What's the deal with this? How can I remove the spare and tools without sacrificing the ability to put things in my trunk when I need to? The liner just sinks really badly when I take that stuff out. What do people do to get around this?

 

Keep the spare tire in place. 25-30 lb (at most) is going to make any significant difference. If it bothers you, place something of similar shape/height in its place.

What happens when you get a flat?

 

That's what I ended up deciding but I'm looking at weight reduction again. I could use anything I can get, but don't want to totally destroy the "luxury" part of the vehicle or regular conveniences like removing the seats. The odds of a flat are extremely low and I don't know how it would even ride with a spare in there considering the tires I have now, and especially once I change to new wheels and tires. I'm going to put on 20x9 245/35/20 and 20x10.5 285/30/20 on coilovers and eventually move to air.

I already considered placing something there but was wondering if this was normal or what other people do. I wanted some kind of idea because I don't think I have anything to put there and it needs to be light.

Everything adds up so 25-30 pounds might not sound like much, but (especially when I don't wanna totally gut it) it adds up.

I also have roadside from my insurer.

 

25 lbs is less than 0.025 in the 1/4. That's not 1/4 second. That's 1/4 of 1/10 of a second. In horsepower terms they say 100 lbs is worth 1 horsepower. This is worth 0.25 horsepower.

Yeah it may add up eventually but for safety and peace of mind is it really worth it? Sure the possibility of a flat is low, but it's there. Sure you may have roadside assistance but they can sometimes take hours to get to you.

 

Find / buy some styrofoam and shave it to the size you need.

 

Not much help but I went with a matching full size spare. Tire not pictured.
I gutted the trunk and then was like damn what if I get a flat.
I'd ditch the trunk liner then there's ample room.

 

That's baller.

 

By some foam in layers and lay about 5-10 sheets.

The end result should look like a Styrofoam spare. Problem solved.
Wood will sag
Any metal weaker than steal will bend
Steel will be just as heavy.

Foam is the easiest, most cost effective and easiest to work with.

 

I am thinking that a small cooler might work. That way you can put groceries in it when you have something you want to keep cold. Not sure where you will get one that fits close to perfect though.

 

I put foam. I can't even use my spare anyways with the big brakes now installed.

 

Nice creative idea and useful use of space, however I have a weathertech liner on top of my stock liner and don't wanna go through all that removal every time just for a cooler that I honestly don't need because of the distance I need to drive the rare time I actually go to the market . I just put the bags in the front with me pretty much all the time.

I'm sure someone who sees this thread would like that.

 

I believe the correct measurement is TEN pounds to 1 hp. So 100 lbs would be 10hp.

And I think that others have mentioned the spare + tools are about 38lbs total. Just to try and clarify a bit..

 

^^^
This "pounds to HP" is interesting.... BUT there is no single rule. It depends on the vehicle weight.
A 2000 lb car that has a 100 lb weight reduction will have a much greater "effective HP increase" than a 3500 lb car that is lightened 100 lbs.

The G37 weights about 3800 lbs and makes 328 HP in stock form.
This equals 3800/328 or 11.5 lbs/HP.

A 115 lb reduction would be "feel" like a 10 HP increase, which I can't "feel" cause I'm old.
A full tank of fuel is about 120 lbs.
Do you "feel" faster acceleration with a tank on 1/4 vs a full tank?

Way back in 2003, Sport Compact Car cut up a stock Sentra for weight reduction to see how much faster they could make it run in the quarter mile.

Stock:
Curb Weight: 2,762 lbs
1/4 Mile:16.3 @ 84.0 mph

Full weight reduction:
Curb Weight:1,674 lbs
1/4 Mile:14.3 @ 93.2 mph

https://nerocam.com/SCC_TAP.asp

 

You are correct and I don't know what I was thinking when I said that. The fact remains though even at 38 pounds the weight lost is negligible. If you want to pull the stuff out when you go to the track then fine, but doing it for day to day use doesn't make any sense.

 

Not trying to sound cheeky here, but what is the point of removing your daily driver’s spare tire? You won’t become an Ayrton Senna when you reduce 30 lbs from the rear. If one of your tires blow while driving on the road, you’ll be paying more for a tow home than to put on that donut spare and make your way to a tire shop. These cars aren’t even that heavy in my opinion.