't really driven ition anger yet but I hear the stage 2 is a better choice for he road since I bought it.

My car is not lowered currently, I'm not a fan of the slamming a road going car as low as it'll go craze. I have a three hundred and fifty quid exhaust and there's a lot of speed bumps in my city, I do intend to lower it eventually but only enough to close up a bit of the arch gap. I think I'll look into a stage 2 then. Ta.

If not lowered, I'm not sure how the arb blocks will affect the wheel castor since they realign wheels on a lowers car by pulling them forward. So withouts being lowered, the arb may be pulled too far forward thus moving the wheels in the arch to the front. I've never known anyone to use them on standard suspension. And as far as I'm aware, the stage 2 subframe needs arb blocks to fit it but I could be wrong.

Edited 28 September, 201510 yr by prankstar2003

I'll enquire with ppp when I have the money to cross that bridge. I would be lowering it but not excessively, I've recently been looking at kits that allow adjustable height between -20 and -100. They are not cheap though.

Again all things I want to get my head around while I'm saving for them so that I know my options and don't blow money on the wrong things.

If you're not too fussed about having the ride height afjustable, the h&r cup kit is widely regarded as the best budget spring and shock kit. Think it comes in -40 and -60 flavours, if you can split -60/-40 front/back

Where can I buy these kits? I'll probably just go -40mm at the most as I can't stand the idea of dragging the underside on every speed bump or ramp. Thanks for the info.

Edited 29 September, 201510 yr by Saint Jimi

I'm not sure, but if you search for H&R cup kit polo I'm sure something will come up.

I'm down 60 with 185/50/14 and 175/50/14 and I have enough clearance. However, the subframes do sit lower than the original ARB so can cause clearance issues if very low and can scrape

Edited 29 September, 201510 yr by prankstar2003

Putting the battery in the boot makes a lot of sense. But not in a front wheel drive car.

The spare wheel and jack weigh more than both bumpers and the back seat put together. Bumpers and seats are nice, you wanna keep them (you don't think you do, until it gets hit in a car park and the bumper saves it). I think i've had three flat tyres in 24 years of driving. If you rarely leave town, you'll be far better off sacking the spare wheel and keeping a taxi number in your phone instead. Then remove the tar and sand sound insulation mats from under the front carpet area, bin the stereo, run alloys, swap the height adjustable driver's seat for a fixed one (base model or passenger seat from a LHD car) and there's about 30kgs gone, which is worth saving.

After that, its big compromise for little gain (though my coupe currently has an aluminium cylinder block..).