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Posted by: seanery Mar 25 2005, 04:30 PM

I knew 550s were light, but man, that is crazy light!

There is a nice little article in the current Panorama 550 vs 2005 Box S.
They list the dry weight of a 550 at 992 lbs!

I want one sooooo bad!

Posted by: ChrisReale Mar 25 2005, 04:32 PM

Damn, there are people that weigh that much

Posted by: fiid Mar 25 2005, 04:43 PM

Posted by: vsg914 Mar 25 2005, 04:49 PM

Nooooo!!!! No pics of 900 pound people!!!!

Posted by: ChrisReale Mar 25 2005, 04:58 PM

sorry....

Posted by: r_towle Mar 25 2005, 05:00 PM

Had to


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Posted by: tommy914 Mar 25 2005, 05:02 PM

QUOTE (seanery @ Mar 25 2005, 05:30 PM)

I knew 550s were light, but man, that is crazy light! They list the dry weight of a 550 at 992 lbs!

Since I'll never be able to drive a real one, I have to say, on Need for Speed Porsche Unleashed, the 550 was a real handful. Must have been the skinny tires. Or maybe the data model was wrong.

Posted by: ken914 Mar 25 2005, 05:07 PM

Something was screwy about that number. They said 992 lbs dry and over 1200 with 24 gallons of gas in it. Gas only weights 6 lbs per gallon! Must be some of that German math, where less is more...

Posted by: fiid Mar 25 2005, 05:08 PM

lmao. Guess I asked for that.

Posted by: lapuwali Mar 25 2005, 05:08 PM

QUOTE (seanery @ Mar 25 2005, 02:30 PM)

I knew 550s were light, but man, that is crazy light! There is a nice little article in the current Panorama 550 vs 2005 Box S. They list the dry weight of a 550 at 992 lbs! I want one sooooo bad!

Dunno why anyone should be so surprised at this. A 550 tube frame is pretty insubstantial, and the engine and gearbox are both very light units. Consider a Formula Ford is about 1000lbs, and it has an iron-block engine in it that's much heavier than a Type I or a four-cam. A modern F-Ford probably has a heavier frame, in fact, just because of crash protection concerns that didn't exist in the 50s.

A winning Formula SAE car is now under 500lbs. Some are under 450lbs, and that's with four-wheel brakes, full suspension, and full rollover protection. They get to be lighter even than the 550 mostly because they're single-seaters, and the engine/gearbox package is usually under 150lbs. SCCA A-Mod AX class rules specify a 750lb minimum weight, and there are several cars built right to that limit. Bowland, Whittle, and others are using two-stroke watercraft engines now to remove weight.

Posted by: Demick Mar 25 2005, 05:10 PM

QUOTE (ken914 @ Mar 25 2005, 03:07 PM)

Something was screwy about that number. They said 992 lbs dry and over 1200 with 24 gallons of gas in it. Gas only weights 6 lbs per gallon! Must be some of that German math, where less is more...

Bonehead who calculated that assumed that gasoline weighs the same as water.

Water: 8.33 lbs/gal
Gasoline: 5.8-6.5 lbs/gal

Makes a big difference

Demick

Posted by: Jeroen Mar 25 2005, 07:25 PM

did you ever stand up close and personal with a 550?
they're scarry small, so small in fact that the driver more sits ON it than in it

Posted by: URY914 Mar 25 2005, 07:46 PM

I got my work cut out for me.
OK, 991 lbs is my new goal.

Paul

Posted by: redshift Mar 25 2005, 08:10 PM

lol

Go Paul!

I like the 962 streeter better.


M

Posted by: jd74914 Mar 25 2005, 08:45 PM

QUOTE (Jeroen @ Mar 25 2005, 05:25 PM)

did you ever stand up close and personal with a 550? they're scarry small, so small in fact that the driver more sits ON it than in it

I've sat in some replicas. I agree, they are really, really, really small. I still really want to build one. The only problem is that I'm 6'2" and still growing. I guess I'll just have to sacrifice and do a 356

Posted by: grantsfo Mar 25 2005, 09:56 PM

There isnt much to them. There were a few that use to show up to AX's back in the 1970's and they flew. Made 914's look big.

Posted by: trekkor Mar 25 2005, 10:09 PM

This guy is very fast up in Sonoma.

KT


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Posted by: trekkor Mar 25 2005, 10:12 PM

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Posted by: Demick Mar 25 2005, 10:17 PM

Yep - one of these days when I have enough shop/garage space I'm going to build myself one of those.

Demick

Posted by: ChrisReale Mar 25 2005, 10:18 PM

I like. Who makes the replica's? Beck's? One of those with a wild RAT 4 banger would be fun

Posted by: trekkor Mar 25 2005, 10:32 PM

If I ever built one, I'd do a SIX.

KT

Posted by: URY914 Mar 25 2005, 10:37 PM

Gunnar built a batch of them and put Type-1's in them.

Posted by: sixnotfour Mar 25 2005, 10:39 PM

Trekkor's a SIX addict, may need to plan an intervention before he goes to 3.6

Posted by: KaptKaos Mar 25 2005, 10:43 PM

You sure it wasn't 992 Kilos?

I had read that they were about 1500 pounds with a full tank, so that 998 kilos would be with driver (and passenger?).

Posted by: grantsfo Mar 26 2005, 01:00 AM

QUOTE (trekkor @ Mar 25 2005, 08:32 PM)

If I ever built one, I'd do a SIX. KT

Like this one?

Posted by: trekkor Mar 26 2005, 01:42 AM

550Club.com here I come...


KT

Posted by: Gustl Mar 26 2005, 01:57 AM

QUOTE (jd74914 @ Mar 26 2005, 03:45 AM)

QUOTE (Jeroen @ Mar 25 2005, 05:25 PM) did you ever stand up close and personal with a 550? they're scarry small, so small in fact that the driver more sits ON it than in it I've sat in some replicas. I agree, they are really, really, really small. I still really want to build one. The only problem is that I'm 6'2" and still growing. I guess I'll just have to sacrifice and do a 356

I've seen this one last week at the Munich fair (it's an original car, started at the '55 Mille Miglia)



I'm about 6'4" and the 550 looked like a toycar to me

I'm pretty sure that 992 lbs is correct - I mean, 992 kilos would be more than a standard 914