HT ‘Vert Weight Penalty

[John]

Not that a dedicated HT convertible lover would care, but what might its weight penalty be (if nothing else but for a Corvette trivia game)?

A friend of mine, also smitten with fvs’s HT rendering, just sent me an email asking “do we know the weight penalty of the mid engine HT convertible versus the coupe?”



Here is what I wrote him, but then afterwards thought that if we collectively worked on this, we would come up with better information.

“HT vert weight penalty is something we do not yet know. As a reference, the C7 convertible is 64 pounds more than the coupe. Adding in a metal, carbon fiber or SMC top instead of a cloth top, is going to add some more weight (the coupe’s carbon fiber top weights 18 pounds), so just the top part itself might be a net of 10 pounds more than the cloth soft top.

So my wild guess is that the HT Vert could weigh between 75 and 100 pounds more than a coupe.

We will know on January 12th or 13th.”


Your thoughts/perspectives/info on the HT’s weight penalty?

[Bluevette]

100 pounds give or take sounds about right. I looked up the Ferrari 488 for a reference point and the coupe weighs in at 3240.795 pounds while the Spider version is 3,362 pounds adding roughly 122 pounds to the vehicle. Of course all cars are different and this is a coupe vs a Spider, but it is something to go off of.

For that car, there's a noticeable difference in the back (see picture) which would probably add some weight as well. The ME coupe and vert more or less share the same body, so it would probably only be the roof and mechanisms adding weight.

[Shadow]

Nice research Bluevette. Thank you.

[RoketRdr]

Yep BV is right. MOST coupe/vert car families on the market are typically 120-150 lbs difference.

[JB]

The italians tend to give optimistic curb weights that even the ferrari guys over at ferrarichat laugh about.


the difference in weight between coupe and hartop convertibles is as suggested above and should be correct.

[RoketRdr]

The italians tend to give optimistic curb weights that even the ferrari guys over at ferrarichat laugh about.


the difference in weight between coupe and hartop convertibles is as suggested above and should be correct.

The problem with Ferrari's weight specs is that they offer a TON of light weight carbon fiber options so there's absolutely no way to list an average curb weight. The numbers that they do list, like for the 488, are for a car that's heavily optioned with the CF parts. The average 488 buyer doesn't purchase all the add on CF because the cost is another $75K. So you can add about 75-100 lbs to the listed curb weights for their cars.

[JB]

Most of the carbon fiber option packages on ferraris are cosmetic. The italians are notorious for weighing their vehicles dry with no fluids and they then again create a romantic swirl about how lightweight their cars are..

its not real but it doesnt really matter one way or the other..its the end result on the track and of course on the road...not to mention the cluntry club..

im not knocking the beautiful ialian cars. As any car enthusiast we all love them.

[Frenzy36]

I believe your absolutely Right. 1. A HT Convert Enthusiast will not care. 2. Hopefully if priced reasonably above the Coupe they will not care.
My Guess is about 120 lb difference to 200 lb if incorporation of active roll bars.

[RoketRdr]

Most of the carbon fiber option packages on ferraris are cosmetic. The italians are notorious for weighing their vehicles dry with no fluids and they then again create a romantic swirl about how lightweight their cars are..

its not real but it doesnt really matter one way or the other..its the end result on the track and of course on the road...not to mention the cluntry club..

im not knocking the beautiful ialian cars. As any car enthusiast we all love them.

No actually they're not. On the Lambo's it is but not the Ferrari. They even tell you what the weight savings is when you order the options. You can order CF wheels that knocks a ton of weight off the car and at 20% difference its huge. Lambo CF options (unless talking about the SV) or nothing more than cosmetic and mostly interior and a few exterior pieces for looks but Ferrari has always offered CF in strategic places strictly for weight reduction. The full package is even referred to as "light weight contents" and when full optioned it carries a $75K price tag. They recently released info stating that the new up and coming 488 Pista Spyder when optioned with all the light weight CF components actually weighs less than the standard Pista coupe which is huge. At dry weight that puts it right at 3,050 lbs. Fluids only add approximately 75 lbs (no fuel) which makes it considerably lighter than a Huracan or ZR1. A standard 488 coupe itself weighs 3,250 curb weight which is 300 lbs less than the average Huracan or ZR1. Ferrari has always offered lighter weight cars and that's whey they're faster and handle so much better. Go drive a ZR1, Huracan and then get into a 488 and you'll be immediately shocked. The Vette and the Lambo are fat heavy pigs and the 488 is like a shifter cart with a body and interior. The weight saving CF packages and higher average HP in each class is partially why the Ferrari's have a much bigger price tag. As far as CF parts being cosmetic on a Ferrari it isn't so. But it certainly is on the Lambo.