Are lightweight flywheels worth the $
Thread Starter
Registered User
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 74
From: Bay Area, CA
Are lightweight flywheels worth the $
A couple of questions about these
How much faster will my car rev with an aluminum flywheel?
Does more HP make it to the tires?
Do these have any disadvantages?
Where is a good place / company to buy
Im planning on putting in a new clutch so now is the perfect time.
Thanks,
Greg
How much faster will my car rev with an aluminum flywheel?
Does more HP make it to the tires?
Do these have any disadvantages?
Where is a good place / company to buy
Im planning on putting in a new clutch so now is the perfect time.
Thanks,
Greg
Registered User
Joined: Mar 2016
Posts: 212
From: Kentucky
Re: Are lightweight flywheels worth the $
I used one before, you get more hp out of them depending on high light. But the biggest diference is how FAST the motor revvs up. It will pop through gears alot faster or did when i had 1. The bad part is rpms also drop alot faster, so you will have to get used to driving it in traffic.
Registered User
Joined: Feb 2019
Posts: 95
Re: Are lightweight flywheels worth the $
A couple of questions about these
How much faster will my car rev with an aluminum flywheel?
Does more HP make it to the tires?
Do these have any disadvantages?
Where is a good place / company to buy
Im planning on putting in a new clutch so now is the perfect time.
Thanks,
Greg
How much faster will my car rev with an aluminum flywheel?
Does more HP make it to the tires?
Do these have any disadvantages?
Where is a good place / company to buy
Im planning on putting in a new clutch so now is the perfect time.
Thanks,
Greg
https://mechanics.stackexchange.com/...ey-lightweight
https://nasaspeed.news/tech/drivetra...sh-more-power/
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Joined: Nov 1998
Posts: 71,086
From: Hell was full so they sent me to NJ
Re: Are lightweight flywheels worth the $
Since everyone wants to continue this thread......
There are two “givens” with a light weight flywheel. The reduced mass makes it harder to launch the car, and the reduced mass eats up less power when it is being accelerated. For road racing and auto-x, where the vehicle only gets launched once and then has to deal with repeated accel, decel, shifting, the lighter flywheel is a clear advantage.
For drag racing, it's not so clear. Sitting at the line, bringing the revs up in neutral stores energy in the flywheel. Drop the clutch and that energy helps propel the car forward, resulting in reduced 60-foot times. Shaving 1/10th off the 60-foot time can result in a reduction of 1.5X to 2X that 1/10th at the end of the track. But the issue is whether that reduction offsets the loss of acceleration due to the energy absorbed by the flywheel, bringing up to higher RPM while traveling down the track. The answer is not clear, and most likely specific to things like weight of the vehicle, the engine's torque curve, shift points, etc.
There are two “givens” with a light weight flywheel. The reduced mass makes it harder to launch the car, and the reduced mass eats up less power when it is being accelerated. For road racing and auto-x, where the vehicle only gets launched once and then has to deal with repeated accel, decel, shifting, the lighter flywheel is a clear advantage.
For drag racing, it's not so clear. Sitting at the line, bringing the revs up in neutral stores energy in the flywheel. Drop the clutch and that energy helps propel the car forward, resulting in reduced 60-foot times. Shaving 1/10th off the 60-foot time can result in a reduction of 1.5X to 2X that 1/10th at the end of the track. But the issue is whether that reduction offsets the loss of acceleration due to the energy absorbed by the flywheel, bringing up to higher RPM while traveling down the track. The answer is not clear, and most likely specific to things like weight of the vehicle, the engine's torque curve, shift points, etc.
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Mar 8, 2003 06:43 PM