Hey guys, I have been thinking (yeah) what good would an aluminum flywheel do for our cars without converting to a non-modular clutch? The stock flexplate is light as all hell, we would really need to replace the steel flywheel with a non-modular style one or one with no teeth. Then bolt that to an aluminum flex plate, and that would be expensive as hell and I dont think they make modular style flywheels. I dunno.. what do you guys think is the best way to lighten up our drive train?

What you said doesn't really make sense to me. You can't get a modular flywheel, because modular flywheels are once piece. You'll have to get a non-mod clutch to add a fidanza allum flywheel. which is much lighter, thus the reason for getting one. A lighter flywheel will allow you to rev the engine faster, but will result in lower gas milage and will be harder to get your car moving.

lower gas mileage? Ummm... not that I know of. I've had no ill effects. If gas mileage is indeed lower, mine's still above 30mpg.

it's a lighter transmission piece, why do you expect lower gas mileage due to that?

otherwise though, he's right, you pretty much have to go non-mod

I have a modular style fidanza aluminum flywheel. You bolt the fidanza to the stock flex plate, then bolt the pressure plate to the flywheel. This makes it much easier to take the tranny out and put back in. The Fidanza is does weigh less than the stock flywheel by a fair amount, but not enough to compensate for the 350 dollar price tag if you ask me. If I were to do it over again, I would just drill the rivots out of the stock flywheel, replace the disk and the pressure plate, and bolt it back together.

Alright. I can't personally say that i own a allum flywheel. but theoretically, a lighter flywheel is lighter, and will result in less spinning momentum, so you don't coast quite as well. It would probably be more noticable in a manual than an automatic if that is what you are. A heavier flywheel on the other hand would cause you to coast very well, but have slow accelleration.

hrm. Yeah thats what i figured. I just can't see the logistics of a aluminum flywheel for a modular setup. The ones I have see just look like flex plates and thats not going to help!

well... if you're coasting, take it out of gear. flex plate/flywheel/clutch/transmission doesn't matter. plus much better gas mileage.

Actually the spinning momentum of the flywheel on the crank (ie. weight) effects coasting.

if a flywheel didn't have momentum, and had no effect or benefit, then why would they have one? of course it does things like helps you get moving easier, and coast better. no need to pull if out of gear. its this concept. turn a bicycle upside down and spin a tire really fast. it coasts for a good while. when its spinning put your hand on it. yeap, it grabs your hand... woo hoo! and it take a while for it to slow down. now, if you have a tire made of feathers,and you spun it, likely it wouldn't spin long. and, if you grabbed, it, the feathers would instantly stop. same principle. now if feathers were as heavy as lead, then it'd spin forever. i'm right. your not so right. :+ :thumbsup

Originally posted by 420AYE
Alright. I can't personally say that i own a allum flywheel. but theoretically, a lighter flywheel is lighter, and will result in less spinning momentum, so you don't coast quite as well. It would probably be more noticable in a manual than an automatic if that is what you are. A heavier flywheel on the other hand would cause you to coast very well, but have slow accelleration.

You're kind of right, but a lot wrong. Switching to an aluminum or lightened flywheel doesn't add or remove any power. It just changes it from kinetic energy to potential energy. The effect is that the engine doesn't need to produce as much power to spin the flywheel, so that extra energy is transferred to the wheels. The lighter weight also means it will spin faster, thus making it easier to move through the RPMs in either direction. An automatic doesn't have a flywheel. It has a flexplate(the same one the modular units bolt to) and a torque converter. Also, in a manual transmission, you never "coast." You are either accelerating, maintaining speed(through throttle position), or engine braking. As for ETX, the flywheel replacement is not the flexplate. If it replaces the flexplate(with the ring gear on the actual flywheel) then it will be a non-modular setup.

One thing I'd like to know is has anyone run a stock flywheel then a lighter flywheel at the track? And, if there was a difference?

A lighter flywheel should help, in theory; lighter is always better for spinning objects (as long as it's strong enough to handle the taks at hand that is!)

Except when launching, assuming you can get good traction...

I know some AWD DSM owners didn't like the launching results they got with aluminum lightened flywheels, but we don't have all that drivetrain to accelerate and we don't get insta-traction, so it technically "shouldn't" be as much of an issue for us, but I naturally can't be sure...

that is unless I get a lightened flywheel in the near future, which is not out of the realm of possibility :)