Thirty-seven pounds is a lot to remove from a drag car, especially when it comes from changing just one component.
As Project Stranger Things continues chasing quicker elapsed times, we are getting deeper into the part of the build where performance is not only about making more horsepower. Weight, electrical efficiency, consistency and how every system in the car works together start to matter more and more.
That is what made our latest battery change so interesting. The 16-volt XS Power D1600 that has been powering the car tipped our scale at 48.3 pounds. Its replacement, XS Power’s new Titan8 RSV-S7-30 16-volt lithium battery, came in at just 10.6 pounds.
That is 37.7 pounds removed from the car with a single swap, or roughly a 78 percent reduction in battery weight.
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The Scale Only Tells Part of the Story
The first reaction is obviously the weight. Anyone who has spent time around a drag car knows how much effort can go into finding 10, 20 or 30 pounds. But the more impressive part of this comparison is that the Titan8 is not giving up capacity or cranking performance to get there.
| Battery | Cranking Amps | Reserve Capacity | Weight | Rated Cycle Life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| XS Power D1600 | 682 CCA | 56Ah | 47 lbs. rated / 48.3 lbs. on our scale | Approx. 300-700 cycles in 16V applications |
| XS Power Titan8 RSV-S7-30 | 750 CCA | 60Ah | 10.6 lbs. on our scale | Approx. 10,000 cycles |
According to XS Power, the Titan8 gives us 750 cranking amps and 60Ah of reserve capacity while weighing a fraction of the D1600 AGM battery it replaces. XS Power also rates the Titan8 for roughly 10,000 cycles, compared with the few hundred cycles typically expected from its 16-volt AGM batteries depending on use.
What Is 37.7 Pounds Worth on a Race Car?
Weight savings is easy to talk about, but what does removing 37.7 pounds actually mean once the car gets to the starting line?
Project Stranger Things has been around the 3,135-pound mark at race weight. Removing 37.7 pounds represents roughly a 1.2% reduction in total weight without touching the engine, increasing boost or adding horsepower.
Using common horsepower-to-weight ET calculations, a reduction of that size could theoretically be worth somewhere around two to three hundredths of a second in the eighth-mile, assuming everything else about the pass remains equal. That’s not a guarantee that simply installing the Titan8 will make the car .03 quicker, but it puts the significance of nearly 38 pounds into perspective.
There’s another interesting way to look at it. The Titan8 carries a $999 price tag, meaning our 37.7-pound reduction works out to roughly $26.50 per pound removed.
Weight can be removed from a race car for free when you’re willing to start deleting things, but once you’re replacing functional components with lighter performance parts, the cost of every additional pound can climb quickly. In this case, we’re removing nearly 38 pounds from a component the car still needs while also gaining rated cranking output, reserve capacity, faster recharge capability and significantly greater claimed cycle life.
For Project Stranger Things, that’s the part that matters. We’re not removing capability to make the car lighter. We’re replacing one necessary component with another that weighs nearly 78% less.
When you’re chasing hundredths, 37.7 pounds from a single swap starts looking pretty significant.
Why Lithium Technology Changes the Equation
“Lithium” can describe several different battery chemistries and designs, so simply calling a battery lithium does not tell the entire story. XS Power developed Titan8 around a chemistry and architecture intended to combine the efficiency and weight advantages of lithium with charging behavior that is familiar to racers already using AGM equipment.
For us, one of the biggest benefits is that the Titan8 does not require buying another 16-volt charger. XS Power says the battery was designed to mimic AGM charging behavior closely enough that our existing compatible XS Power 16-volt AGM charger can still be used. The key difference is that the charger should be disconnected once it reaches the float stage rather than being left connected indefinitely.
Voltage Stability Matters in a Race Car
Weight gets most of the attention, but voltage stability may end up being just as important on Project Stranger Things.
A modern race car can ask a lot from its electrical system. Fuel pumps, EFI, ignition, solenoids, data acquisition and other electronics all depend on consistent voltage. Traditional AGM batteries can experience voltage sag when a large electrical load is applied. XS Power says Titan8’s chemistry is better able to maintain voltage under load, which can help keep the systems depending on that electrical supply operating more consistently.
As we continue leaning harder on the combination, that is something we are interested in monitoring alongside the obvious weight savings.
Less Time on the Charger
Recharge time is another area where XS Power says Titan8 has a major advantage over AGM technology. Because lithium is more energy efficient, the battery can recover considerably faster between rounds or test sessions.
Compared with AGM technology, one of Titan8’s advantages is significantly faster recharge time. That matters in a race application where the battery may need to recover between passes, rounds or test sessions. Less time waiting on the charger means more time focusing on the car.
For racers who are used to keeping a charger connected between rounds, cutting recharge time can be a real quality-of-life improvement at the track.
Titan8 Is Not Just for Race Cars
Although our application is very much race-car focused, the Titan8 line is broader than that. XS Power offers Titan8 products in 12-, 14- and 16-volt configurations, including direct-fit 12-volt options for street vehicles.
Those street-oriented models are designed to work with an alternator and are offered in common battery group sizes, meaning the installation can be as straightforward as removing the conventional battery and replacing it with the appropriately sized Titan8 unit. Some of those direct-fit 12-volt models are rated at up to 1,500 cranking amps.
And we’ll get to experience that side of the Titan8 lineup firsthand. We also have a 12-volt XS power Titan8+ going into our upcoming Cobra new edge project car, where we’ll be covering the installation and how it performs in a more street-focused Mustang application. Look for that story coming soon.
What It Means for Project Stranger Things
Project Stranger Things has reached a point where finding performance is about refining the entire package. We can always talk about adding boost or making more horsepower, but removing 37.7 pounds without sacrificing the electrical capability the car needs is the kind of change that improves the combination in a different way.
The Titan8 gives us less weight to accelerate down the track, more rated cranking output, slightly more reserve capacity, quicker charging and a dramatically longer claimed cycle life in one package.
Our next step is simply to put the Titan8 to work. As Project Stranger Things gets more track time, we’ll be paying attention to how the battery performs in real-world conditions and how the electrical system responds as we continue pushing the car harder.
Because at this point, Project Stranger Things does not need one magic part. It needs dozens of small improvements working together. Finding 37.7 pounds in one battery swap is a pretty good place to start.
