ACT streetlite or no?

[WhiteVoid]

I will be putting a new clutch in my car soon and I figure that since I will have it most of the way apart anyways I should put in a lightweight flywheel. I will be running a tmz kevlar face clutch and after reading the information on their page it seems they recommend using the act streetlite. After reading all of the threads I could find on here I'm wondering if it's a good idea after all. The car is daily driven and will see some dragstrip and hopefully some autocross. My question is: is it a good idea to invest in the lightweight flywheel or should I just keep the stocker in?

 

[Dsmkauai]

I would!! it ain't going to hurt anything and the gains are worth it! I have one on every Mitsu I have plus for Autox the light flywheel will give alittle faster revs!!

 

[95gstnate]

Its just my opinion but after reading this post I wont be running a stock flywheel anymore.
http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/maintenance-repairs/474740-exploding-flywheel.html

 

[WhiteVoid]

My main concern is maintaining drive ability. The common complaint I see is the car dying when coming to a stop or having a hard time moving around in tight spaces. Is this a big problem or more of something not adjusted properly?

 

[Dsmkauai]

It's all the driver bro! I have no problems with mine. The most important thing to do is have the clutch properly adjusted for your setup. And learn your clutchs engagement and disengagement points! And that's how you avoid having troubles! Also running prothane or ES solid motor mounts will help a ton!

 

[my dreamt dsm]

Me personally, WORSE UPGRADE EVER. Now I know why I see a lot for sale in the classifieds.

I'm just to lazy to put the stocker back in.

 

[WhiteVoid]

Me personally, WORSE UPGRADE EVER. Now I know why I see a lot for sale in the classifieds.

I'm just to lazy to put the stocker back in.

Can I ask what you personally don't like about it?

 

[WES_393]

plus for Autox the light flywheel will give alittle faster revs!!

Yeah, out of gear....

My question is: is it a good idea to invest in the lightweight flywheel or should I just keep the stocker in?

The issue most have with a lightweight flywheel is idle issues. Part of the function of a flywheel is to store energy (in the form of inertia) so that when you let off the gas the engine doesn't just stall. The mass of the rotating flywheel forces the engine to continue rotating, if only for a split second while the ECU resumes idle functions.

The performance gains of a lightweight flywheel are close to nil, and some clutches (such as Kevlar South Bend disks) can easily overheat thin flywheels and cause damage. On the other hand, stock flywheels are pretty old and raggedy at this point. But there's nothing wrong with using one IF it's properly inspected, machined, and balanced.

 

[WhiteVoid]

It seems like this is a love hate upgrade. Some love it and do it to every vehicle and some hate it and wish they had never done it. As to the over heating, tmz recommends the streetlite since it is thicker and still made out of material that has a good heat tolerance.

 

[1990dsmkid]

i have one and have no issues or complaints. Its an upgrade from what I had since I had a rps flywheel which was around 8lbs and I had issues with my idle with that one but since Ive switched Im good.

 

[Lou98GSX]

aluminum flywheel does not cause your car to stall . my son had it on his 98 gsx with a super afc set up . i have one on my 98 gsx with dsmlink set up . now my car when letting off the gas before coming to a stop will stall . i think its because of dsmlink where its not responding quick enough . now my sons car never stalls no matter how you drive it . with link i had to drive the car differently to get arround the stalling issue.maybe with ecmlink they fixed this problem.

 

[WhiteVoid]

I have no way to tune right now. Dsm link v3 is going to be my next upgrade after I redo my clutch.

 

[anthonypk]

My brother has an RSX and we put an 8lb flywheel which is on the more extreme side of lightness and an rsx has a lot less torque so it is easier to stall. My opinion is it does not make the car un-drivable. In CT we have stop signs, parking and red lights at steep inclines that are very challenging on uphill starts for someone new to standard transmissions so I can say that my experience is in the worst case daily driving scenario. if you are good with your clutch and gas pedal and can drive slow/inch forward with ease without using the throttle blip method, then a light flywheel wont affect you after 15 minutes or so to get used to the feel. A lot of people say it does not change the feel of the car, but I disagree. If you want it for straight line driving then yes the change is not really all that much, but if you drive your car hard and especially with heel-toe downshifts it makes a noticeable difference in my opinion. engine breaking also seems more aggressive because as stated you loose inertia faster. It can work against you in slow shifting I would think, but in daily driving it is not felt unless your shifting is not clean which it shouldn't be sloppy anyways so assuming you shift fine, a should be ok. best advice is if you can, drive a friends car that has a lightweight flywheel and see what you think. I am getting an 11lb flywheel in my gsx as it seems like a good middle ground from something like the 8lbs on my brothers rsx.

 

[WhiteVoid]

Based on everything I've read and the posts in this thread, I think I'm going to go ahead and get the light weight fly wheel. I tend not to use my brakes a lot and rely more on engine breaking so the increased slow down seems pretty nice, and I always try to shift as fast as I can so it shouldn't effect me as much during normal driving. Thank you for all of the replys.

 

[anthonypk]

Let us know how you like it! Honestly the biggest affect is going to be in first gear while trying to be butter smooth. Even then, you will get used to it.

 

[my dreamt dsm]

Can I ask what you personally don't like about it?

first off, installation.
engagement issues, and it sucks at the drag strip. You ARE NOT going to kill .05 seconds off your time. Maybe it's just me but I can not get the clutch right to get off the line at the track, Little to NO difference from stock. MONEY can be spent else where. It's just one of those parts that if you don't change, it's not gonna kill you. I prefer my stock flywheel.

 

[95talongirl]

I've been running a streetlite flywheel for years. It's even been resurfaced once when I had a clutch prematurely fail. Drivability is awesome with it, and it takes drag launches fine. I did bump the car's base idle up to the 900-1000rpm range and have not had any issues with stalling.

It's a great flywheel overall and plan on getting a new one with the clutch replacement in the spring. (If this one cannot be turned again)

 

[xxNocturnalxx]

I will step in and defend the ACT streetlite. I personally love it and have ran it in all of my 4g63 cars over the years. Drag racing, road racing, daily driving, no issues here.