"300-400lb's is not that much weight"
 

One guy on an SLK forum said that a difference in weight of 300-400lb is not that big a deal.

Well, he sure got shot down fast *snicker* :LOL:

(just I thought I'd mention this since you S2000 owners are so he11 bent on low weight ;) full thread here -> http://www.mbworld.org/forums/showthread.php?t=198916 <- look for the last post by Tuskir )

Ask him if he would be cool with his girl weighing 300-400 lbs...I bet he changes his tune.

Oh no not another weight thread!!! I'll be the first to say that he is dead wrong. You can definitely feel the extra heft on a heavier vehicle but some manufacturers do such an awesome job at masking it, and others not so much.

I guess it depends on what you are doing with the car. Most people who buy SLK's and the like probably just floor it on the highway now and again so 300-400 lbs (~8-12%) doesn't make that much difference. Also, if someone is talking about top speed mostly it makes very little difference.

yeah more power!

Power matters a lot too.

If you have a car with the same power to weight the lighter car feels better, but take a car like the GT3 with an extra 400 lbs but almost 2x the power and TQ as the S2000 and it doesn't feel 'like 400 lbs' if you know what I mean.

On a side note, I think Subaru and Mazda are the only manufacturers that have recently brought out new sporty vehicles (WRX and MX-5) that either lost weight or gained very little. The MX-5 was less than 50 lbs gained and the new WRX is 30 lbs lighter, I believe.

Thats awesome. I wish more manufacturers start doing that. I guess its extra hard with all the new safety standards and equipment you keep packing into these cars...

I do feel some 'gains' when I sit alone in my SLK with less then a quarter tank of gas versus driving along with a friend and a full tank of gas (70 liters). The car just kind 'feels' a little more effortless when I press down the pedal to varying degrees.

I don't think it's 'subcontious', sometimes I don't even think about it, and I drive around to get more fuel, pick up my GF, and start noticing how I need press down that little bit more on the pedal to go up and down the hills in my area and stuff.

Maybe it's all in my head, but that's still the same as adding almost 200lb's...

It is not that much weight if you're starting at 4,000 lbs...