Targa vs Coupe weight

[Walko]

The friday question what is the difference in weight between a coupe and a targa with the same specs lets say a 77 911

Michael

[Brother]

My 80 Targa weighed 2700 even. No air conditioning and bone stock. No toolkit either and an Optima red top battery.

[KobaltBlau]

Here is a quote from a book I think every 911 owner should buy and read:

Paul Frere's "Porsche 911 Story", Sixth edition (7th is now available) page 215
The floorpan required only a few local reinforcements to achieve an adequate rigidity, and the lighter soft top almost exactly made up for their original weight.

It seems likely considering the surrounding text that this statement refers to the original targa with a soft rear window. If this is true, the targa most of us are used to ought to weigh about the same as a coupe plus the weight of the glass rear window, minus the weight of the soft rear window and its parts. I do not have these figures handy, but I would like to know what a targa glass rear window weighs. pbs911 posted somewhere that a lexan rear window for a targa was distributed by weltmeister, and could save 35 lbs. I personally do not know if this is accurate.

There is of course the possiblity that porsche added a greater number of reinforcements to later cars relative to their coupe brothers, but I have never seen any information to confirm or deny this.

[450knotOffice]

For Australia, a coupe weighed 2370 pounds stock. The Targa for Australia weighed 2580 pounds.

This is the listed stock weight. Depending on options that each car may or may not have had, these weights may have changed. In addition, any mods the previous owners may have performed will have an effect on weight.

For example, my car's listed stock weight is 2865 pounds. However, according to two different scales, my car weighs 2560 pounds. The previous owners and I have reduced the weight of the car over the years.

[Brother]

a recent thread said that the rear window only weighed around 28 pounds. Or maybe it was a 28 pound weight savings over the 7 pound piece of lexan? Either way around 30 ish.

[Tyson Schmidt]

I weighed my Targa glass when I took it out for the Cab conversion. It weighed 36 pounds.

[masraum]

depends on the year. Some years had more reinforcements that others. I think they added more reinforcements for SCs or Carreras, probably not as much in a '77.

Not to mention that big glass window is heavy. Targa's are heavier.

[Howard M]

My '76 Targa is going to be very close to your '77 Targa. Small gel battery, sport seats, removed rear bumperettes, adjustable sway bars. Everything else is stock, including the 6X15 wheels (205/50-15 tires). Weighs 2580 on good corner balance scales.

Howard

[MuffinMan]

Howard, how much gas is in the car at 2580?

[kach22i]

I thought there was about a 450 lb targa weight gain.

[BK911]

So if you are going to race a 911, why not start with a Targa and remove the windshield and rear window? It's lighter and has less drag than a coupe. And with a full cage, should be as rigid as a coupe. The 914's so this all the time.

[Superman]

No, BK. Targas are not lighter. That's the point of this discussion. Coupes are always the lightest. I suspect that, in the SC years, the difference was probably somewhere around 200 lbs. Maybe a little less if the coupe has a sunroof.

[BK911]

I was saying if you removed the front windshield, targa hoop, and rear window, the targa should be lighter. You're saying the coupe is still lighter?

[KobaltBlau]

I think they added more reinforcements for SCs or Carreras, probably not as much in a '77.

Not to mention that big glass window is heavy. Targa's are heavier.

I thought there was about a 450 lb targa weight gain.

No, BK. Targas are not lighter. That's the point of this discussion. Coupes are always the lightest. I suspect that, in the SC years, the difference was probably somewhere around 200 lbs. Maybe a little less if the coupe has a sunroof.

No offense to anyone personally, but where is the data? Weighings of a single car are nice but the information probably has to come form a factory source, since there would rarely be an identical car in targa and coupe to weigh on the same scales with the same amount of gas back-to-back etc. The red book and Frere don't distinguish between targas and coupes in their weight quotes. we know that the early targa weighed almost the same and the glass back window weighs 35 lb. If anyone can show that the later cars had more structural reinforcement relative to a same-year coupe, than the early cars, let's see it. Otherwise, where the heck does even 200lb come from?

[SC-targa]

When Porsche introduced the SC cab, they quoted the Targa at 30 pounds heavier than the coupe and the cab.

Jerry Kroeger

[KobaltBlau]

That's interesting Jerry, do you remember where you saw that? Factory literature from when the cab was introduced, or magazine article...?

Thanks,

[kach22i]

I've got some books on this at home, will look it up.

Now I don't know if it was 45 lbs or 450 lbs.

Some of the guys who race know this stuff right off the tops of their heads - they are weight obsessed - in a good way.

[imcarthur]

Leffingwell in Porsche 911 Buyers Guide (a pretty useless book due to severe repetition) says:

1974: 911S 2443 add 135 lbs for Targa
1977: 911S 2470 add 90 lbs for Targa
1978: 911SC 2558 Targa 2730

1983: 911SC 2560 Cabrio 2750

Ian

[kach22i]

Originally posted by imcarthur
Porsche 911 Buyers Guide

That's the book I was thinking of looking at first - good find.

[Howard M]

Muffin Man's question inspired me to look back at my notes when I did the corner balance. With the minor mods posted above, 6/10's of a tank of gas and 140 lbs of weight in the driver's seat, the '76 911 Targa weighed 2580.

Edit P.S: A/C removed, oil cooler w/SS lines added.

Howard