gotorx7

Sorry if this has been covered a thousand times before, but the Search has been turned off

What's the general concensus on Lightened flywheels?

I have to replace a clutch in my S4 Turbo soon, and this would obviously be an opportune time to do the flywheel also...

I am not into drag's, but DO hate to be taken at the traffic lights

So what would you guys recommend? Material? Weight?

Cheers,
Dave

XLR8

iTrader: (52)

Personally I have never had anything but stock flywheels. However, a lightened flywheel allows your car to rev much quicker. It's taking more weight off the drivetrain, in turn putting more power to the wheels. If you are not into drags I would go for aluminum. It's the lightest without spending big money. Many companys recomend not using Aluminum for the street, only steel. But I have talked to many guys that have had no problems with them, even with dragging occasionally.

vaughnc

lightweight steel is a good choice as it gives you faster reving and is heavy enough to keep the rpms up and not sacrifice torque.

Anything lighter is only good for high rpm racing and kills streatability.

Personally I'd think about changing pully ratios to recover rwHP and not touch the flywheel.

Grimlock

i have the aluminum 12lb. f/w in my 88TII. you do loose some low end torque but the mid/high range pull is awsome!

in short 28lb vs. 12lb.

you get faster revs, faster spool up, car feels much lighter, still very streetable!

if your not dragging your car get one! trust me the difference is like night and day!

oh yeah i got the Rx7.com one, it's about $400 i believe. i have dragged my car, really hard too. i mean taking off at 5000+rpms a few times. they are not weak they can hold up. i have had mine in the car for over a yr. now and would highly recommend one to any TII owner.

Jerk_Racer

I have the 9.5# unit and love it. The ring gear and friction plate are steel, but the rest is aluminum. It doesn't have a problem with stop and go traffic. Stop and go on steep hills can be tricky. At least in Seattle it can be with all the traffic and hills around here. I don't drag race, but it never seems to have a problem with getting up and going from stoplight to stoplight. Grimlock is right, before and after is a night and day difference. It livens up the engine greatly. The car feel more like a sports car now. Low end torque isn't a problem either. It is totally streetable. If people say their car had idling issues after installing one, they had problems to start with and this only exaggerated it. It feels like the car had lost a couple hundred pounds in the higher gears.
I changed mine out because I figured if I was going to replacing my clutch, I might as well take care of this. I've never looked back. It's been over a half a year now.

jerk_racer@hotmail.com

Kurgan

Hope you have an air gun that can do over 300 ft/lbs of torque in reverse to get that f'n flywheel nut off, especially with the engine still in the car.

I wouldn't go any lighter than a 12 pound flywheel, and I like the idea of the non-aluminum ones as well...

BuddyRX7

I just bought an 18 lb light-weight steel flywheel for my car for 2 reasons. 1 it's my everyday driver and I know that aluminum 12lb flywheels were not designed for stop and go traffic, they were designed for continuous movement like on a track. I also drag my car on the strip and don't need a thousand pieces of aluminum tearing my legs off from that thing shattering. Just the thought of your legs getting chopped off should sway your decision on getting lightweight steel. Bottom line, alumumin probably won't break, but you'll probably never get crabs from some las vegas hooker, right?

LLADNAR

try getting the flywheel nut off with the engine out of the car,,,i tried making an engine brake with a piece of thick iron and the amount of pull i was putting on it was just bending it to ****,, so i jacked up my explorer and parked it on top of the engine,,it finally came off then.. it was tring to move the explorer too,,,that ****** was really on there

SupSai7

iTrader: (8)

I heard many differant stories on the aluminum flywheel vs steel flywheel, fom the aluminum f/w crowd I heard they are great and can be streetable by all means and just takes a little while too get used too. And makes a significant diff. in acceleration and feel. From the steel f/w crowd I heard that a lightweight f/w ain't worth the $$ but then again they mostly have the 17 and up pound steel f/w which isn't much of a diff. than stock. Hey your in Australia you need to check out www.japperformance.com for a f/w(you probably already knew that) but just makin sure .

LS1FC

iTrader: (4)

I have a 12lb aluminum flywheel from Racing Beat in my GTUs. It definately makes a difference, I dont think its a night and day difference but, it is a noticeable change. However if I had it over to do again, I would just leave the stock one and maybe get a pulley kit and an intake. Just my opinion. And yes, that flywheel nut is a bitch to take off. By the way my GTUs is still for sale, go into for sale section.

Jaybr

I just put a Bonez street/race clutch and lightweight steel F/W in my NA. I could definately tell a difference, but I wouldn't call it night and day. The engine revs faster but it's almost like stock taking off.

MIKE-P-28

iTrader: (1)

LOL 3 / 4" impact gun, and it goes D D D D DDD vroom off in 2 seconds

I tried getting one off with a 3 1/2 foot of cheater pipe on a 3/4 drive rachet and i said SCREW THIS. Went and got dads Snap On 3/4 and bam it was off

gotorx7

Thank you all for your advice...

I'l start checking some prices out!

Cheers,
Dave

My RX-7's

ponykiller

I am going to order a 17# steel flywheel from mazdatrix this week. I am running a hybrid turbo, so I want to be very sure it will not shatter from the extra power. What clutch are you using? I get the impression that with an aluminum flywheel you must slip the clutch a lot more to get moving from a stop, so consider getting a really tough clutch (ACT heavy duty) to go with an aluminum flywheel.

Kris

live4boost

iTrader: (2)

I like my 18lb one. Ive never driven anything less so I don't know the difference. But it is very streetable and I would recommend it.

gotorx7

I haven't decided on which clutch I'll use yet ...
I was thinking of having my own clutch rebuilt with heavier springs, etc...

Thanks for the advice!

Cheers,
Dave

Grimlock

is for TII's.