Aygo Performance

[zakelwe]

Surprized rear seats + Aircon were that light.

Under bonnet sound proofing + glove box lid wont save much they are very light items.

Wonder how much bonnet weighs itself, its not big. Carbon fibre one would look really nice.

Everything tends to be smaller or not that robust on the Aygo hence they are not that heavy. Agree with the weight of glove box lid and sound proofing, they were removed because a) one kept falling down due to poor clip design b ) I wanted to hear the engine more :)

The bonnet is probably 5-7kg so you could save up to 5kg getting something carbon fibre if they made it. Also it is weight fairly high up so good to lose it

Andy

[chilaspt]

Have you thought about shedding the spare wheel, save 15kg?

Put in a tool tray with pump, and place to hold jack + brace and keep boot floor flat + provide a useful cubby hole for more storage if required.

Fiat Punt Or Rover 75 tool trays may be suitable (not tested) , available from a scrap yard near you.

Anyone know of other cars with tool trays which might fit?

Attached 75 tray

Why do u buy one of the most ecconomical car on the road and then want to make it faster, more power means more fuel, if u are obsessed with speed why buy this car?

I am buying one of these and gonna get lpg fitted to get 120mile out of a fiver.

Just my 10 pence worth.

Are these engines safe for LPG? due to the Valve issues toyota and honda engines have with LPG, I would check that out first... I am also interested in LPG, but the car is still under warranty, so I dont want to fiddle around with it just yet.

[bitzer15]

Have you thought about shedding the spare wheel, save 15kg?

Put in a tool tray with pump, and place to hold jack + brace and keep boot floor flat + provide a useful cubby hole for more storage if required.

Fiat Punt Or Rover 75 tool trays may be suitable (not tested) , available from a scrap yard near you.

Anyone know of other cars with tool trays which might fit?

Attached 75 tray

Why do u buy one of the most ecconomical car on the road and then want to make it faster, more power means more fuel, if u are obsessed with speed why buy this car?

I am buying one of these and gonna get lpg fitted to get 120mile out of a fiver.

Just my 10 pence worth.

Are these engines safe for LPG? due to the Valve issues toyota and honda engines have with LPG, I would check that out first... I am also interested in LPG, but the car is still under warranty, so I dont want to fiddle around with it just yet.

Seems that they can be converted to LPG

[Dinky_05]

i don't think 20kg will make that much difference. remember the whole marketing spiel is on mpg for the aygo, plus its cuter than the pug and citroen - it will be as light as possible already. i don't think there's much you will be able to take out to make a considerable weight saving - say 50/60kg+

for 20kg you now have no aircon, a noisey engine (understood your reasons for that though with the clips) and no back seat.

you'd likely get more mpg improvement by using the aircon only on the motorway (so you keep the aerodynamics with the windows up) and by being a bit smoother with your driving.

regarding performance, i think on an aygo as someone has said, you are on to a lost cause. its a tiny 3 cylinder engine made to be frugal. what you save in petrol you can use to buy a nice little weekend toy instead!

[another_pleb]

i don't think 20kg will make that much difference. remember the whole marketing spiel is on mpg for the aygo, plus its cuter than the pug and citroen - it will be as light as possible already. i don't think there's much you will be able to take out to make a considerable weight saving - say 50/60kg+

for 20kg you now have no aircon, a noisey engine (understood your reasons for that though with the clips) and no back seat.

you'd likely get more mpg improvement by using the aircon only on the motorway (so you keep the aerodynamics with the windows up) and by being a bit smoother with your driving.

regarding performance, i think on an aygo as someone has said, you are on to a lost cause. its a tiny 3 cylinder engine made to be frugal. what you save in petrol you can use to buy a nice little weekend toy instead!

I agree, a car loses far more power to friction on the road and wind resistance than to weight. Figuring out clever ways to streamline the car such as fitting a smaller radio aerial, keeping windows rolled up and not fitting an aftermarket front skirt or a Roof Rack will have much more benefit.

Losing weight on the car will make the car ride higher and thus cause more wind resistance, conversely, chopping the springs will actually have a fuel economy benefit.

Furthermore, weight only has a negative effect on acceleration, when you are up to cruising speed, the weight contributes to momentum which keeps you moving with less effort.

The bottom line is that fiddling with minor stuff like removing a few lbs of sound proofing, glovebox lid and aircon will just make your car less pleasant and If you want more performance, try driving faster!

[daf-fy]

AYGO and PERFORMANCE don't really sit that well together - let's face it none of us bought the cars for their performance as the first priority (cheap tax, fuel efficient, compact, fun, cheap to run, low insurance, etc yes but performance -no!)

i admit it does have reasonable performance for a sub 1 litre car so it is good in its class but it is easily outclassed in this category

i previously owned a 400bhp+ 4x4 cosworth which did have amazing performance but all the pros detailed above for aygos were complete opposite (except 'fun' which it certainly was!)

so you want performance buy a performance car, you want all the other stuff, buy an aygo (oops! - think we all have!)

[zakelwe]

Sorry but I disagree with the posts above and as you haven't tried Aygo's before and after changes you are rather talking from ignorance on the matter, that's not an insult just a comment on that you haven't experienced the change in the car. You obviously just drive A to B, I don't.

Firstly I didn't do it for outright fuel economy or performance in straight line. The car does track days and this year a couple of rounds of the Toyota Sprint series as well, therefore it is important to both lose weight and reposition weight to lower the centre of gravity of the car to aid handling and grip. Since losing the 20kg from the front ( 1/3 the weight of the engine) and repositioning the Battery down low in the "boot" the turn in rate has improved tremendously, it is far more pointy and understeer has been reduced as the back end comes more into play. It's about 60-70% of PaulT's car now which really does take the Aygo to the limit handling wise (and about 3-5s a lap faster as well), I think you would be amazed if you drove it on the change. The Aygo is set to understeer compared to a Yaris for instance so this counters it's big failing.

You'd also be horrified at how noisy and rattly it is, but then you seem to need air con for our super hot UK weather :P. With the loss of weight and improved colder induction I do notice a better kick in 1st/2nd at about 3600rpm also, and no it is not imaginary. It doesn't break your neck of course :D

In summary you bought your cars for a different reason, you haven't modified it and therefore are unaware of how much performance you can squeeze out of them handling wise by making modifications.

Andy

[Dinky_05]

you'd be better off running it with half a tank of petrol, that would save around 15kg and i don't mean to be sarcastic with that comment. i see where you are going with the project and why, but 20kg really isn't a great deal of weight, especially not to have a dramatic affect on handling.

to increase performance you need to factor in a few things, not just weight. firming up the suspension, reducing flex and better tyres will also add to handling which, on corners, wins. for example look at lotus - their cars always have tiny engines but their focus on weight AND chassis/suspension all contribute to the handling.

great you're having a crack at it, and best of luck with the project, but i think you are already limited purely with the original concept of the car and the 3 cylinder engine. toyota have already weight stripped as far as they can without making things dangerous (all the plastics are light, not much metal on the car, thin seats etc) and the engine can't really be tweaked.

i think the main point is that yes you can save a bit of weight but you'll be on a tinny rolling Shell to get there and on balance the savings (for me anyway) don't outweigh beng in a miserable environment.

good luck though and keep us posted - no harm in trying!

edit: i just noticed you have already modified the suspension. my money is on that making the bigger difference.

Edited May 26, 2010 by Dinky_05

[cptechjosh]

I didnt start this thread looking for serious performance upgrades on my Aygo. I was just wondering the sort of gain i would get with a induction kit and exhaust systems and little things like that, as for the tool tray which replaces the spare wheel, is this legal? and where can i get one form as i think this is a good idea with not having to worry about my spare wheel fitting when i have my after market alloys fitted :D thanks

[zakelwe]

you'd be better off running it with half a tank of petrol, that would save around 15kg and i don't mean to be sarcastic with that comment. i see where you are going with the project and why, but 20kg really isn't a great deal of weight, especially not to have a dramatic affect on handling.

to increase performance you need to factor in a few things, not just weight. firming up the suspension, reducing flex and better tyres will also add to handling which, on corners, wins. for example look at lotus - their cars always have tiny engines but their focus on weight AND chassis/suspension all contribute to the handling.

great you're having a crack at it, and best of luck with the project, but i think you are already limited purely with the original concept of the car and the 3 cylinder engine. toyota have already weight stripped as far as they can without making things dangerous (all the plastics are light, not much metal on the car, thin seats etc) and the engine can't really be tweaked.

i think the main point is that yes you can save a bit of weight but you'll be on a tinny rolling shell to get there and on balance the savings (for me anyway) don't outweigh beng in a miserable environment.

good luck though and keep us posted - no harm in trying!

edit: i just noticed you have already modified the suspension. my money is on that making the bigger difference.

Hi Dinky.

Yes, I have modified the suspension and dampers and wheels and tyres and yes I do sometimes run a half tank of petrol :)

You say removing 20kg of weight from under the bonnet doesn't have a great effect on handling, but do you talk from experience? The engine only weighs 60kg so it is the 1/3 the weight of the engine. Not only that but the 10kg Battery is really high up, go and look at it in your engine bay. Now not only is it at the back of the car but it is really low down as well.

You said

"to increase performance you need to factor in a few things, not just weight. firming up the suspension, reducing flex and better tyres will also add to handling which, on corners, wins. for example look at lotus - their cars always have tiny engines but their focus on weight AND chassis/suspension all contribute to the handling."

Well I've done all those things suspension wise and now I am losing weight. The latest Lotus Elise has options of air con and cruise control by the way .. pah,american market....

I do agree that eventually you are eeking out nths rather than whole seconds, but if you live in the South east PM me and I will take you for a drive and you can see the difference.

Andy

[MarkTM]

As a new Aygo owner I read this with interest.

I have owned performance cars since 1983 and further enhanced them with such things high lift cams and SC's spending many a fun afternoon in the 80's playing with twin webbers :) That said now I have two cars that will manage a sub 6s 0-62 and my aygo is not for that but for pootling about.

My tuppence (shows my age!) worth

If you want your car to go faster

1) Shed any unnecessary weight whether your BMI is over the 25, driving the other half around or having weighty stuff in car!

2) Decrease your unsprung weight, so the lowest alloy you can get - I had Volk TE37's in 15's and they weighed 4kg each!

3) Don't be worried by a remap, the main consideration is if your tranny can take it

4) Performance (?) air filters can let all sorts of gunk into your engine

5) Defo consider Iridium plugs

6) Ensure your engine/tranny are in tip top condition before going down the FI or remap route as they'll just make it worse.

If you want it to go slower put big heavy alloys on it and bean can zaust...lol

Profile pic V8 car is remapped and LPG converted and, thanks to being an old soul and restricted mileage it cost me a mere £109 per year to ensure

In reality I bought the Aygo to embarrass my kids who have become too accustomed to being chauffeured around in luxury