Effects of lightweight flywheel? [merged] light weight lightened aluminum ACT fidanza

[Fryguy]

All light weight flywheel newbie threads are merged here.

I'm looking for my car to be very fast at lower speeds; my main goal is very fast acceleration. Will a lightweight flywheel be beneficial to this? Or should I just save up all my money and drop a turbo on my 84k engine

 

[97GSTURBO]

A lightweight flywheel will help with acceleration quite a bit.

P.S. Being "Very fast at lower speeds" is a little contradictory, you might have just wanted to say you want your car to accelerate quickly!

L8R

 

[Fryguy]

hehe, i figured that, but what exactly will it do? I won't gain any horsepower or anything will I? I don't understand what it does and what effects it'll have on the upper end.

BTW, does anybody besides fidanza make a good flywheel for us? And can I find one cheaper than $350?

 

[97GSTURBO]

There are a few company's that make lightweight flywheels, You'd have to look in the tuning and parts guide to find out who... the reason it makes your car faster is that it reduces rotational mass. (Makes things lighter) Which makes the engine move easier. If you're gonna get a flywheel get a High perf clutch, and a underdrive pulley while you're at it. You'll like the difference!

 

[Fryguy]

So is there a horsepower gain? or do I just rev faster?

I wish it was easier to hit 240hp w/o going turbo

 

[pilotleston]

Someone is selling one for less than $300 I think (here in the forum). I don´t remeber the name, but is the guy with the dark grey Eclipse with pics of his car and a very bright turbo in his signature.

 

[DNA_Cyan]

Hi,

There is no HP gain from a light-weight flywheel.

as 97GSTURBO pointed out, there is less rotational mass which means your RPMs can go up faster........

and since HP is a function of torque and RPM, you'll be able to reach your peak powerband faster then with a heavier flywheel. note that rev's drop faster too when you clutch in.

Basically, its a mod loved by autocrosses and the twisties ppl but not so popular with the drag ppl. Rational being, in autocross, you are constantly upshifting and downshifting and need the quick rise (&drop) in RPMs to get to peak HP fast and also good for engine braking. For drag, I have heard that they even add weight to the FW. not sure why....din do research in this area cuz I'm not a big fan of drag. Hope this is not too confusing.

On a side note, I have migrated here from a honda board since I sold my prelude and am intending to get a G1. Over there, there is a constant argument between aluminium FWs, and Chromoly Steel ones.

Some say the aluminiums warp more easily due to heat and faces the danger of shattering.....others say the chromoly ones are brittle.

I myself went with a JUN Chromoly steel one and liked it.

what's the opinion on the members of this board?

 

[97GSTURBO]

Originally posted by pilotleston
Someone is selling one for less than $300 I think (here in the forum). I don´t remeber the name, but is the guy with the dark grey Eclipse with pics of his car and a very bright turbo in his signature.

That would be larryD, and it's a flywheel for a 7bolt turbo eclipse, so that wouldn't work for Fryguy.


I've got a Chromoly lightweight on my Nissan and I like it... I haven't heard any crap about alluminum ones. I don't have one on the eclipse yet.

 

[pilotleston]

Ok, sorry for that one then!

 

[Fryguy]

if I get a lightweight flywheel, will i end up using a lot more gas, since I rev to higher rpms faster? I can't decide whetehr I want to do a flywheel, pulleys, and a 4-1 header, or just do a 4-2-1 header and maybe pulleys...

I'm looking for streetability.

 

[DNA_Cyan]

u will end up using up more gas, but its really really slight. The only reason is cuz you might need to use a little bit more gas to move off from a dead stop. Especially on a slope. But I would say its slight enough such that I wouldn't feel a real noticable burn in my gas money.

the fact that the RPMs rise faster then before shouldn't affect mileage. You just have to shift earlier that's all.

as for the header, if you want streetability, I would stick with a 4-2-1 header configuration. The 4-1 is geared more for high-end power and you lose some in the low end.

anyways, this is my opinion from my honda knowledge. but i dun see why it should be different.

anyone else have a different opinion???

 

[Fryguy]

Well, a 4-1 and a flywheel interact well, but how well do a 4-2-1 and a flywheel interact?

 

[turboholic]

-Here come the flame.
-You'll get better result from light weight wheels(tire) then the fly-wheel, or do the wheel 1st then the fly-wheel later.

 

[DNA_Cyan]

Originally posted by turboholic
-Here come the flame.
-You'll get better result from light weight wheels(tire) then the fly-wheel, or do the wheel 1st then the fly-wheel later.

No flames from this NooB here, cuz I totally agree.

Definately, suspension components are the most important (for me) and the wheels and rims start off first. Get the lightest weight rim you can possilby afford and nice sticky low profiles. Then move on the gain more power/speed.

4-1 with FW will work fine. ONLY IF you are only interested in high end power. Personally, I feel that they work best with cars that have high RPM ranges like some of the Honda cars (Type R) or something.

If you are looking for streetability, I would say, go with a 4-2-1 header.

 

[Fryguy]

btw, I think you misunderstood, I know the FW and 4-1 work fine, but how about the FW and 4-2-1. I'm looking for streetability and quick acceleration from lower speeds.

 

[DNA_Cyan]

Originally posted by Fryguy
btw, I think you misunderstood, I know the FW and 4-1 work fine, but how about the FW and 4-2-1. I'm looking for streetability and quick acceleration from lower speeds.

oh....I understood your question. maybe I wasn't clear that's all.

A lightweight Flywheel with a 4-2-1 is the setup that I would go with. The streetability will still be there (unless you go with a 5lb FW or some other crazy low weight ones), and you would not lose that much low end (as opposed to a 4-1 header).


I assume you are going to get your clutch upgraded at the same time right??

 

[JadedSilver]

Basically, its a mod loved by autocrosses and the twisties ppl but not so popular with the drag ppl. Rational being, in autocross, you are constantly upshifting and downshifting and need the quick rise (&drop) in RPMs to get to peak HP fast and also good for engine braking. For drag, I have heard that they even add weight to the FW. not sure why....din do research in this area cuz I'm not a big fan of drag. Hope this is not too confusing

100% correct..............

the main reason why professional drag racers add, or more or less adjust(tune), the weight of the flywheel is simply a matter of the torque curve on their engine. adding a lightweight flywheel drops the overall rotational mass of the engine, but it also has some adverse effects between shifts. lightweight flywheels are great for acceleration but between shifts, an engine with such a flywheel equiped can easily drop out and below the engines' target torque range or band between a shift. in drag racing where every 1/10th counts, they fine tune the weight of the flywheel at a particular rpm for their engines' torque curve and tranny shift pattern so that the engine stays at their predetermined maximum power rpm, or rpm range i should say. kinda like trying to keep your turbo spooled at that sweet spot rpm between shifts where it produces maximum power w/o alot of hot air

it's also noticeable where rally X teams use lightweight flywheels for awesome acceleration and close ratio gear boxes to keep the engine right in that "sweet spot" torque band.

i'm liking this board already

 

[Fryguy]

To the person who said to go with 4-2-1 and the FW, won't having the FW get me out of the target rpms of the header faster? Unless I'm misunderstanding the powerband of the headers (4-2-1 at less than 3000, 4-1 at more than 3000), most race driving (practically all), is going to be done at more than 3000, when the 4-1s are more beneficial.

Man, I had made the decision to go with 4-1s until you said that

 

[DNA_Cyan]

well, you mentioned you wanted Streetability right?

if your car is constantly raced, and you won't need the power in the low RPM ranges........then by all means go with the 4-1.

but you see........generally, a 4-2-1 header looses slight bottom end, gains mid range, and ALSO gains high end.

but a 4-1 header looses quite abit of low end, not sure how it affects mid-range (also depends on how the car is tuned) and gains more high-end then the 4-2-1.

the gains of the 4-1 in the high-end will be more then the 4-2-1. but that dosn't mean the 4-2-1 dosn't gain any.

its just a tradeoff on the drivability of the car..........its all really up to you on how you expect your car to turn out.

I mean, I used to drive Prelude, and they dun even make 4-1 headers for preludes.....cuz no one wants them. There's bound to be a reason behind that.

 

[Fryguy]

So rolling in 2nd at like 2500, if I want to blast off real quick, then a 4-2-1 is right for me?

Ok then, 4-2-1 and flywheel it is, along with pulleys, cam gears, throttle body, catback, hi-flow cat, and nitrous

 

[I Need BOOST!]

a FW wont hurt your gas mileage one bit it will help actually! it will be less restriction against the engine. make the engine run easier more efficent there for making run easier!

you will see large gains off of it! but you will see HUGE GAINS if you turbo your car! i have a 9lbs FW on my Probe GT now. and it wraps up really fast i an pick off N/A tuned DSM's daily. but the boosted ones are a different story!

i would suggest you gett one! and header is a lot of torque and all but its a waste of money IMO, just boost your car you will be happier it will run like 250hp qwk!

 

[Fryguy]

I would go boost, but I don't have $2-3000 to throw around in one shot

 

[DNA_Cyan]

Originally posted by Fryguy
I would go boost, but I don't have $2-3000 to throw around in one shot

if you intend to go boost further down the line, are you sure you wanna spend money to get a header now??

 

[biddybengbeng]

Originally posted by I Need BOOST!
a FW wont hurt your gas mileage one bit it will help actually! it will be less restriction against the engine. make the engine run easier more efficent there for making run easier!

you will see large gains off of it! but you will see HUGE GAINS if you turbo your car! i have a 9lbs FW on my Probe GT now. and it wraps up really fast i an pick off N/A tuned DSM's daily. but the boosted ones are a different story!

i would suggest you gett one! and header is a lot of torque and all but its a waste of money IMO, just boost your car you will be happier it will run like 250hp qwk!

a flywheel will make the car rev a LOT quicker, and while it won't add any real power, your car will make better use of the power the engine already does make.

bring it i need boost... i have a DSM in your area (jesse i'm guessing). yet, you still refuse to race me. i wonder why... with your super probe and all

 

[Fryguy]

DNA, by the time I have enough money for a turbo, my car will have at least 100,000 miles, not really worth it to me then. I'm going to go with a zex 55 shot of nitrous instead