When replacing the clutch, vehicle owner may would like to choose a lightweight flywheel. In this blog, we ZNDmotor will talk about pros and cons of using a lightweight flywheel, to help vehicle owner to decide whether you should do this or not.
First of all, let’s have a look at what the flywheel does. Flywheel is at the end of crankshaft and outside of crankcase. So why? Because when engine’s crankshaft rotates, the flywheel is rotating at the same speed as well. Conversely, this proves to be a source of stored energy. Hence when you take off from stop, torque can apply instantly as soon as the clutch is engaged. Heavier flywheel can store more angular momentum. So more torque can apply when clutch is engaged, without increasing RPMs.
So do you need lightweight flywheel? The pros of lightweight flywheel are the same as reducing weight of other components in drive train. As a result, the driver can get a quicker revving engine. This is so amazing when vehicle is moving, since you can get to higher RPMs, where the power is, much quicker. But the con of lightweight flywheel is drivability.
Lightweight flywheel enables you to get really good at clutch control really fast. The original relatively heavier flywheel enables you to engage clutch liberally and still not stall. But with lightweight flywheel, when clutch engages, clutch, driveshaft, rear end and axles which are at a dead stop can overcome lower angular momentum, which would lead to a stall. In order to solve this problem, driver needs to add more throttle when engaging clutch. But this could lead to extra wear to the clutch and replacing clutch gets old after a bit and could be expensive.
The other disadvantage of lightweight flywheel is regarding shifting gears. When clutch is disengaged, the engine would rotate slower, since heavy flywheel cannot keep momentum going, which means a greater RPM drop between shifts if you shift gears at the same speed that you do with heavier flywheel. This could mean engine falls out of power band between shifting gears. When clutch is re-engaged, there exists extra pressure on components in drive train.
So now, do you know whether you need lightweight flywheel or not? If your car is just a tool for daily use, we ZNDmotor do not recommend lightweight flywheel. There always exist better, easier and cheaper methods to improve performance without headache of driving with lightweight flywheel. By stark contrast, if your car is a racing machine, please do not hesitate to select an appropriate lightweight flywheel.
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