Force = Mass x Acceleration. Want to go faster? You either gotta accelerate faster or have less mass, but ultimately they are two sides of the same coin in the pursuit. So knowing that, if your pursuit is the time honored tradition of going faster, what are some ways to save weight?
One of the obvious and most effective ways to ditch weight on the C5 Corvette is swapping out the battery. These Corvette's generally have a honking heavy 35lb AGM battery, which might be even heavier if you or a previous owner went cheap on the battery and installed a lead acid battery.
Enter Antigravity Batteries. They make Lithium-Ion batteries that weight nothing. For example, the ATX-30 battery weights in at 5.75lbs. That's a pretty much 30lb reduction, with no negative implications besides cost and some modest fabrication to attach the battery where it was.
Here you can see how simple of an install these are. Bend some sheet metal, attach the sheet metal with rivnuts and bolts... viola for a few hours work at most you've ditched 30lbs of weight off the car.
As an added bonus the ATX-30 comes with it's "RESTART" technology that keeps a charge around that's enough to restart the car in the event the battery is drained. We personally had this happen when the door was accidentally left cracked open in the #199 C5 Corvette track car for a month in the shop. When the car was finally rolled back out again it was dead, but hey just press the button and the car has enough charge to start right back up! That was a true life saver.
So if your goal is to go faster, or maybe you just need a new battery, this should seriously be on your list. It's an improvement in every single possible way from the OEM battery.
PROS:
- Drop 29lbs without sacrificing anything.
- Restart battery technology is no joke useful.
- Stable LIFEPO4 chemistry ensures the battery isn't a fire hazard.
CONS:
- You may need to get a new battery charger/tender that is specific to lithium.
- The price tag is quite high, but dollar for pound lost it's still a bargain.
- Requires some very mild fabrication work to install on the C5 Corvette.
