Lightening the flywheel?

Matt Evans

Member
O.k. folks, I'm about to get the clutch changed on my car and thought about getting the flywheel lightened and balanced while I'm at it. Is it possible/worth getting the standard flywheel lightened and balanced and if so, what are the specifics I will to know?
 

nismoboy

New Member
yes it is a good idea but dont lighten it too much, the standard flywheel weighs 9kgs and if i were u i would take it down to about 7kg. I lighten my flywheel on my old astra gsi to half the weight of the normal one and tbh it was too much, a couple of kgs is plenty.
 

Matt Evans

Member
Nice one mate! :D

How exactly should I do it? What I mean is, I'm not actually doing it myself, I'm getting a tooling engineer at work to sort it out for me, but what parts of the flywheel need to be worked and how?
 

Fast Guy

Moderators
Staff member
If he's never done one before I'd speak to an expert first as if it's done wrong your flywheel can break and it'll take the bellhousing and possibly other bits out too.
 

Matt Evans

Member
I'm not sure if he's done a flywheel before, but he's no cowboy, he's a profesional tool maker. He makes injection moulding tools for a living which can cost around £25,000 and have to be extremely precision engineered. I have complete confidence in his expertise, I'd just like to know if there is a specific way of doing it?

I'm sure if some explained it to me in technical terms I could pass it on to him and he'd understand exactly what to do. He might even already know, but I just want to be sure.
 

Fast Guy

Moderators
Staff member
Matt Evans said:
I'm not sure if he's done a flywheel before, but he's no cowboy, I'd just like to know if there is a specific way of doing it?
That's what I was getting at. There is a specific way to do it because if you remove too much metal in the wrong place the flywheel is weakened and can fail at revs. (wasn't implying he was a cowboy :wink: ) That's why I suggested talking to someone who does them for a living, or at least engines for a living. :)
 

youngsyp

New Member
As a start, 'mass' should be removed from the outside of the flywheel, as this has the most 'rotating mass' and takes the most inertia to move.
It's pointless to remove any metal that is close to the centre of the flywheel as you will see very little, to no reduction in rotating mass !
 
O

Odin

Guest
I had mine taken down to 7kg, I can't say I'v noticed much difference as the cars been off the road so long that i'v forgotten what it was like to drive :oops: .

I'm haveing to learn to drive the dam thing all over again :lol: .


rob
 

Matt Evans

Member
Thanks for replies people, you've been a great help.

I also may be interested in buying an uprated/lightened flywheel (Fidanza etc.) if anyone's got one up for grabs, drop me a PM or something.
 
T

Toady

Guest
be very careful with lightening the std fly, its only cast remember, if i were you id go for the fidanza etc items if your budget can allow. As fast guy said it can break and take out other stuff on the way...including your passenger! :shock:
 
A

AndrewD

Guest
a bit on flywheels

flywheels are all about rotational inertia, they are there to smooth out the inertia torques created by the combustion in the cylinders ie, the power output of a car is the averaged weighted power output of the cylinders over the otto cycle

hence reducing the energy storage in the flywheel can lead to decreased damping, and vice versa, but it can also increase acceleration (lighter drivetrain)

remove the weight from the outer edges first id say, but your biggest troubles will be balancing it, that will be tough
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
ducking hell ! AndewD yu are mental, but right in every way :lol: too lighten the flywheel it will spin the engine faster but..... you will lose torque!!im running 1.1 bar now and would not dream of doing that .no need to do that unless your spining to 1100rpm
 

geetee

Active Member
pyro,

please explain how lightening the flywheel would reduce the torque of the engine :?:

ta

GeeTee
 
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