I know the 914 steel front cross member really doesn't weigh that much but wondered if the ounce counters have weighed it compared to an aluminum 911 cross member and what the savings was?

I believe the aluminum was stronger and cheaper to produce (not to necessarily save weight) by Porsche..

Andrew

The aluminum part won't fit the protective steel cover so I decided not to use it. I think it saves about a pound and half.

Couple of pounds IIRC

There was a discussion about removing weight that low in the car raises your center of gravity.

I put 1 in anyways. With the bhp that I have every pound lost will help

Thanks for the info guys..I hadn't taken the cover fitment into account so I think I'll put this to rest for the 2lb savings (which is about what I figured)

Andrew

I had one of each and decided to leave the steel one in my car. I liked that the weight was as low as it could be and I didn't need to fab a new cover either.

I was considering the Al cross member also and got to thinking that Aluminum isn't as stiff as steel. The cross member is the part that actually reacts the forces from the front torsion bars. The torsion bars put the cross member in bending and the Aluminum being more flexible would transmit more of the loading to the chassis. In noticed some cracks starting to form around the area where the cross member mounts............ anyway I ended up welding a flat piece of steel to the bottom of the steel cross member to make it even stiffer. FWIW

I've seen them flex.

Went back to a stock steel one after that. Even if it's a few ounces heavier, that weight is about as low in the car as you can get.

I wanted to put an aluminum one in my car but the wise old Tangerine educated me. Thanks Chris!!!

When I converted my car around 2003 I had the option of aluminum vs. steel and was advised by several "gurus" to stick with the steel.

Despite all of the talk. I've run aluminum in w2w race cars since the early 90's with no problems.

I made an aluminum pan in 05 that has held up even with abuse. Pictures in my thread

1826lbs in metal body panels required it.