balance shafts

[95undrpsi]

Straight out what the heck are balance shafts, where are they, and how do you gain horse power out of removing them. Finally is it really worth to remove them for a daily driver. Thanks

 

[szewczyd]

No one go yelling at me for saying this but someone told me it is not a good idea to do this on the 2gen because of crank walk but it doesn't seem liek they are related at all. For more info on removal of them go to vfaq.com

 

[alex99gst]

this is what we have a search for, do a search b/c this has been asked 10000000000000000 times

 

[steve]

Simple answers.

The balance shafts make vibrations to cancle out the normal vibrations an inline 4 cyl engine generates making the engine seem smoother.

You gain horsepower because your no longer using that horsepower to spin up 7 lbs or so of metal so now it can go to the wheels.

If your still curious you will find a ton of information through searching.

Steve

 

[mike9146]

In addition to what Steve said, you'll gain more by not going to bling bling wheels than you will by removing the BS's. It's all about rotating mass, and it's proximity to it's axis of rotation. Wheels and tires make the biggest difference, then flywheel, then balance shafts. There is, of course, the frictional losses when turning the BS's, but they are minimal. Also, remember that you really aren't gaining horsepower in any case here, you are reducing the mass that the engine has to accelerate, so if you were to dyno on a non-inertia dyno, you wouldn't see any gains, regardless of how light anything in your drivetrain was. However, in the real world, the by-product of lighter rotating mass is greater acceleration.

Oh, and personally, I wouldn't remove them, but I value a smooth quiet car over gaining that last inth of speed. YMMV.

 

[greathuskie]

people also do it for the safety of knowing that there is no balance shaft belt to break which could get caught in the timing belt which means by by motor

 

[Defiant]

Kinda like having your nuts removed to avoid testicular cancer.

The Silent Shafts were developed by Mitsubishi in the early eighties to, as steve said, counter vibrations inherent in inline 4-cylinder engines. They work so well that Porsche paid Mits a royalty to be able to use them in the 944 engine. They're primarily a comfort item, removing them takes a small amount of that comfort away in greater engine vibration, and may give the rest of the engine slightly higher oil pressure levels.