Lightened Flywheel GT6 Advice

[GT6RID]

Thought I'd ask the experts out there what benefits (if any) there would be to fitting a lightened flywheel, the one on the left is around 2kg lighter. What difference would this have on my 2L Gt6 Mk3, rev more? faster acceleration?...?? I believe top speed is not affected?

[Clive]

The weight seems to have been removed over a fair bit of the back rather than round the edges (where it would have a greater effect)

I would stick to a std flywheel, unless is it a race engine (as in used for racing)

On the whole a lighter fly will let the engine rev a little faster, but I suspect that one will see no difference.

[mikeyb]

I'm not sure I agree - the heavier flywheel would need more inertia to spin it up, therefore pick up with the lighter one should be improved but possibly at the expense of smooth tickover and engine braking.  I took plenty off the back of my PI one, made a huge difference.

It was recommended to me to get it balanced after lightening though.

[RedRooster]

Pretty much the last thing to do on an engine that is in a high state of tune, will need balancing as well like mikeyb says.
RR

[Clive]

Yep, the saloon flywheels are much much heavier anyway. But to reduce inertia it needs to be reduced as far from the centre as possible.  

[tim_trinda]

2860 wrote:

Thought I'd ask the experts out there what benefits (if any) there would be to fitting a lightened flywheel, the one on the left is around 2kg lighter. What difference would this have on my 2L Gt6 Mk3, rev more? faster acceleration?...?? I believe top speed is not affected?

Google 'puma race engines flywheel lightening' which should give you a link to 'www.fordclubsweden..'. Click the link to download a doc written by David Baker (Puma Race Engines)) this explains how flywheels should be modified (removing weight as far from the centre as possible has the greatest effect) , what the benefits are and how it works but basically the lower the gear the greater the effect.

[MarkB]

I would fit the lightened flywheel, as long as it was balanced. In the early nineties I had a lightened flywheel fitted to my 1500 Spitfire race engine. I felt the difference on pick up. Problem was first rolling road two bolts came lose making a hell of a noise but the tuner kept his nerve and cut the power. No real damage, but I took it to a different engineering firm and had the lot re-balanced as well as fitting two dales to the back of the crank.

Mark

[junkuser]

For normal road use the heavier flywheel means starting from stationary can be carried out at lower revs with lower risk of stalling.
Not a consideration for race cars but helpful in stop/start city traffic when the art of driving is not your main aim, just getting home after long day at work.

[rotoflex]

It has always been my understanding also that the conventional wisdom is that the tradeoff for a lightened flywheel is less grunt from a stop.

I decided to keep the stock flywheel to keep things sparkly in regular traffic.

[GT6RID]

Thanks for all the responses people, certainly food for thought, I dont like the idea of it being a bit of a pain in traffic with lighter flywheel, not that I intend being in traffic, but who does  :-/

[RedRooster]

I wouldn't bother until the rest of the engine needs to spin up faster to get it working properly, i.e. race cam, head, DHLA's etc..

[thescrapman]

2860 wrote:

Thanks for all the responses people, certainly food for thought, I dont like the idea of it being a bit of a pain in traffic with lighter flywheel, not that I intend being in traffic, but who does  :-/

You heve only taken 2 kilos off, that isn't much at all.

Cheers

Colin

[Paudman]

My Mk1 was originally fitted with a saloon flywheel - heavy but smooth during driving. When I replaced it with a half-the-size GT6 version I reckon the smoothness of the engine suffered somewhat; it certainly revved more quickly but was more harsh. It's down to what you personally want from your car; I just wanted a quieter ride...  ;D