[Bender Rodríguez]

Originally Posted by lotusport

The European S.2 still had the Rover K-series engine -- very lightweight, even compared to the 2ZZ-GE -- and a smaller, lighter subframe, different trans, different exhaust, different A/C, and so on. And don't forget the things that had to be included for our cars to pass U.S. DOT and EPA requirements: front crash structure, side intrusion beams in the door and reinforcement of the hinge/latch mountings, redesigned fuel tank and filler with isolation from the body, etc., etc.

The early cars had nearly no amenities, thus were even more elemental than our U.S. federal cars. .

No it’s a good point the UK S2 did have the rover K engine but there was a different crash structure, frame rails door hinges and more? Any idea how much weight came from any of the different categories, anyone tried to remove any of it in a tear down? How much weight was there in engine and trans? In my opinion the rest is a result of government regulations and possibly removable, save swapping out front crash structures