Question about flywheels

[Dr Forinor 0]

Ok, bear with a newbie here, why do people go for "lightened and balanced" flywheels? What is the advantage of this over the OE one? Is there any disadvantage (ie longevity etc etc)?

 

Any links to info would also be apprecited.

Thanks in advance

[jonny-5 0]

Basically the flywheel stores the kinetic engery from the engine, it like keeps the momentum going. If you lighten it the engine has less weight to move and will rev up quicker but will also go down the rev range quicker aswell.

[MattWilde 10]

yeah, it'll rev easier so you can get into the power band quicker, but it wil become more difficult to get up steep hills

[Dr Forinor 0]

Why would it be more difficult to get up steeper hills?

 

But so far a lightened flywheel sounds like a good idea, any drawbacks at all?

[Chris VR6nos 0]

I have a 6Lb alloy flywheel, and the noticeable difference was on starting is span over and started with a quick rev up to 1500-2000rpm then settled at a little higher tick over than the OE ittem.

 

The revs do fly up quicker and no i don't get stalling when idling at all and there seems no negative implications that i can report.

The jills aren't a problem with the VR6 but mine is supercharged and it's got to be a good mod to do if you can fit it yourself other wose it can be a costly mod.

The fitting is easy, just unbolt everything then bolt it up to the right torque pressures and you're done, takes some time but not hard.

 

Mine's a Eurosport one supplied by NS-Racing.

I was discussing these recently with NSR regarding a group buy but i don't think there'd be enough unterest so haven't moved on it but if i'm wrong then i can discuss it further.

 

 

 

Chris

[vdubjb 0]

The stock flywheel sort of stores energy coming from the engine. Having it be haevy, makes it easy to shift the ccar slowly, like on hills. Reducing this weight will make the engine run through the rpms faster, but it also means that when you close the throttle, it will dramtically lower the rpms as well. Stop and go and starting on hills will suck arse. Another issue is heat. The stock f/w is able to dissipate heat through mass. Removing mass increases the thermal load on the flywheel. If you arent racing the car, I'd say dont do it, if you are having the clucth replaced or any kind of tranny work, then have a few pounds removed, but perhaps not too radical.

[Chris VR6nos 0]

vdubjb, What an absolute crock of sh1t man!

 

I'll give anyone a drive of my car and if i didn't tell you it had a lits flywheel on you'd never mention it!

 

vdubjb said, "The stock f/w is able to dissipate heat through mass"

 

How about it stores too much heat and does nothing to help the clutch cool down?

Which isn't good on a performance engine that gets used for just that!

All i can say is that you must not have one and have read bull on forums and perpetuate roumers that are rubbish.

 

 

 

Chris

[PhatVR6 0]

lol! right on chris.

 

the "hills" thing is a load of old toss, from Gran Turismo.......

 

The only problem I have with my 6lb Fidanza alloy flywheel is that it requires a few more revs to pull away, but I think that's mainly caused by the DBW as it wasn't as bad with the VR, the DBW doesn't know I'm trying to pull away so it robs me of revs, frustarting, but I'm sure it'll be better with the switch installed.

 

If you're takingthe box off for any reason, yes, do the flywheel. if you just fancy doing it for the sake of it, don't bother, buy a lighter crank pulley instead, and do the flywheel when the clutch needs changing.

[Hotgolf 0]

I've done loads of these for various people on the forums(here and club gti) with absolutly no downside what-so-ever!

 

You won't feel a difference going up hills, the idle doesn't change or does the idle drop too quckly.

 

Ever actually took a look at the mk2 flywheels? They weigh nearly half the weight of an 02a/j while still fitted to a 1.8/2 litre bottom end with absolutly no problems, even when you take a stock one down to 8lbs!

 

Get it done, put it on and forget about it! They rev up quicker, end of. :)

[StormchargedVR6 0]

I've just done mine ,best mod yet part from the VSR +CAMS :lol:

[Chris VR6nos 0]

I've just done mine ,best mod yet part from the VSR +CAMS :lol:

 

Only cos you haven't done the charger kit yet! :evil: :lol:

 

 

Chris

[StormchargedVR6 0]

charger next year :)

[Chris VR6nos 0]

Yip, get saving!

 

Have you been plaing with the chop with your avatar?

 

 

Chris

[Dr Forinor 0]

Good info, thanks guys.

[Yandards 0]

I am getting my stock 228mm flywheel lightened at the moment. I am not worried about a higher idle or difficulty in pulling away as it is part of a supercharger conversion.

 

The KR engine in the Golf has a 210mm flywheel and weighs around 6kg IIRC, the Corrado one is 228mm and about twice as heavy!

 

Balancing the flywheel involves taking the 'manufacturing tolerances' out of the flywheel. As the flywheel is a rotating disc it needs to have the same weight distribution accross the whole wheel to prevent abnormal loading and vibration - much like getting you wheels balanced when you put new tyres on. This time same sections of the flywheel are drilled to balance it instead of adding weights.

 

Most mass car manufacturers are not producing components that will run as well as they possibly can - it is expensive so they set tolerances based on cost V performance. A good example of this is a G60 throttle body or a cylinder head; a little work removing the casting marks and knife edging brings about good performance improvements.

 

Hope that helps!

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Ideally you'd want to balance the flywheel to the crank as one rotating mass, but that's impractical and expensive to do.

 

I'm starting to wish I'd put a lighter one in when I had the chance, but I'm not unhappy with the way my car picks up, so I'm not fussed either way. At least with the standard lump of pig iron you know what to expect. If you put a 6lb one in and don't like it for what ever reason, it's a PIA to change it over again.

[Chris VR6nos 0]

You'd never want to change back, it's like fitting the charger, when you get it working right you'd feel limp when you took it off and drove the car again!

 

 

 

Chris

[Yandards 0]

My flywheel is being balanced on the crank. I am having the stock flywheel lightened, balanced on crank, conrods balanced, camshafts and that big fat oil pump driveshaft all with the relevant pulleys on for just under £260.

 

Guy that is doing it knows his stuff as he does a lot of odd engines, big block V8's etc and Honda BAR F1 wheels!!

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Nice one, should be nice and smooth after that lot!

[Bobby 0]

so a golf 16v flywheel is a straight bolt on job to the 16v corrado engine, was going to get my flywheel lightened as i'm building a spare engine but if the golf one goes straight on i'll do that instead.