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

 

[Matrixhunter]

wow i had no idea this post would go so far thanks for all the opinions as for my goals for the car im putting in a evo 3 turbo evo manifold today actually along with 550cc injectors looking for a car with some nice horsepower but not to the point that the car is not drivable. And for the flywheel i think i will stick with stock for now and just get a good act clutch to go with it. Thanks

 

[TurkF26]

whatever you do, dont go and try to save some money by getting your stock flywheel lightened... seen some not so good turnouts...

 

[josherino]

which lightened flywheel can be used with a SBR 3500? ACT, fidanza?

 

[95blackGsTurbo]

They will all work together.

 

[megadeth0]

Don't forget about RRE. If your on a budget.

 

[kspharris]

All will work, but I sure do like my fidanza.

 

[Lordpaxin]

really it depends on what you plan to do.

Some extreme light weight fw's pose negative effects on daily driving, rpms rise and fall too fast.

I orderd a act Streetlight. 11.x lbs, the findanza is 9 lbs or so.

 

[JOEY A]

Im using a ACT love it couldnt coplain.

 

[babiebluboi]

I gotta replace my tranny, and hella people were tellin' me that since tha tranny's out, might as well get a lightened flywheel while I'm at it. So how exactly does it help? Obviously I know it's lighter, but how does that help me acceleration or whatever it's supposed to help? What are tha ups and downs?

 

[wret]

Pluses:
-Less rotating mass so a little more power goes to turning the wheels,
-Smoother shifting. The revs are better matched between shifts because the revs drop much more rapidly with a light flywheel.
-Replaceable friction surface.

Minuses:
-Possible idle issues/stalling. The revs drop so quickly sometimes the ECU cannot compensate.
-Trickier launches. With much less momentum in the flywheel, the clutch/accelerator pedal coordination must be more precise for effective launching. I stalled about 10 times the first day on a new fidanza.

 

[babiebluboi]

So overall (with all tha plus and minuses) should I get a lightened flywheel? How is the launch different? Like how would you launch differently compared to a OEM flywheel?

 

[Lordpaxin]

what are your plans!
what are your goals!

how do you plan to use your car.

 

[kottyking]

If its your daily driver, dont get a flywheel. Just my opinion though.

 

[andymoraitis]

If its your daily driver, dont get a flywheel. Just my opinion though.

Horse hockey. I have an ACT Chromoly and can count how many times the car's stalled in the last year on one hand. And that was only after the cam install with the idle at 750. Taking the idle up solved the issue.

Andy

 

[Lordpaxin]

If its your daily driver, dont get a flywheel. Just my opinion though.

I have a act xact.
Really the negative effects on daily driver is more pronounced with the even lighter flywheels, the findanza(sp) and the many others. the act, ect.

I have noticed (since i adjusted my clutch right and its not slipping) not necessarily so much increase of Butt dyno felt HP. but the car holds rpm easier IE doent lag down as much on uphills in high gear, and seems to accellerate smoother, not necessarily faster, though it is a LITTLE bit faster.

my friend has a VIBE and vs. a bone stock awd dsm, on topend its fairley close, and our daily drives to work we usually play around, and WITH the act flywheel, I can widen the gap, and pull away faster

before he could hang tight, now the gap is widened.

*on a closed course during racing in driving to work reenactments at the track*

 

[Nitercr02]

I have a act xact.
Really the negative effects on daily driver is more pronounced with the even lighter flywheels, the findanza(sp) and the many others. the act, ect.

I have noticed (since i adjusted my clutch right and its not slipping) not necessarily so much increase of Butt dyno felt HP. but the car holds rpm easier IE doent lag down as much on uphills in high gear, and seems to accellerate smoother, not necessarily faster, though it is a LITTLE bit faster.

my friend has a VIBE and vs. a bone stock awd dsm, on topend its fairley close, and our daily drives to work we usually play around, and WITH the act flywheel, I can widen the gap, and pull away faster

before he could hang tight, now the gap is widened.

*on a closed course during racing in driving to work reenactments at the track*

So a flywheel is a good way to go? I am just curious because I have also wondered what the advantages would be... I usually don't hear the cons and it would seem like the pros outweigh the cons..

 

[wret]

I got one because I needed a new flywheel anyway and I didn't fully research the side effects. I had idle issues but I was able to eliminate them eventually by finding and eliminating a leak at the BISS and adjusting it. There are a few people who could never quite get the idle fully under control but there was likely some interaction with other high performance mods.

As far as launching goes, I am now fully retrained and I do not stall often. Daily stop and go traffic doesn't bother me, but every once in a while, when I'm distracted, I'll let the rpms get too low and let it stall. Bottom line, you'll get used to it but if someone who is unfamiliar with it drives your car, they will likely stall repeatedly.

The lightweight flywheel probably was not the best choice for me but it's staying in there.

 

[Caithness]

-Replaceable friction surface.

That's only if he goes with an aluminum fly like your Fidanza. The ACT can be ground by a machine shop 2-3 times.

Also, the issues with idle and drivability are very minor with the XACT. The only adjustment I needed to make going from stock to the act was feeding in a bit more rpm to get going from a stop. Only noticeable to somebody who has driven the car a lot.

 

[trd-2-dsm]

i didn't know there were so many differnt aspect for ,ightened flywheels. thanks guys this gives me alot to think about because i was just planning to buy mine before reading this thread honestly

 

[Lordpaxin]

Glad we can help, thats what we are for.

keep us updated on what you decide to do.

 

[babiebluboi]

Whoa man! I didn't know about all these side effects! My plans/goals for tha car....nothing crazy. I don't take it to tha track. The only time I race is whenever I see a car on tha street that's modified. Otherwise, I don't really race it. Yea, it is my daily driver though. But you guys are saying that as long as I get used to it, it'll be fine? Couldn't be that hard, right? Is it like adjusting to a new clutch? I'll base my judgment on your guys' reply. Thanks!

 

[daren_p]

The stocker weighs in at around 18 lbs, the xact units are around 12 lbs and the aluminum ones are around 7-8 lbs. Most of the driveaility issues (stalling when pressing in the clutch) are on the super light aluminum flywheels. You shouldn't have any issues like this with the xact units.

 

[Caithness]

I'd highly recommend doing it if you have the money. I love the feel of mine. It really made rev-matching downshifts a lot easier, and the engine just feels more responsive overall.

 

[babiebluboi]

The stocker weighs in at around 18 lbs, the xact units are around 12 lbs and the aluminum ones are around 7-8 lbs. Most of the driveaility issues (stalling when pressing in the clutch) are on the super light aluminum flywheels. You shouldn't have any issues like this with the xact units.

Ohhh so, the aluminum ones are the ones that are harder to drive with. I was planning to get an ACT one anyways. Thanks!

 

[Forsakened]

I debated running a Fidanza since I just got done rebuilding my motor/tranny. My feeling is yes it may be more responsive, but since everyone seems to notice how your revs drop between shifts, well that means that boost drops too. So with the stock flywheel it allows you to hold boost between shifts by keeping your RPMs up. I decided to keep my stocker for that reason.