Aftrermarket Flywheels: What brand is the best??
 

Greetings. It's been a long time since I posted here. I have been searching for about 2 hours to no avail. I am doing an engine swap on my '90 'vert, and want to replace the stock flywheel with an aftermarket lightweight one. The engine I am putting in is from an automatic S5 so I have the counterweight. I just wanted some people to step forward and tell me what brand flywheel is the best and why. I am currently looking at the Fidanza 161991. Does anyone have any other suggestions? I just purchased an ACT clutch kit on the recommendation of a mechanic friend. I value your oppionions and experiances! Thanks!

http://www.jdmhub.com/index.php?rout...940_2938_39733

good brand but jdm hub is way to expensive

I have a Racing Beat, I love it. Pricey, but great quality.

I like the ACT one because it's made with chromoly instead of aluminum and steel. I've heard bad things about flywheels made from aluminum and steel like the outer ring separates from the flywheel...

but I also think the ACT one is only available in turbo size...

one nice thing about he fidanza and the racingbeat flywheels is that you can replace the friction plates...

http://mazdatrix.com/flywheel.htm
http://mazdatrix.com/f-writng.htm

act or jun flywheels. for the same reason as eage8 said, they are boath made out of chromoly. try to stay away from the aluminum flywheels. and the chromoly flywheels ARE just as light as the aluminum ones, i have had other people try to say different.

What is your purpose for the lighter flywheel?

The reason people say different is because aluminum is, in fact, lighter than chrome-molybdenum steel. Sure, design has a lot to do with the static weight, and even more importanly the moment of inertia, but aluminum is lighter with everything else being equal.

Thanks for the info everyone! I want a lightened flywheel to decrease latency of launches. I don't think I want the lightest type. I don't race the car on the track, I just use it on the street. The engine I am swapping to is an automatic, so I have the counterweight. I have heard great things about lightweight flywheels, and I want to drive one myself. I am less concerned with pure lightness, and more concerned with drivablilty, durability, and performance. I don't want to have to get back in there after a year of spirited driving and replace it, or the friction ring. And I defiantly do not want it to fly apart and de-leg-itate me. (slice off my legs)

I looked at the Racing Beat FW, and they are very expensive. $500 is out of my price range. I also looked at the others posted here. I am leaning toward the ACT StreetLite 600145.

http://www.advancedclutch.com/produc...x?prod_id=5505


Partially cause it says it's "The most durable flywheel on the market". Also because it has a very attractive price tag.
If anyone has links to sales of new flywheels or places to purchase the ones mentioned on this thread, please post them! The first link of the Fidanza at JDM Hub was the cheapest I found online, and had free shipping.

Thanks again everyone!

Matt|ttaM

if I could go back and do it again, I would have put a stock flywheel back in my car when I rebuilt the motor (i don't feel like pulling it apart right now). Over the past 6 years I've had light flywheels on two FC's, turbo and nonturbo, with all different types of clutches, and I'm just sick of it. They make the rpms drop so quickly that the car gets much more prone to stalling. It's just a pain in the ass. These cars have no low end torque and a light flywheel just gets annoying after a while.

Meh, they're all pretty durable - I wouldn't worry about them falling apart in your application.

Get one if you can find it cheap, and you're already doing the clutch, otherwise, whatever, save your cash.

I assume a simple way of explaining lightweight flywheels is that it's not really saving the total weight that matters so much, it's the fact you don't have a big steel ring on the outside of the flywheel. That stores a ton of energy, so it is more resistant to the RPM changing (either up or down). Aftermarket flywheels don't have that extra ring, the weight is distributed, so they allow the RPM to change faster.

It's all personal preference. you sacrifice some things and gain others - you gotta slip a bit more in your launch, but you can accel a whole lot harder in lower gears.

Rev matching happens a lot faster, revs can drop faster between gears too.

Idle can be slightly rougher depending on your setup.

I had a 9.5lb aluminum on my 'vert and loved it.

it's lighter, yes, but chromoly is stronger so they can put giant holes in it and it'll still be fine.

http://www.redlinemotive.com/images/...t-flywheel.jpg

their static weight is the same, but I would argue that the ACT flywheel has more of it's weight towards the center...

I have an ACT prolite and I don't think it's hard to drive at all. As long as you have decent clutch skills you'll be more than fine. I can't comment on idling though, since I've tuned my megasquirt to compensate.

again though, I would double check it'll fit an NA clutch, I think ACT flywheels might only be for turbos....

When I select the car and engine it asks for R2 1.3L N FI or T, I assume the T means turbo and the N means N/A.

The first aftermarket flywheel I installed was a steel one. I liked it. Throttle response was improved. It was a bit to get used to at first but after a day or so it was fine. I remember stalling it a few times at lights. Once I got used to it, I wanted more. Later on I changed to an aluminum one and loved it. Again it took more getting used to but after another day or so if felt normal. That car is long gone.

My current car still has the stock flywheel and I really want to change it. However with life being what it is being married with bills as opposed to back in the day when all my money went to hobbies, it may be a while yet. I actually have a Racing Beat steel flywheel in storage that I can use but I'm tempted to get rid of it to get a lighter one. I'm afraid that if I install it, I'll want more.

Keep in mind that I love the lightest flywheels and have no issues on the street. Others don't like them. It's personal preference. I would never drive a bridge or peripheral port engine on the street but others do and like it. Make an educated decision. That's about the best you can do.

Depending how you drive, a lightened flywheel may actually make your launch slower. You may want to check in your regional forum to see if anybody near you will let you try driving their car to see if you like their particular light flywheel or not.

Not all aftermarket light flywheels will work with the stock automatic counterweight. Some aftermarket flywheels will require you to buy their counterweight or have a machinist modify the stock counterweight.

They were, but from the website search function it looks like they added NA flywheels.

Oh, you mean giant holes and weight towards the center like this aluminum Quarter Master RX-7 flywheel that weighs 3.1 lbs? ;)

I bought the ACT Streetlite and I've never had a stalling issue, even with a 6 puck solid pad clutch with a sprung hub. You can basically take off with almost no throttle, but maybe the stalling has to do with driver skill.

I think it was one of the best mods I've done, it revs much quicker and made it more fun to drive quickly.

Vince

You will find that that is a mistake on the ACT website. The 600140 & 600145 both will not fit the N/A FC. The -01, -02 & -03 corresponds to the kit that comes with the counterweight
-01 S4 Turbo
-02 S5 Turbo and FD
-03 RX-8

ACT does not make a flywheel for the N/A FC any more, that I am aware of.