rear counterweight removal?
 

Hey guys, I remember reading something by Cincy saying he removed a counterweight that weighted 40 lbs or so (I think). I'm wondering if anybody has insight on that, a DIY link or whether it's a simple removal process like it sounds.

I did just remove it. I didnt weigh it but it does weigh atleast 35lbs. The removeal isnt all that hard and i was going to do a write up, but i was durty as hell and didnt want to gunk up the girl's camera.

Smallish how-to
Jack up rear and put on jack stands (dont need to remove tires but it can make it easier)
remove back half of the spash gaurd so you can access the (2) 10 or 12mm bolts (cant remember which that hold the bumper to the rear fender
Open door in hatch and unscrew the 2 knobs and then remove the tail lights
remove covers next to tails and unscrew the 2 torx bolts on both sides
That should be everything to remove the rear bumper and you can just slide it off
next you need to remove the (3) 12mm bolts on both sides of the crash bar and remove it (weighs almost nothing)
Then remove the (3) 12mm bolts for the counter weight and be careful, it is heavy and awkword
reinstall crash bar and bumper and you just lost 35lbs in the rear in about an hour.

again, sorry for no pics, might be some on vagcar which is a free site

done.

for some reason i feel like a "counterweight" is important...

Yup... if you take it off you'll die. :cool:

OMG it was so scary driving, I think I'll go put it back on right now in the dark

anyway, I weighed up my removed pieces and here they are in lbs

counterweight that prevents certain doom: 33
individual back seat seatback (x2): 17each, 34 total
back seat bench: 8

total: 75 lbs lost today

notice any differences on the road? how does the interior look minus the rear seats and such?

I just drove it to the skatepark and didn't really test it. But I will say that when I have another passenger with me, it kills my performance. So lightening it up should help out a lot. I'm half way to my target goal of dropping a weight of an average person.

I'm working on an idea for my rear seat delete. I plan on just a level platform using a 'template' from my existing deck cover and my seat to get the right shape/size. I'll cut some thin plywood, cover it with carpet, put in a piano hinge in the area where the seatback used to be and make myself a small cubby hole where the rear seat bench used to be that will flip up for access.

We'll see how it goes.

Yeah ;-) But seriously it have to be reason for that
Are TTQ have it too ?