w00t Got my new Lightened Flywheel today

[Oyvind Ryeng]

Incorrect. If the wheel is too light, you lose low end torque.

Incorrect. The torque the engine produces remains the same, it just takes less time to accellerate, in other words, it gives better accelleration overall. The myth that you loose torque is hard to kill. Tell me - why would the engine suddenly produce less torque by just changing the flywheel? It doesn't make sense, right? The only thing that changes is that you have less mass in motion to push the car off the line. But when you are off the line and the engine tries to change rotational speed (ie. accellerate), it has less mass to bring up to that speed; the change of speed happens faster - ergo, better accelleration. Similar sensation as to running very light wheels.

I'm not the machinist but I think anymore weight loss and you're going to begin to compromise the wheel's integrity.

It's all in *where* material is removed. If you remove material from the center section - sure it gets weaker. But if you take material off from the edge (see those lips near the starter ring gear?) the flywheel actually gets *stronger*. Hard to believe?

Look at it this way - rotating mass is experiencing sentrifugal force - the faster the flywheel spins, the more the outer mass tries to rip the flywheel apart. Now, if there is less mass far out on the flywheel, the ripping sentrifugal force exerted on the more inner parts are also less.

[Coroncho80]

I haven't read the whole thread but we installed a 12 lbs competition clutch flywheel to my friend's G3 teg and one to mines (both turbo tegs - his 20 psi and mines 16 psi) and the difference is not much. I thought it was going to be a drastic revving change but it was not the case...

[Elijah]

Stock is 21 pounds just wieghed mine.

[phrenology]

Incorrect. The torque the engine produces remains the same, it just takes less time to accellerate, in other words, it gives better accelleration overall. The myth that you loose torque is hard to kill. Tell me - why would the engine suddenly produce less torque by just changing the flywheel? It doesn't make sense, right? The only thing that changes is that you have less mass in motion to push the car off the line. But when you are off the line and the engine tries to change rotational speed (ie. accellerate), it has less mass to bring up to that speed; the change of speed happens faster - ergo, better accelleration. Similar sensation as to running very light wheels.




It's all in *where* material is removed. If you remove material from the center section - sure it gets weaker. But if you take material off from the edge (see those lips near the starter ring gear?) the flywheel actually gets *stronger*. Hard to believe?

Look at it this way - rotating mass is experiencing sentrifugal force - the faster the flywheel spins, the more the outer mass tries to rip the flywheel apart. Now, if there is less mass far out on the flywheel, the ripping sentrifugal force exerted on the more inner parts are also less.

My quote referred to removing too much material from the back side of the wheel. That is the area my manufacturer has made the modifications because its essentially "dead weight". If you shave too much off from any area and make the wheel waffer thin it will never be able to handle the load from the clutch and will flex. I have discussed removing more material from the front side edges. In the next phase of development we will take this into consideration. The goal for this product is to make a compromise between light weight for acceleration and reliable safety. This product is in no way intended to be a pure racing performance modification.

[MarioBurke]

Absolutely, and the final weight is 16.5lbs. I believe the stock weight is 23lbs? Can someone confirm this?

Yikes 16 lbs and its not even the one with the steel ring insert. the one i bought was like 13. some odd lbs with the shipping box! hahaha but i you'll love it. i know i Do!

[Elijah]

is the flywheel balanced in some way. I found a machine shop to do mine but we dont know if its balanced or not?

[phrenology]

is the flywheel balanced in some way. I found a machine shop to do mine but we dont know if its balanced or not?

All of the flywheels produced by my manufacturer are tested and balanced. If you look closely at the photos of Hostile's and mine you will see the balancing marks on the backside. I do not recommend having a machine shop lighten your flywheel unless they've had experience doing so. Just throwing an old flywheel on a lathe and taking as much material off as you can before the wheel cracks is not a good idea. If the machinist doesn't have the tools or know how to balance a flywheel than I would highly suggest going another route.

The ones I'm selling are brand new and lightened by a manufacturer that does nothing but make flywheels. Also note that if you have your old flywheel resurfaced it will not retain the OEM rated surface depth. The more you shave in resurfacing, the deeper your clutch has to dig into the flywheel to get traction. If you know your machine shop and they have good experience with lightening flywheels then good luck. The main reason I'm offering the lightened wheel is because a lot of the machine shops around here wouldn't do the work on the A20 flywheel. Its not flat like other wheels and trickier to machine correctly. Know your machine shop and they're limitations, play it safe.

[Elijah]

Cool thanks now I could use some more info or a link to a thread about your flywheels. Price ect....

[phrenology]

Cool thanks now I could use some more info or a link to a thread about your flywheels. Price ect....

Elijah, click on the link to my online shop in my signature. Applied Engine Technologies is our company. Right now our work is centered around A20 engine components. All info and prices/pics are on the site. If you have questions about our products than email me through the website. Enjoy!

[ICEMAN707]

hmm that flywheel is a pretty good deal in price and overall weight for daily driving use. i'd like an aluminum flywheel for when i do my 5 spd swap but i'm thinking it might be too light.

besides, isn't there anything bad about a very light flywheel? like stalling or lag due to less rotating mass momentum for the clutch and tranny to move? especially when you got heavier wheels? i think you'd have to launch at a high rpm just to keep the engine from stalling when you dump the clutch right? that would suck having to do that every red light, or worse on an incline/hill...lol how would you put your foot on the gas to keep the rpm up while be on the brakes and clutch at the same time?

on another note, who else sells aluminum flywheels for our cars besides unorthodox racing? it's pretty pricey at about $530. so i think i'm gonna consider phrenology's lightened steel flywheel unless there is another manufacturer that sells aluminum flywheels out there cheaper than unorthodox racing's so i can try it out and see if the aluminum ones are ok for daily driving or not. $530 for unorthodox flywheel is too much $$$ to give a try.

[phrenology]

hmm that flywheel is a pretty good deal in price and overall weight for daily driving use. i'd like an aluminum flywheel for when i do my 5 spd swap but i'm thinking it might be too light.

besides, isn't there anything bad about a very light flywheel? like stalling or lag due to less rotating mass momentum for the clutch and tranny to move? especially when you got heavier wheels? i think you'd have to launch at a high rpm just to keep the engine from stalling when you dump the clutch right? that would suck having to do that every red light, or worse on an incline/hill...lol how would you put your foot on the gas to keep the rpm up while be on the brakes and clutch at the same time?

on another note, who else sells aluminum flywheels for our cars besides unorthodox racing? it's pretty pricey at about $530. so i think i'm gonna consider phrenology's lightened steel flywheel unless there is another manufacturer that sells aluminum flywheels out there cheaper than unorthodox racing's so i can try it out and see if the aluminum ones are ok for daily driving or not. $530 for unorthodox flywheel is too much $$$ to give a try.

Just think of it as getting a quality new OEM replacement wheel with the added benefits of being lightened, balanced and having a freshly milled surface to mate with your clutch. All that and you don't have to worry about core charges or the quality of the machinework. The only other aluminum flywheel for your application I've seen is by Mueller. Its a billet wheel but it goes for $450. I'm not trying to compete with aluminums but for a daily driver application I wouldn't spend +$400 for a flywheel. Aluminum is not cheap anymore so any place that you go looking for aluminum billet products you're going to pay $$$$.