Do they make a lightened flywheel for our cars?
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Do they make a lightened flywheel for our cars?
Do they? I hear you can get some nice gains from these.
IronFist
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I don't know how true this is, but I heard this from drivetofast (Josh) who is a mechanic at a honda dealership ... he said that lightened flywheels will do absolutely nothing except to make your car idle higher and run at a higher rpm ... *shrug*
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Rep Power: 319 I heard that what you need to buy is a flywheel that weights the same as stock but focus most of the weight at the center of the flywheel.
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From: milwaukee, Wisconsin, US
Rep Power: 0 if lightened flywheels didnt do anything, they wouldnt be n the majority of race engines, but, i know they dont put them on like 400+ hp hondas because they actually want the weight there to get the crank going... but, i intend to put one on my turbo'd civic 1.7l right along with a 6 puck clutch.... looking for deal right now as a matter of fact
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Rep Power: 0 A lightened flywheel will make your car accelerate better, but will make it lose some top end speed. The reason for this is, getting a lighter flywheel is like getting lighter rims, it is less unsprung mass.
Making the flywheel weigh less means your car doens't have to accelerate as much weight every time it revs. When going up a hill, it loses the extra momentum the heavier flywheel gives, that's why it suffers when going up hills. Lightening the flywheel will also make your revs drop REALLY quickly when you take it out of gear and stop giveing it gas. Changing out the flywheel will not RAISE your idle, your idle is set by the ecu.
I haven't done this to my car, but I think the civic already has something like a 14lb flywheel, so lightening it more wouldn't do very much, I may be wrong on that though.
Making the flywheel weigh less means your car doens't have to accelerate as much weight every time it revs. When going up a hill, it loses the extra momentum the heavier flywheel gives, that's why it suffers when going up hills. Lightening the flywheel will also make your revs drop REALLY quickly when you take it out of gear and stop giveing it gas. Changing out the flywheel will not RAISE your idle, your idle is set by the ecu.
I haven't done this to my car, but I think the civic already has something like a 14lb flywheel, so lightening it more wouldn't do very much, I may be wrong on that though.
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Rep Power: 527 Very informative, HondaLuver. 
Renamazazo, I don't really care too much about top end speed, because that's illegal anyway. If my top end speed was lowered from 120 to 110, but I could get from 0-60 in like .5 seconds quicker, that would be fine with me.
The revs dropping quickly when you come off the gas makes sense, since there would be less momentum from a lighter flywheel.
IronFist
Renamazazo, I don't really care too much about top end speed, because that's illegal anyway. If my top end speed was lowered from 120 to 110, but I could get from 0-60 in like .5 seconds quicker, that would be fine with me.
The revs dropping quickly when you come off the gas makes sense, since there would be less momentum from a lighter flywheel.
IronFist
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Rep Power: 0 A lot of different information going around.
That Josh mechanic is totally wrong about flywheels. Idle has nothing to do with the flywheel.... how can it since the flywheel is part of the transmission, and idle is when the gear is set to neutral? You will not run at higher RPM either.
What Renamazazo said is essentially correct, though you don't necessarily lose any top speed. Here are the pros and cons of a flywheel:
Faster revs: this means revs dropping and increasing. This means that your blipping the throttle to match revs will be a lot faster. While giving better acceleration, if revs are too fast it makes for impractical driving if the flywheel is too light.
Easily lose momentum: exactly what Renamazazo said.
More wear to clutch: Flywheels also act as a heatsink if I recall correctly. If it is incorrectly lightened, it will generate more heat wearing out the clutch faster.
Buying an ACT Clutch + flywheel gets really good results. Check the member's ride forums and do a search.
-Aki
ps- 400+ racecars have light flywheels as well.
That Josh mechanic is totally wrong about flywheels. Idle has nothing to do with the flywheel.... how can it since the flywheel is part of the transmission, and idle is when the gear is set to neutral? You will not run at higher RPM either.
What Renamazazo said is essentially correct, though you don't necessarily lose any top speed. Here are the pros and cons of a flywheel:
Faster revs: this means revs dropping and increasing. This means that your blipping the throttle to match revs will be a lot faster. While giving better acceleration, if revs are too fast it makes for impractical driving if the flywheel is too light.
Easily lose momentum: exactly what Renamazazo said.
More wear to clutch: Flywheels also act as a heatsink if I recall correctly. If it is incorrectly lightened, it will generate more heat wearing out the clutch faster.
Buying an ACT Clutch + flywheel gets really good results. Check the member's ride forums and do a search.
-Aki
ps- 400+ racecars have light flywheels as well.
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Rep Power: 527 Uh, clutch... so you can still put lightened flywheels in AT cars, right?
if revs are too fast it makes for impractical driving if the flywheel is too light.
Wait, ok, our cars get to, what, like 30mph in 1st gear right? (I think AT is more and MT is less, so we'll average it out to 30).
So if it gets you too many rpms too quickly, does that mean it would get you to redline quicker, and therefore to 30mph quicker? Because I assume that a flywheel doesn't change the speed that each gear tops out at, right?
Faster acceleration would be cool
IronFist
if revs are too fast it makes for impractical driving if the flywheel is too light.
Wait, ok, our cars get to, what, like 30mph in 1st gear right? (I think AT is more and MT is less, so we'll average it out to 30).
So if it gets you too many rpms too quickly, does that mean it would get you to redline quicker, and therefore to 30mph quicker? Because I assume that a flywheel doesn't change the speed that each gear tops out at, right?
Faster acceleration would be cool
IronFist
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Rep Power: 0 Lightened flywheels are only for manual transmission. If you got an automatic ...sorry dude.
Yup, a flywheel doesn't change the speed that each gear tops out. So on a flat road your acceleration will be quicker ... so to answer your question yes you will get to the redline quicker. However since our cars are pretty weak in terms of power, if you're going on a steep hill expect the car to be struggling, especially if you're in low RPMs. Deceleration is just as pronounced as acceleration. So technically you're not increasing any power.
Does make for a more spiffy ride though.
Yup, a flywheel doesn't change the speed that each gear tops out. So on a flat road your acceleration will be quicker ... so to answer your question yes you will get to the redline quicker. However since our cars are pretty weak in terms of power, if you're going on a steep hill expect the car to be struggling, especially if you're in low RPMs. Deceleration is just as pronounced as acceleration. So technically you're not increasing any power.
Does make for a more spiffy ride though.
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Rep Power: 527 Dude, every engine has a flywheel.
lease:
IronFist
lease: IronFist
Last edited by IronFist; Jul 29, 2003 at 03:50 PM.
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Rep Power: 0 From what I've read on these forums, a 10 lb. flywheel would be sufficient, and any lighter would be a waste. When I upgrade my clutch, that's what I'll be getting. Of course, I'm still months away from upgrading.... But once I do, I'll post results. I'd love to get more acceleration out of my 02 EX MT.
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Rep Power: 0 thats wrong, a torque converter is the autos "clutch". both AT and MT have flywheels. for MT the clutch engages when the cluth pedal is not depressed to the flywheel and for AT the Torque converter is always engaged to the flywheel it just
Originally posted by CivicRookie
From what I've read on these forums, a 10 lb. flywheel would be sufficient, and any lighter would be a waste. When I upgrade my clutch, that's what I'll be getting. Of course, I'm still months away from upgrading.... But once I do, I'll post results. I'd love to get more acceleration out of my 02 EX MT.
From what I've read on these forums, a 10 lb. flywheel would be sufficient, and any lighter would be a waste. When I upgrade my clutch, that's what I'll be getting. Of course, I'm still months away from upgrading.... But once I do, I'll post results. I'd love to get more acceleration out of my 02 EX MT.
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Rep Power: 374 Good info to know guys. So what do you recommend? I like the idea of the ACT clucth/flywheel combo. What is the weight on the ACT flywheel? And do you guys know a place I can get like a stage 2 or 3 ACT clutch and the ACT flywheel?
Last question, I'm planning on getting the SF turbo kit in the future. I plan on getting an aftermarket clutch and flywheel at the same time. But I don't want to get too weak of a clutch that will not last long or too strong of a clutch that I'll snap axels with. Would a ACT stage 2 or even a stage 3 be ok? Thanks.
Last question, I'm planning on getting the SF turbo kit in the future. I plan on getting an aftermarket clutch and flywheel at the same time. But I don't want to get too weak of a clutch that will not last long or too strong of a clutch that I'll snap axels with. Would a ACT stage 2 or even a stage 3 be ok? Thanks.
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